Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-2000-

Ah, field trip day. Well…not for you, technically; that’s for the fourth graders. You’re at the end of your middle school career, an assistant chaperone for the Manhattan field trip.

You don’t mind at all, and the middle school had to take a day off forcibly because there’s another argument about the math curriculum. One teaches algebra wrong, and the other geometry. It’s been a wrong time, to say the least; you’ve learned how to calculate the slope in at least seven different ways. None of them are suitable, either.

You weren’t going to do anything at home; the homework is on the one subject that might cause the school to come up in flames.

So now you’re watching a nine-year-old boy draw on the bus window. It looks like he’s trying to impress the girl a seat across from him.

When you got a good look at it, you smiled only because the bus driver yelled at everyone to get down. It was the King Kong and a building gag, one of the few reasons you started to draw more at home now.

“Hey Dave,” the girl started to get the boy’s, allegedly named Dave, attention, ”That’s cool.”

‘Dave’ smiled, then looked at the other kids trying to pair up the doodle with other buildings far away. His eyes eventually landed on you, in which you nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

Relief spread across the boy’s face, and you mouthed,’ good start’ in hopes of giving him a shred of charisma. Ask out a crush is hard: you want to be friends or have some impression of them, but yourself is your worst enemy. Shaky hands and held breath are examples; you’ve had a history because of unrequited love. It hurts a lot.

The bus pulled off the New York highway, and the scenery changed drastically. You could see the Statue of Liberty, the whole point of the field trip.

You can see Dave pull out a yellow piece of paper, he tried to pull out a sharpie, but the students began unloading the bus and heading to the park.

The entire class, once organized and that took forever, sat on one of the benches while the teacher began to lecture about the park’s history.

You stood off to the side to ensure nobody booked it or strayed too far. New York isn’t an excellent place to get lost in. Another teacher was there, though they were standing beside you and didn’t care about what was happening.

You could see the Dave kid pull out the same note and begin to finish what he was writing. He then began to pass the message to reach the girl he was trying to impress on the bus.

The love note reached her, and she responded! That’s good news! You made brief eye contact with Dave and turned the other way, letting him have his moment of truth.

The teacher leading this operation decided it was time to get in line for the boats. Out of your peripherals, you could see that the girl had put the piece of paper on a concrete slab.

Which now blew away in the wind.

Dave ran after it. Something in your gut told you that you had to ensure he was okay; two are better than one.

You followed the note a few paces behind Dave. You’re slightly annoyed that anyone coming in contact with the message will toss it without regard or second thoughts.

You finally decided to make your presence known to Dave when you both reached the front door to what looked to be an antique store, the ‘Arcana Cabana.’

You saw the note fly in the door’s mail slot; Dave seemed hesitant to enter.

You placed your hand on his shoulder; he jumped and stumbled back, ”No! Wait! I need that note! Don’t take me back!“

“I know,” you responded softly, ”let’s get it back; if we’re gone for too long, I can vouch for you. I have my way with words, and I know the teachers well.” You can see Dave relax; he smiles a bit. You mirrored his expression, ”Now let’s go find that note.”

You then pushed the double doors open, ”you’ll go left, I’ll go right.”

Dave nodded, ”got it” you then immediately began searching the store, moving fast so you could return to the school trip and get on with your day.

As you looked around, you began thinking of ways to devise a viable excuse.

Did he get lost? Nope, he actively ran away, and there were a few eyewitnesses.

He saw something that caught his eye. That could do, but it needs to be workshopped more.

Meanwhile, Dave hasn’t even made it two feet from where you left him. He was way too engrossed with the scenery, which makes sense. Everything is still exciting and cool when you’re nine; you’ve been to enough yard sales to see a pattern. This stuff doesn’t distract you much. Although, some of the artwork on the antiques did catch your eye.

‘He thought he saw a close relative he hadn’t seen in years.’ Perfect. No other explanation is needed; you’ll probably improvise the rest.

You then looked back at Dave to see his progress… he just tipped over an urn. Grea-

A blond hobo caught it before it fell.

What the-

“Legend says if you open it, you’ll be trapped there for ten years.” He spoke in a half murmur

You ducked behind a dresser, peeking out from the side to ensure Dave would be okay.

That’s when you got sight of a cobra statue, it looked interesting, and it could be a good distraction if you threw it somewhere. Noise attracts attention and, with awareness, distraction.

“This is very special; if it likes you, it’s yours.” The strange hobo then goes to hand Dave a small dragon statue.

Dave and the hobo exchanged more words, too quiet for you to hear. Then Dave attempted to move away, but the doors to the shop closed and locked.

Your stomach dropped, and you immediately crouch-walked to the snake statue and grabbed it with your left hand.

You switched the snake from your left hand to your right; you began to rise and get ready to throw it near or at the hobo. You had a clean shot and everything until;

The snake came to life and slithered up your forearm. You suppressed a yelp and lowered yourself back to the ground; it stopped at your elbow and began to coil around your arm.

You turned your arm and saw the snake open its mouth; a plum purple gem took up its whole mouth.

And the gem glowed.

Your eyes widened, but you looked up because you heard Dave speak again.

“Alright.” He said and took the dragon.

Your eyes managed to get even larger as the small statue came to life and wrapped around Dave’s finger, resting there and turning into a ring. It’s similar to what just happened to you.

“I have been searching for you for a long time, magically. And here you are.” He smiled.. wait magic?! It’s real?! That makes sense: the dragon and the snake trick sealed the deal.

“You are going to be a very important sorcerer one day,” he stood up,” Your training begins right now with your very own encantus.” He then turned to leave, ”Don’t touch anything.”

Before dashing to Dave, you waited a moment to ensure he was out of the room.

“You alright, dude?”

He relievedly sighed, ”I think so, but I think I’m a sorcerer?”

He showed you his dragon ring, the detail on it was amazing! It would be best if you suppressed your inner art nerd to make it out here without any repercussions.

“I think I am, too” you showed him your arm bracelet. You then pulled down the sleeves of your hoodie to hide it, ”c’mon man, let’s bolt while we still have the chance!”

You turn to run, but Dave doesn’t follow you. He instead waved his arms, ”Wait! That guy’s gonna get me my-“ the sound of bricks begging to break cut him off.

You skidded to a stop and turned around to see what Dave had done. You were near the entrance when you saw Dave magically knock a nesting doll out of a wall.

“Dave, I don’t think you should,” he picked it up anyway. Gotdam kid, not giving you any leeway when it comes to saving his ass. The whole class must be looking for both of you right now.

Something must’ve happened to the doll because Dave dropped it and staggered back as it opened. You squinted to see what happened, or what possessed the dumb kid, to that nesting doll to make the boy lurch back in fear.

Update: you know why; it’s because a bunch of cockroaches began crawling out of it, almost like a flood.

The cockroaches began to pile up as if they were forming a shape. Your furrowed your brows as more and more roaches began to pile onto each other.

Your eyes widened as they began to form a person’s silhouette, and you dove behind some antiques.

“Dave! Hide!” You whisper-yelled. Dave quickly glanced back at you and tried to run, but the cockroaches that were making a human shape- disappeared?

What is happening right now?!

Then your heart pounded out of your chest as you realized that Dave had probably released a magical criminal? You didn’t have much time to question that.

The roaches revealed a large man, both in height and weight, dressed in fancy attire you’d see before the stock market crash. yeah, you reached the Great Depression in history class… Was this wizard here because he caused a catastrophic economic failure?

The fancy wizard must be imprisoned in a wizard doll for his evil wizard crimes. Yes, yes.

“When am I?” His English accent almost made you snicker, but you forced it down and tried to devise another way to distract the weird evil British wizard.

“N-new York.” Dave stammered out.

“Not where.” The fancy evil wizard seethed and gripped his… cane? Staff? Evil wizard cane staff, ”you’re wasting my time.”

You saw the hobo wizard come back out of left field and launch the evil British wizard up to the ceiling. His cane staff was out of reach.

“What happened to don’t touch anything.” He spoke calmly, yet annoyed. He now held a book open in one hand.

“That’s not very sporting of you, Balthazar.” The evil wizard said above

“Don’t worry; he’s been like that for over a thousand years.” ‘Balthazar’ responded Dave. You kinda tuned them out for a bit…

You’re still trying to accept that a guy is on the ceiling. He’s now looking at you too. His angered expression shifted to confusion as he tried to grab his cane.

You gasped and ducked behind more antiques. That gained the attention of everyone else in the room: bad distraction.. very bad distraction.

You peeked out from the antique as you could see ‘Balthazar’ shift his attention back to Dave.

“The nesting doll is called the ‘Grimhold’; where is it?”

Dave, unable to form words because of fear, frantically pointed to the nesting doll on the ground.

The hobo sighed in relief and bent down to pick it up, only to be blasted from above. He flew ten feet away from said ‘Grimhold.’

The fancy wizard fell from the high ceiling and landed with a groan.

You took the opportunity to grab the book he dropped; thank god you grabbed a bag of your own before leaving again. Your bag only held your lunch, but it can be used to hold an evil wizard prison and a giant magic book too!

You were careless when getting over there; the only thing that prevented you from being seen was that you were still crouching.

You slipped the… what did that Balthazar guy call it?.. the ‘encantus’? Yeah, you slipped that and the ‘Grimhold’ into your bag; they barely fit in there. Why does everything related to magic have to be so over the top and incredibly large?!

You tried your best to drag Dave back, only to duck behind the urn he almost knocked over earlier. Glancing through the handle gaps, you could see David being caught in a magic battle between the wizards.

Balthazar was having a sword fight with a floating rapier; the evil wizard was making the same movements with his cane staff that the rapier was making.

“Dave! C’mon, let’s get out of here!” Your calls fell silent on the boy; he’s paralyzed in fear now.

You tried maneuvering around the antiques so you’re still hidden from view but close as possible to Dave. You pulled at his sleeve to get his attention, but nothing.

This kid will have severe PTSD; he’ll be thinking about this for the next ten years.

The fancy wizard then disarmed Balthazar and knocked him over with the rapier. He then somehow brought fire over to him from a fireplace behind you. He set a good chunk of the antiques on fire. David began to back up to the door. You mirrored the amount of distance but then decided that you needed to get closer to the exit for a decent escape.

Poor timing on Dave’s part because the evil wizard turned around and began to walk forward, ”where is that doll? I want that doll.”

Dave began to back up; it was like they were line dancing. Dave tripped; he’s as good as dead, then. You weren’t expecting him to kick in his fight-or-flight instincts, but he did and began to army crawl away. That embarrassing excuse for an escape attempt was cut short when Balthazar leaped through the fire and tackled the evil wizard.

You then made the wise decision to run back to the urn, which supposedly will trap people in for a decade, and knocked it over behind the evil wizard and Balthazar.

You saw that the two wizards were starting to get sucked into the urn as they wrestled; the evil wizard grabbed hold of Dave’s book bag. The only successful thing he retrieved from that bag was a previously turned-in assignment.

“Have a nice ten years!” You called out to the urn as you stood up, ”Let’s get out of here.” You grabbed Dave’s wrist and darted out of the store.

You stole one last glance at the store, your eyes narrowing as it somehow cleaned itself up. As if nothing had ever happened before. Strange.

Outside, as you expected, the rest of the class was there, and the teachers began to interrogate Dave. He was a babbling mess; the frantic questionnaire isn’t good for your or Dave’s mental health. You’ll take the blow regardless.

Among the what’s and why’s, you spoke up:

“He thought he saw a long lost family member; it turns out it was just a guy advertising his store,” you started, making sure you had everyone’s undivided attention, ”Dave was pretty bummed; he hadn’t seen this guy in years.”

“That’s why you took after him?” The head teacher spoke up, ”to make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble?”

“That’s correct; I never let a face out of sight if they’re important to me.”

Their cold expression softened, ”very well, let’s all make our way back to the bus.”

You stayed near the back with Dave; he held your hand. Thankfully, you could talk to him about the recent event because you were far enough from the students and just far in front of the teachers in the rear.

“I’ll hold onto that weird magic stuff for now,”

“I think I’m done with magic.” He quivered out; he was still shaken up about it. At least he’s not being made fun of right now; that would be awful.

“Fair enough.” Was all you responded with as you began to get on the bus; you sat in the single back seat.

Regarding his statement, this is the start of a very long journey up a very high iceberg. Something in your gut tells you this is only the beginning of your journey.

And it won’t continue until ten years in the future.

Chapter Text

As the years passed and the memories faded, Dave began living as a frail nerd.

You can’t point fingers either; you’re a nerd too. Though, you’d consider yourself a nerd with charisma and thinking on your feet.

The school year ended, and it was once again time to transition. You were going to high school, and Dave was starting middle school.

Dave wasn’t alone, you helped him transition to the next four years of his life, and he grew close to you. He’s an only child and sees you as the older sibling he’s never had.

You’re glad for him, really, truly. But for you, high school was a nightmare. More so, the teachers of teaching classes got to everyone except you. That’s also when you realize that you’re different. Or, more specifically, you learn differently and must teach yourself what you know.

You had a bit of magic on your side.

Not only could you remember what happened more vividly than Dave, but it hasn’t left your mind since the incident.

You always kept your arm bracelet on; it felt comforting and gave you courage when you had moments of self-doubt.

Though, the thought of actually learning and attempting magic didn’t occur to you when you were halfway through the first semester of your first year

You were struggling with science and were willing to do anything besides the proper way of actually studying.

You’ve glanced at the encantus before this event but never touched it. There isn’t a genuine reason why, but if there was one; it would be that your ‘teacher’ was locked in an urn for
over nine years now.

It does scare you that whatever journey you were supposed to start last year will begin adequately in less than a decade, and you’re not sure if you’ll remember this event. Knowing your ignorance, you’ll probably say it was a dream about five years from now.

Anyways, you pulled the heavy book out of your closet drawer and flipped through it. You were trying to find a cheat code or answers.

Instead, you introduced yourself to a world you were unprepared for.

Sigils, wards, potions, and specific spells to fit your needs. The only thing this was missing was familiars, which could be a knockoff of Harry Potter.

So you failed the science test… BUT you began to learn about the world of magic, and that’s a feat that not even the self-righteous valedictorian can do.

You see this as an absolute win.

Alongside your classes inside of school, you’ve been trying to learn magic alongside your core subjects.

Doodling sigils in art class while you wait for the kiln to open; it’s the only place to learn about ceramics. So far, you drew a sigil of hearing on your arm; you didn’t want to make it permanent, so you chose a highlighter. Your hearing became so sensitive that you learned who was dating and cheating on whom within the first hour.

Making potions in chemistry class, you had to raise your grade in that class after that test. You didn’t want the teacher to always be on your toes. So far, you’ve made a potion that shrunk the giant jock by two inches; you heard them freaking out about it outside the locker rooms.

Making small wards in math class, you warded your belongings first. The seniors think it’s funny to bully the first-year students; you’ve been a target for being a black sheep. Nobody has touched your stuff yet, but there’s always that tiny chance it will happen soon.

You also artifice or ‘charmed’ items in English class. You’ve made a pen to remove gravity in a room with a single click. It reverts when you click it again, but seeing the class freak out was fun because they got a split second of air time.

You did nothing in history class; you can’t bring the encantus to school because kids will be curious when carrying a big-ass book into a class. So, you took the L and moved on.

You tried to understand the history; you’re just dipping your toes into it. You’re more proud of yourself for getting the hang of using magic, but not the spells specifically. New wizards need a ‘Merlin’s circle’ to use actual spells. But that’s the traditional way anyway, and you’re built differently if you want to learn.

You only considered trying to learn spells once a specific and annoying-yet terrifying event occurred to you when you finished semester one exams.

You were walking to your family apartment, which happens to be near the Arcana Cabana, until…

“Hey! You! The limp nerd!!”

Bullies… great.

Just keep walking; ignore them.

Quick and heavy footsteps are heard from behind you. You were almost home; why did this have to happen?!

“Hey, we’re talking’ to you! Freak!” A hand grabbed your shoulder, yanking you back, ”you can’t ignore us!”

You have spun around and then grabbed by the collar of your shirt. They laughed; the jerk holding you slammed you against a light post.

You let out a groan as they continued to laugh at you. “That bag of yours is always packed with the brim with stuff; how about we take a look?” Their voice only held mockery as they dropped you on the ground.

You didn’t have much time to recover because you were immediately pulled to your feet and pushed around by the douches.

One of the jerks had decided to grab your bag. Knowing how this ended, you braced for the painful scream.

They yanked their hand back, and you wonder if they kissed their mother with that kind of mouth. It was a slew of curses, but you’ll take it.

“Freak!” The spineless dogs pushed you onto the ground and began kicking you.

Any cries or pleas for help remained unanswered as you took hit after hit. You can’t fight back; you don’t know how!

You felt like you were inches away from losing your life until two bullies were blown into the air by an unknown force.

“Oi! What’s goin’ on ‘ere?”

The remaining perpetrators scrambled to their feet, ”None of your business! Back off, femboy!”

That must’ve struck a nerve with your mystery savior because the rest were also blown in the air.

“Are you alright, mate?” A blurry face came into view. You only grunted in pain as you got up.

“I take it as a no, here-“ he offered you a hand, and you winced as you raised your hand to grab it. Your savior did the rest of the work and brought you to your feet.

From what you could tell, your eyes started to swell because you’d just gotten kicked in the face; he looked like a punk; he must be a performer or a full-on goth, you don’t judge.

“Do you live nearby, mate?”

You tried your best to nod and gesture to the apartment entrance, but the most you could do was wave your hand and groan.

He stayed patient as you tried your best to point to the door; when you could finally post, he nodded.

“Gotcha, mate; what’s your name?”

You muttered the syllables, and he connected the dots, repeating/guessing your name until he got it. You nodded for confirmation.

He walked you inside the building, supporting your weight with your arm over his shoulder.

The receptionist knew you well; they went into full panic mode once they did a double take on your entrance with your goth punk savior.

“Christ! What happened?!” They began to make intangible panic noises.

“Bullies.” Was all the goth said, ”Can you show me to their apartment?”

“O-of course.” They hurriedly ushered you and the edgy hero into the elevator.

There was an awkward three minutes in the elevator ride….

When the elevator did open, the receptionist went back into worry wart mode and trotted to the apartment entrance. They quickly knocked on the door.

Immediately your parents opened the door and let out a gasp.

That was fun to explain, but you’ll also study spells.

And study them as you did.

Over the course of the second semester, you began to use spells for self-defense and embarrass the bullies whenever you saw them in the hallways or picking on another kid.

One of your favorite anecdotes was putting a vacuum spell on a locker nearby. You managed to fit a towering 6’3” bulky jerk fit in a locker with the wiggle room of a carry-on bag.

When you were at home, you’d make your desk supplies levitate as you did homework. It took your mind off things when you couldn’t draw or paint.

Speaking of drawings and paintings, you’ve mixed magic with art!

So far, you could make your characters dance around the page, and you’ve talked to your paintings.

The conversations you’d have with your self-portraits are pretty funny.

So far, you’ve also talked with the dragon you’ve painted for a while. It has quite the input on your choice of decor. You constantly have to remind them that it wasn’t your choice; your family’s budget did the choosing.

You know you can do more by mixing your magic and art, but you can’t truly study it until you graduate.

You did try learning attack spells…. Once.

You made a fireball that set off your parent’s smoke alarms. That was fun to explain.

Needless to say, when you finally graduated, you were relieved. You cracked open that heavy-ass book any moment you weren’t drawing for profit.

You began to do freelance work and build a portfolio you’re proud of over the course of the time Dave was in high-school

Speaking of Dave:

Dave, unfortunately, was bullied even worse in his high-school years.

You started to meet up with him more after you graduated, but the stories you tell him to make your stomach flip. And you thought that you had it bad!

You then promised him you’d start college simultaneously, so he’ll never have to go through that again.

He thanked you but reminded you that he isn’t a kid anymore and has to stand up for himself too.

When he got accepted into nyu, you got accepted into one of New York’s finest art schools. Your work impressed them so much that the scholarship money was nearly a full ride! Just selling some of your work at art shows will pay it off! —Woop Woop!-

While you and Dave prospered in the respective fields, you began to learn more about magic. More so, the history this time.

Dave, as the hobo-wizard Balthazar has said, will be a VERY important sorcerer one day, being a direct descendant of Merlin himself.

How that old man got laid is beyond you.

You’re related to… one of Merlin’s three servants/apprentices, but you have no clue which one. You haven’t gotten that far…

This leads to now:

Dave had gotten an abandoned subway roundabout and was generous enough to give you a side room. It’s your studio, and you practically live there. If a coil goes haywire, you warded a curtain to separate yourself from the noise.

While Dave works on his Tesla coil project, you work on your seven-foot leviathan statue. It’s similar to Dave’s project in the sense that you need to complete it to graduate.

Again, like Dave, your project is near completion too. Just a few more touch-ups -along with bronzing it- and you’re done!

You often smile as you remember that Dave flinched and fell on his ass when he walked in; you allowed special people in your studio though it always stays warded; he even named your project for you.

‘Sneaky Serpent’

It has a nice ring to it; you think of that every time you look at it.

That might be the only funny thing for a while.

Tomorrow is David Stutler’s 20th birthday, the end of the supposed sentence you put in Balthazar and the fancy wizards you have yet to know about.

Chapter Text

-2010-

“And with that, you should be able to bronze any of your works without overlap,” Your sculpting professor then leaned forward on their desk and whispered,” it doesn’t take much, but bronzing a statue doubles its worth. Shhhhh”

The very small class snickered but took the advice with open arms.

“And with that, our lecture is finished.” The class collectively got out of their chairs and began to leave, ”Your statue sculpts are due in two days!”

You made eye contact with your professor and nodded; they smiled and waved before you left the class.

Checking your watch, making the mental note that Dave will be student teaching in five minutes, you smiled that you had enough time to make Dave’s birthday gift.

With that in mind, you quickly excited the traditional arts building on campus and took the bus to the closest street to Dave’s lab.

The bus ride was… cramped, as usual. Looking at the traffic- you made the poor decision to ride a vehicle during rush hour- you began to sketch what you wanted to make for Dave.

You felt like a mother hen for doing this, but you planned to create a keychain alerting you if Dave was in danger. Knowing what would happen later, you thought it best to make something like that.

So far, you have a ceramic eye drawn out. Though you were considering a Celtic family crest, you have too many ideas flowing through your head to decide on one option.

You also began to think to yourself about your artificing skills. This one is on the more accessible side -like the pen you made in high school- it’s just that you want to make it the least obvious so nobody gets the idea. You also considered having the magical alert -you’ll hear Dave’s panicky voice when his life is threatened- fade away if he has the situation under complete control.

That’s pretty simple compared to your previous project: a regular-sized painting and a very small one. When you enter the painting - you got the idea from when you’d played Super Mario with Dave- you’ll come out of the small one. The catch is, is that you’re tiny. Perfect for stealth and an excellent way to store smaller objects.

You feel guilty for doing this, but today is the day. You’ll probably disenchant it when this is all set and done. If Dave meant that he didn’t want anything to do with magic a decade ago, he probably has no clue about how to perform proper spells now.

After noticing that the bus began to empty, you put away your sketchbook and headed toward the front of the bus. The stop is in sight now.

The bus came to a smooth stop, and you began the rest of your voyage back to the lab. It wasn’t a far walk, ten minutes tops.

You entered the abandoned roundabout and quickly walked to your curtained office section, eager to start your miniature project.

You decided to go to see through it like a looking glass. It would take a few enchantments, but nothing you can’t handle.

.

.

.

David is currently running for his life.

He comes home after impressing the same girl he fell in love with ten years ago, then ‘makes up for lost time’ with the evil wizard. Oh wait.. sorcerer.

He walked into his apartment, swelling with pride. A great occasion to crack open a Red Bull before he heads off to his lab for a few hours of the night.

Until he saw that his assignment was hanging on the fridge, which he didn’t show to his parents back then because it didn’t make it home.

“I thought the b- was generous.” Ice flooded his veins and froze his body still as he saw who it was.

“Your prose was weak; your analysis was obvious.” The silhouetted figure uncrossed their legs, but he knew who damn well it was.

And it scared the shit out of him.

“I was nine.” Was all he could form with his words. It came out as a combination of a clap back and a nervous breakdown.

“Irrelevant.” That was the flat response.

The Evil wizard then began to question the Grimhold. Oh.. great.. the thing that he-

He—

He uh-

Uhm.

A knife was pointed in his direction, ”I’ll cut the truth out of you.” Was the whispered threat.

Yup, it’s time to go now.

Which leads you caught up to his current predicament.

Dave bolted and crashed into the apartment door, only to quickly open it and stumble out of his apartment and into the New York streets.

He made it a few steps down the stairs when he heard barking. Quickly glancing over his shoulder, he realized the evil sorcerer had summoned wolves. Coincidentally, they are on the calendar his roommate constantly uses to give him pep talks.

Still running for his life, Dave realized the wolves were in hot pursuit. If he keeps running down the street, they’ll get him. He needs to find a way to lose them.

The subway station.

That was the closest building to him, so he quickly ran in and fumbled the card swipe before running into the station and hiding on the tracks. He tries to silence his breathing while being pressed against the concrete.

His luck ultimately failed him when he could hear the wolves trying to find him.

‘Oh man, oh man, oh man’

His luck failed him again because a wolf made eye contact with him from the other side of the tracks. It barked and charged forward, the other wolves joining them.

As Dave’s life flashed before his eyes, he let out a yelp as….. puppies? Landed on him? What is happening??

Dave had zero time to question this because a giant metal bird landed on the tracks. His eyes widened in recognition as he realized who was piloting the bird.

“Where’s the Grimhold?” Balthazar spoke, not even noticing the commotion that was happening.

The evil sorcerer had hopped down on the tracks and went to fire a spell.

“Him- him!!” Dave managed to sputter out, pointing at the evil sorcerer that launched a spell.

Balthazar waved his hand and slowed the evil sorcerer with a huge… water bubble? Whatever it was, David now had enough time to hop on the bird.

Balthazar then waved his hand again, the puppies turned back into their paper forms, and he sent a paper to cover the oncoming subway train’s window.

When the evil sorcerer freed his temporary liquid prison, he quickly rolled back onto the train platform. He got a sight of the metal bird fleeing the scene.

The metal bird landed back into its original post and transformed to be a part of the building he was on top of.

“No, no, no! I am not doing this again!” He rambles on about his life being perfect before Balthazar walks on in.

“Do you know where I was for the past ten years? An urn.” Balthazar simply responded; he sounded so calm and yet so irritated simultaneously. Maybe he was just tired.

“Well, I’ve been in an urn of trauma-“ Dave began to sputter about his scarred memory of what took place at the arcana cabana.

When Dave finished rambling, Balthazar spoke again,” You were the last person seen with that doll that puts you on Horvath’s list. Unless you want to be turned into a pig that just loooovvves physics, then I advise you to help me find the Grimhold.”

Balthazar then stands up on the bird, opening his arms as if trying to sense it, ”Odd, I can’t seem to track the Grimhold. “

Dave then spoke up, ”well, uh… that’s because the person who has the grimhold has it well hidden.” Balthazar whipped his head over to him, ”Do you know where it is?”

Dave shrugged, ”I might know someone.”

.

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.

You had just finished the charm when you heard the front door open. Knowing it was Dave, you scrambled around your studio, looking for some sort of bag. You hid it behind your back as Dave walked down the stairs.

You left your studio with a smile, quickly fading as you realized who David was with.

The hobo wizard.. no, wait… what did the evil wizard call him..? Bumpyzard? No… Balthazar! There it is.

“Before you say anything,” you pointed towards Balthazar, ”Today is David’s birthday, and I have yet to give him my gift.” You then handed Dave the eye charm, ”Your keychain lacked fun things, so I decided to make something for you.”

Dave smiled and put it in his pocket, ”Thank you, y/n.” You smiled, then turned to Balthazar, ”It’s time?“

He exhaled, ”That it is, Horvath is on the hunt for the grimhold, and David here says you know where it is.” You hummed, so that’s the fancy evil wizard’s name, Horvath… sounds a lot like whor-

“I do.” You answered; this shocked the wizard. “Can I please see it? It needs to be in safe hands.” Balthazar stated, his face tired and blank.

“If you can’t find it, it’s perfectly safe.” You responded, ”If the grimhold leaves its current resting place, it’s put into immediate danger.” You clasped your hands behind your back, ”Besides if this Horvath you speak of can track it like you, he can’t find it either.” You bobbed on your heels while you answered, ”What I saw ten years ago is more evidence that if not appropriately hidden, bad things happen.”

Balthazar tried to protest, but you shot him down, ”It is safe; that’s all you need to know. You are a dangerous man, Balthazar. Therefore the grimhold doesn’t need to be near any more danger. It is safe with me.”

Balthazar threw in the towel, ”fine,” he looked around the lab space, ”This is an excellent spot for you to train, Dave.”

Balthazar waves his focus -which you notice as a ring on his finger- and what you assume to be Merlin’s circle begins to carve into the ground.

You would be amazed that you finally saw the circle in person, but something else is on your mind: does anyone other than Dave know you’re a sorcerer? You’re wearing your focus, but it’s not visible because you lack short-sleeved shirts. Yes, you were seen by both wizards during that escapade a decade ago, but you were assumed as a normal kid like Dave was at the time.

You tapped your chin; the less they knew, the better. You don’t want to attract attention to yourself; it gives you the element of surprise when you finally need to step in.

The circle had formed, and Balthazar had stepped in it, reciting words to David as a mentor sorcerer to him. You couldn’t make out the words; the circle had a level of sacredness to it -or sigil, you couldn’t tell- so that any outsider couldn’t hear any of the words.

Moments later, Balthazar walked out of the circle and grabbed some old-fashioned dress shoes. He tossed them to Dave, who promptly complained about it. You’re glad you made your clothes; Art school gave you the skills to do that. (And among other DIY skills that you’ve learned over the course of your breaks between semesters) You went as far as to make your furniture; you even learned how to create functioning house dioramas.

Self-gloating aside, you decided to go and finish your project. As you began to paint layers of bronze on your leviathan, a thought popped into your mind.

As you waited for the bronze to settle, you began to the carved pure magic sigil. Sure, they’ll take a lot out of you, but they’re easier to apply than you think. You carved the following sigils: The sigil of fire, protection, speed, strength, and loyalty. You made up the last sigil yourself; you’re pretty proud of it.

The sound of crashing and screaming from Dave could be heard beyond the safety of your enchanted curtain.

“I swear whoever makes that racket will feel my wrath for disrupting my beauty sleep.” You snickered at the sentient painting’s remarks.

The dragon scoffed and did a dramatic eye roll before focusing on your finished project,” Oooh! She’s done!!”

“Yes, the sneaky serpent is finished. I can graduate now.” You half chuckled at the painting’s slack-jawed expression or could probably reach the floor of the frame wasn’t there.

“About time!” They huffed and moved through each painting occupying your walls to get a closer look.

You chuckled at the painting’s antics, ”Take the sight in as much as you can. She takes up too much room and weighs a lot.”

The painting chuckled, ”Sad, but true. She can spend the rest of her days receiving praise in the museum.”

You hummed, ”Taking my words out of me.” The painting laughed and waved a bit as you exited the safety of your studio.

You caught the sight of Dave leaving; he must’ve had something to do. You also don’t blame him if he needs space, either.

Although Dave is gone, it does leave you alone with bumper-car Balthazar. He’s sitting at the only clean table with an open encantus.

“I saw you when you thought you were hiding years ago” His sudden voice filling the room chased you to flinch, ”You’re putting yourself in danger because of what you saw that day.”

You sat in the empty chair next to barrel-can Balthazar, ”I knew what I was getting into ten years ago.” You stole a loom at the encantus; it was flipped to the page with the sorcerer lineage, ”I may not be helpful to you or Dave during this, but may I still learn the lineage? The history?”

“I don’t see why not.” He sighed, ”It’s been a long time since I’ve properly looked at this.” His eyes looked you over, ”Why the sudden interest?”

You shrugged, ”Let’s say the items I got when I left the arcana cabana ten years ago raised some questions in me.” You furrowed your brows as you tried to look at the lineage.

Balthazar chucked, ”Fair enough,” he dragged his right index finger up the page to the very top, ”this-“ he tapped the picture of a bearded old man, ”Is Merlin; he was the most powerful sorcerer ever to exist.” He then drags his finger down to three pictures, ”Merlin had three apprentices: Myself, Veronica, and Horvath.” He seemed sullen when he looked at the two miniature portraits next to his own, ”If there weren’t such thing as an evil sorcerer, I wouldn’t be here right now, and none of this would be happening.” He then showed off a person named a few pages later: “ Morgana, she’s the one who wanted to enslave humanity.” He opened his mouth to say something about Horvath, and you would’ve asked him why a fellow Merlin apprentice would turn against him in search of the grimhold, but you refrained and kept quiet.

You nodded, but then you got a good laugh at his tired complexion. It was like he didn’t sleep at all when he was in an urn for a decade, ”Do you need to rest or anything?” Balthazar shook his head, ”Due to being immortal, I’ve also received the ability to require less sleep, but -“ he trailed off a bit. Even if it was true, he’s probably been awake for over a decade. That doesn’t sound fun.

“You sure?” You tilted your head to the side, and Balthazar hummed, ” I’m pretty sure you remind me of her.” He changed the subject.

“Who?” You asked. He sighed, now shaking his head, knowing he had let it slip. He has to tell you now, ”Veronica, I fell in love with her. Which… ultimately turned Horvath against Merlin and me. He loved her too.” His head went downcast as he sighed. He shook his head before raising it with a hazy expression, ”He’s partially the reason why Merlin is dead too and Veronica is trapped in the Grimhold.”

“You’re losing me a bit, Balthazar.” You stated, ”Is that why Horvath is after the Grimhold?”

He shrugged, ”Probably, but he also has to release the out layers of morganians first: they’re Morgana’s followers if you were wondering.” He could sense your confusion and continued, ”As a last-ditch effort, Veronica absorbed her soul and told me to trap her in the grimhold.” His eyes were faintly showing wetness, ”Merlin then placed the spell on me. The one that won’t wear off until the prime merlinean is trained and Morgana is defeated.”

He suppressed a yawn, and you stood up, ”Even now, you can operate on little rest. I want you to take a nap, at least.”

Balthazar stretched his arms and let out a jaw-splitting yawn, “No sense in arguing, but there isn’t a bed in this lab.”

“In the lab is the keyword.” You began to walk to your studio and waved him over.

Balthazar followed you like a confused puppy, and you quickly ushered him in. You immediately rushed to the couch, promptly removed the cushions, and pulled out the collapsible mattress. You’ve spent many nights here before, so this is muscle memory for you now.

“Where will you sleep?” He asked.

“I got a spot, don’t worry about me. Go catch up on your beauty sleep.” Balthazar chucked and laid down. He immediately was out like a light and snoring softly.

With a sigh, you walked out of your studio, waving to Dave before saying, “Balthazar is sleeping in my pullout bed; I’m going to go grab something to eat and come back. Someone needs to watch over these magical menaces.”

Dave nodded but asked you once more before you entirely left the subway turnaround, “Are you going to use your magic to.. help us?” You nodded, “Yes, but only when the time is right. I feel I’m a weaker magic user compared to the dangers we’ll be up against.”

And with that, you left into the night.

You thought about going to a local burger shop, it’s cheap, and you’re on good terms with the man operating the whole place. He’s told you about his life, and you the same.

When you arrived there, you tapped the slider window in the same pattern you always have, “Mi amigo, how have you been?” The older man smiled as he turned around to meet you. “I’ve been great; I’m supposed to graduate soon.” His eyes widened, “Really? That golden viper is almost done?” You smiled and opened your phone to show him, “Finished it recently.” The man squinted at the phone for a second, then shivered with a smile, “That thing still gives me the creeps!”

“That’s the point, tio.” You pocketed your phone, “Oh, and I’ll have my usual.” He gave you that warm smile that you’ve grown used to when talking to him. You paid and tipped generously as he cooked your patty on the grill. While the patty cooked, he dressed your top and bottom buns accordingly. He flipped the patty to wrap up your order when that was done.

Once that was done, he put everything together and wrapped it, “You’re going places, kid. Never forget that, and never doubt yourself either.” He patted your hand, holding your dinner. You put your free hand on top of his, “I won’t, and thank you so much, tio.” He waved you off with a smile, and you turned to leave, not before running into the man you locked away ten years ago.

“Do I recognize you?” He looked down at you as a form of intimidation. You shook your head, “No, you probably think I’m someone else. I’m very generic.” And with that, you left to eat in your studio. You feel eyes on you before taking an alleyway to a busy street.

You snuck back to the lab and ate silently, stunned by your encounter with Horvath. Your heart still beats wildly from the interaction; at least he didn’t remember you as much as David. So, you’ll count yourself lucky for that.

After you ate, you crept back into your studio to find Balthazar hugging a throw pillow you made for dear life. Poor guy hasn’t slept properly in a decade; you wouldn’t blame him if he slept more than eight hours.

You smiled and shook your head before entering the size/teleporting painting.

You walked out of the keychain size painting in your drawer apartment; you spent years making this. The small space stores bulk art supplies and life-size furniture you use here.

It’s not much: a small dining table with a mini working kitchen, a functioning bathroom gated off by handmade screen dividers, a bedroom, and a bookshelf where the miniature grimhold sits on the top. You notice that, when it’s tiny, it emits a very small aura—making it untraceable outside your sigiled room.

You quickly changed into your night attire and headed to sleep. Hoping that the year’s worth of prep will save you -and dave’s- rear ends over these next couple of days.

Chapter Text

The next morning, you awoke to equipment crashing, Bumper car lecturing, and Dave’s screaming. You groan; today is going to be very long and agonizing.

You quickly slip on some comfortable, yet socially acceptable clothing and slip out of the painting on your wall. You hid a laugh when you saw the painting trying its best to plug its fin-shaped ears.

“They’re so lucky I’m made of acrylic and not oil paints ‘cause I swear imma gonna permanently stain everything they own!” They grimaced but lightened their expression when they noticed you.

“I need to make a muting sigil.” You stated, going to pull out your sketchbook and try to find a nearby -and working- pen.

“Are spells still tough for you?” The painting tilted its head to the side; you can’t honestly tell if their expression held confusion or concern.

“It’s difficult for an easy answer,” you stated, giving more time for you to come up with a sentence with straggling and screeded words, ”I want to say that I can pull off some more minor spells with ease, but doing anything else beyond basic spells takes a lot out of me.” You huffed a laugh as a distant memory crossed your mind, ”I think the fireball incident was enough evidence that I struggle with anything spell related.”

The painting snickered, ”Yeah, that was something.” They averted their gaze momentarily before locking it back to you, ”You should take this time to practice; maybe try to use the Merlin circle when those noise makers are away.”

“You know,” you raised a finger and waved it around while your arms were folded, ”That’s an excellent idea.”

“Thanks, deary, I’m full of them.”

You snickered, ”Well then, where should I start?”

The painting smiled, ”Well don’t you have a whole book about magic doohickeys?”

You chuckled, ”Yes, I do.” You walked over to a small end table where the encantus was. You then open the book to the spell section, ”Tell me which one you like, and I’ll do it first.”

“Oooh, what’s this one on making stuff move on its own?” The painting’s excitement told you enough; you set the hefty book on your desk and began practicing it. All the while, the painting was encouraging you. Maybe you should try teaching them more about magic; perhaps their advice can help you later.

You at first tried the spell on your tiny glass statues, then moved up gradually as you could see improvement. You started to improve after a minor incident when your glass sphinx bit your index finger… ouch.

You were ready to tune out the chaos outside the safety of your studio, and when you did that, you found yourself improving much more.

You then moved on to more basic attack spells since the only one you knew was the fireball. You found it slightly shocking that the plasma bolt was easier to use.

You then went to a spell you almost didn’t see; it was an amplifying one. It was meant to strengthen magic; it was more for enchanting items, so you’ll keep that in mind later.

You then moved on to a healing spell; it would be your last one before you decided to take a walk outside. You needed that, for sure. Your worries about failure are starting to get to you.

‘What if I’m not strong enough?’

‘What if Dave gets hurt?’

‘What if-‘ you let out a sigh and focused your attention on performing the spell correctly,

Once you got the hang of that, you stepped out of your studio just as Dave put on his shoes. Balthazar could be seen arching a brow as he looked at you skeptically.

Dave faintly called out your name, ”I’m going to walk around NYU; wanna come?” He stood up, and you immediately hounded his side.

“Sure, we’ll be back in a bit.” You waved to the suspicious Balthazar as you left for Dave’s campus.

.

.

NYU isn’t that far of a walk from Dave’s lab; you both made it on campus within five minutes. Dave did trot ahead of you for a bit to talk to Becky, not that you minded anyway; you’re happy he’s found, someone.

You ended up excusing yourself and going to a newly-installed gender-neutral style bathroom that replaced all the other ones on campus. You went into a stall because bathrooms are the best places to have an existential crisis and reflect on your life. So you did just that.

You heard dave come in later, and you had to hide the laugh from him, singing about how he had just scored a date with Becky. But the moment didn’t last because the door opened and a new voice became known, “So you’re the one.”

Dave responded, “I’m sorry, what?” You can feel the keychain you made for dave alert you. Oh shit.

You could feel Balthazar near the building you’re both in, so… once again, you find yourself hesitant to reveal to the opposing side that you’re a sorcerer.

The new voice began to pick on him, making you think of all the stories dave told you from high school.

“This is high school all over again.”

Ah, there it is.

The banter was cut off by a familiar voice that you’d grown to memorize ten years ago. You peer through the tiny gaps in the bathroom stall, and your heart drops at the sight.

“I’m going to kill you, yes, here in this dismal bathroom.” The man you know as Whorevath began to mess with him a bit, taunting him with his condensing undertone. Okay, so you might need to step in soon. You went to move but felt Balthazar’s presence before you heard him enter.

“Sweetheart, you’ve put your faith in the wrong man!” He taunted; you’re starting to wonder if he will flirt with dave as he kills him; what an odd way to get off.

“Want your guy back?”

Immediately, chaos began to erupt in this dismal bathroom, and now you were watching this all in a dismal bathroom stall. What a time to be alive.

Horvath then lands a sick right hook on bunker star; you’re pretty sure they’d lose a tooth or break a bone if they weren’t sorcerers.

Balthazar gripped the Morganian’s shoulders and went to shove him into the large bathroom mirror. “It’s been a minute since I’ve seen the Hungarian mirror trap!” Whorevath grunted out, hmm… so that’s what it is. This might be of use to you later.

The two ancient scorers continued to stay in a heated brawl; they threw punches and dodged them with such ease that it looked like dancing. It just shows that they’ve been fighting each other for centuries; it’s kind of entertaining, to be honest.

They both take turns, almost shoving their adversary into the mirror; it’s scary to think either could lose in this struggle, but neither will let up. On the other end of the bathroom, you faintly see the person picking on Dave minutes before, starting to charge up a small spell.

Once again, the thought of intervening crossed your mind, but Dave came to your mental rescue, “Balthazar! Look out!” Blake ducked out of the way, and the lead Morganian took a blow and ended up in the mirror. They moved again to attack Balthazar, but with a quick snap of his fingers, the new pursuer was knocked into the stall next to you.

“C’mon Dave, let’s get out of here.” Balthazar’s voice became tired and solemn; something about this and the parallel with showing you his prior kin. They both made haste out of this dismal bathroom, and now you think you’ll need a minute to recuperate.

You were about to exit the stall, but you heard someone else come in and intend to use the urinals, but you could hear Horvath’s cane tap against the reflective glass, “Wake up that moron in stall number three, won’t you?” They made two steps and fainted on the ground, “Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

That’s when you timidly creeped out of the bathroom stall, hoping nobody would see you. Hovarth seemed to be wallowing in his silence, which you tried your best to take advantage of as you made it closer and closer to the door. You hope he can’t hear your shaky footsteps because you’re a huge ball of nerves right now.

“If that’s how you’ll lurk out of here, I suggest you take a different alternative.” Shit, so he had heard you. Fuck. Shit. All the fucks in the world couldn’t tell you how scary this situation is. (Even though you’re probably going to get into even more trouble later on in this escapade)

You froze, then turned around to meet his irritated gaze. “I suggest you go one stall from where you left and drag the bafoon, taking a leisurely nap, out of there and wake him up.” Your brows flicked up momentarily, “I’ll give them a rude awakening, just for you.” You went over to the stall missing a door, grabbed a man you thought you’d never see again by his ankles, and dragged him out. Giving Horvath’s satisfaction, you landed a blow on his side, “Wake up.” Another kick, “Come on.” He groaned, and you mock bowed to the man in the mirror and turned to leave.

“It seems that fate keeps having us meet.” You stopped dead in your tracks and faced him, “I apologize? I’m everywhere, even in places I’m not supposed to be.” You turned to leave once more, but this time your savior from half a decade ago called your name, “That’s your name, isn’t it?” You nodded hesitantly; you glanced over at Horvath, who looked at the guy who saved you years ago with a face void of emotion.

The guy smiled, “I saved their life years ago.” He smiled with an air of arrogance, which annoyed Horvath. You nodded and left quickly and silently.

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.

.

You returned to the lab to see that Dave had “tried” to use magic to clean his lab, and now it’s a mess. You moved to help, but Balthazar walked in and reversed Dave’s spell. He descended the stairs in a hasty fashion and began to scold Dave.

You skipped into your studio, pulled out the tiny painting, and began attaching slim leather straps. You feel you will have to use your enchanted paintings to an advantage soon. You can just tell. Some pit started to form in your stomach, and it’s only been growing more prominent as of late.

Attaching the straps to the tiny painting deemed harder than you thought it was; it took you a lot more time than what you bargained for. Then you were inspired to pick up on making some bracelets with that amplifying magic enchantment. So you did! Simple as that! (You did get a little lazy and enchanting some bracelets you already had… you want to sleep, what else is there to say!)

When you finally finished, you heard crashing outside your studio curtains.

Chapter Text

You had just finished turning your tiny painting into a little backpack for when you crawl through your regular size painting when violence could be heard on the other side of the curtains. You and the dragon painting shared some concerned looks.

Peering out from the curtain, you held in a gasp and quickly shut the curtain. They are here. And they had found Balthazar; you began to hold back the urge to hyperventilate. If you do, you’ll be caught by two very strong morganians and potentially killed. This is bad! So, so bad!

You then decided that now is the chance to intervene but in your way. You put the magic amplifying bracelets on, briefly feeling the incredulous amount of energy coursing through your veins and hopping into your full-size painting.

You hoisted the painting -you just came out of- on your back and called over your glass sphinx. You mounted your glass companion and let it exit your studio without having much suspicion rise.

It took a bit for your newly-animated companion to get used to its legs and wings, but in a few seconds flat, you were high - to you- in the air in no time. You considered making your sphinx a saddle so you can do this more often.

Seeing this room at this perspective- and this height, for that matter- has a charm; you’d generally admire it more, but not when the stakes are this high. You had your sphinx land near Dave’s textbooks and the Balthazar’s copy of the encantus to hide behind for cover.

You peeked over from the books to see Horvath taunting Balthazar -who’s bound by the Tesla coil he’s stuck to while that arrogant man who saved you years ago is searching for something… probably the grimhold.

“We used to fight together, side by side!” Balthazar looked defeated at his former comrade. His prior ally turned his back on Balthazar, “Oh, that ended years ago when Veronica chose you over me.” You can see the scowl on his face; it feels way more menacing when you’re roughly the size of two inches.

You would have focused more on what Horvath had also said, but you saw the man near the small table you were perched at. Each step the punk rock goth took in those boot/high heels/hot topic spiked shoes felt like a nail in your matchbox of a coffin.

You had your sphinx drop down in the jungle of wires below; you had it sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of David’s poor organization of electrical equipment. From the ground, you can practically feel each step anyone in this room takes. A slight vibration to them feels like an earthquake to you.

Then the footsteps stop; they feel right in front of you. Any movement, any peep out of you now, and you will be dead. Your heart began to beat so loudly that you were afraid your pulse might give you away.

“I don’t see the grimhold.” He finally said and walked away; you let out some air to resume breathing correctly, but HOLY SHIT, that was close! You had your sphinx climb out of vine-like electrical cords and return to your original position. “That’s because you’re using your eyes.” That was Horvath’s response; he then conjured a massive puff of smoke and sent it all over the lab.

You recognize that spell; it’s a close corridor tracking spell. The long-distance spell summons a small storm above the area the item is generally located. Anyways, a puff of smoke expands and waves all over the room, getting everywhere: crevices, tiny cracks in the wall, and even seeping between rooms. You’ve used this spell before (you lost your student ID and were super desperate), it’s super helpful, and right now, it’s going to be the death of you.

You see, the smoke temporally gives the spell-caster a sixth sense, allowing them to feel anything and everything the smoke touches. That’s cool, right? Yeah, it’s even better when the smoke closes on you.

Sphinx once again leaped off the small table and began to bury you and itself in the mess of enormous wires. You were able to peer out of a small gap to see where the smoke is because it’s on the move all the time until the desired item is found; you need to be ready to abandon your current hiding spot and find another just as fast.

Just as you suspected, some of the smoke is closing in, and you had your sphinx use the cover that the other pieces of large furniture offered to get to the other side of the lab. You got onto another countertop, you saw all the smoke had returned to Horvath. You covered your mouth from letting out that chest-tightening tense breath you held.

You can see Horvath eye your studio; the smoke couldn’t reach it; it’s warded off. “Block off the Grimhold with a warded room; that’s a new one, Balthazar.” Balthazar arched a brow at Horvath’s taunt; oh shit. Balthazar’s gears in his head are turning as Horvath begins to blast at the warded room; you can see sudden realization hit Dave’s mentor’s face.

That’s how you know that the safety of your magical secret is already in danger. Your time on the sidelines is running short; it’s only a matter of time before you have to intervene.

It took multiple blasts from Horvath’s focus for the ward to shatter. Each one felt like a punch to your heart. Your studio was your haven from this world. Thankfully, only the magical barrier was the only thing that was broken. Horvath then invaded your studio and came out with the shrunken grimhold pinched between his index finger and thumb. His focus glowed that bright blue hue again, and the grimhold grew to its standard size. Only then did you realize that any preparations you’ve made to prevent the grimhold from falling into the wrong hands had failed… You couldn’t buy Dave enough time to become the Prime Merlinean, and you’re too weak to stop Horvath from killing his former friend.

“It’s smaller than the last time I saw it.” He mused before opening his coat and sending a bunch of kitchen knives toward Balthazar. You winced but couldn’t take your eyes off the scene as the blades were moments away from killing Balthazar.

Then the knives stopped millimeters away from the ancient sorcerer’s neck, and all eyes turned up to the stairs and saw Dave leaving over the rail with his glowing dragon ring. You smiled, “It’s about damn time.” You whispered softly; Horvath’s eyes went in your direction, but you quickly hid behind a huge physics textbook. You’re walking a dangerous line, one more slip up like that, and you’re screaming for death.

With a brief shock, Balthazar freed himself from the Tesla coil he was stuck to. He then blasted Horvath in your direction, knocking him out temporarily. Chaos ensued with the other sorcerers in the room, and you made a decision.

You commanded the sphinx to fly to Horvath’s unconscious body and slip into one of the coat pockets. You figured that some undercover work must be done, and worst case scenario, you head back into your painting and end up back in your studio.

At this height, Horvath looks colossal. You know he’s ridiculously tall, but now it’s outright intimidating. Well, he looks peaceful when like this, but that perma-frown and icy glare might tell you to dig your own grave.

You were grateful that you slipped in his coat just in time because not a beat later, Horvath quickly rose to his feet. You tumbled around, trying to keep yourself still so he doesn’t check his pocket. “Drake, let’s go.” And he began to walk very fast; you can only assume that he was trying to get out of there before Balthazar and Dave could chase after them. Though, with this speed, it might as well be a head start.

It’s hard adjusting to Horvath’s moving patterns; you had an awful footing for a while, and you felt like you were being tossed around his pocket. You had to suppress the urge to regurgitate a few times.

Eventually, you did find your balance and began to sway with his coat drifting in the wind as he walked with haste. Though it’s short-lived again, you hear a car door open. You wouldn’t think it’s a big deal, but Horvath slid in his seat and knocked you off balance again.

You held in a grunt as you tumbled some more, though you need to be much more careful now. You can feel the coat pocket settle on his thigh, and you freeze entirely out of fear, silently praying that Horvath doesn’t notice the two tiny beings in his coat pocket.

You felt like you would eventually throw up if you didn’t regain your balance soon. As you thought you got your footing again, the car jerked forward and accelerated at ludicrous speeds. At this size, it feels like you’re in front-cart of one of those enormous roller coasters on Coney Island. You lose your footing again and accept just finding a spot to sit; it will help you deal with the chaos.

Horvath was shouting some directions (or insights you don’t know, his voice is so loud that you couldn’t make sense of it) while you assumed drake was driving. You couldn’t make out the words because the low timbre of his voice rumbled and shook you to the core. The car jerked around and crashed into things that made you consider Drake, a drunk driver.

More shouting and swerving later, you can finally hear something from Horvath, “Time for a little revenge.” The car jerked and hit another vehicle (you presume, joking that nobody got hurt), sending you off balance and toppling over your sphinx in the confined cloth space. Yeah, there’s no way he doesn’t feel you thrashing in his pocket anymore. You’re practically bouncing on his padded thigh.

Then the car was suddenly put in reverse and swerved into park. You tumbled around more and more, but then a huge weight settled on you. You went rigid; that’s Horvath’s hand. Oh no. nonononono!

Then it felt like the entire car was being raised, or was it growing? Changing, perhaps? You can’t tell anymore, and you’re a moment’s notice from having a panic attack and hopping back in your portal painting.

“Hello, Balthazar.” His low, taunting voice made you shiver despite being warm in his well-insulated pocket. Oh god, if you get caught right now. You were paralyzed by the feeling of Horvath’s gloved hand on his pocket. It felt like a weighted blanket, suppressing the stress from the outside world. It would’ve been amazing not considering the circumstances, but here you are. You held in a gasp when you heard the crushing of metal and Drake’s annoying laughter.

Then you were once again tumbling around in his pocket as he got out of the car and speed walked through the New York streets. You could tell he wanted to get out of there fast because of the number of people he pushed past.

You lost track of how much he was walking around; you only knew Drake was with him because of his plans to revive Morgana. Horvath said nothing. His hand was ghosting the pocket, making you a beat away from a panic attack. It just takes a little curiosity on his part, and you’re fucked. No, you would be dead.

You then heard the ding of an elevator and then the rush of being on a speedy elevator. You’re honestly surprised that you were able to make it so far without having to vomit.

There’s another ding and Horvath started walking again before quickly stopping. You could hear Drake fumble with the keys to unlock -what you assume is- his penthouse.

Then Horvath takes off his coat and hangs it on something, and his footsteps leave what you assume is a clothing hanger. Oh thank god.

“I need those satellite dishes aligned so then I can start the final preparations for releasing the last morgainians before I reach the final layer.” There was a pregnant silence, “What are you still doing here?” He seethed, even from the other side of the flat, his voice rumbles like thunder.

Well, if you want to be a step ahead, this is definitely a way to do it.

Chapter Text

You were paralyzed with fear, the fear of not knowing if Horvath was still nearby or not. Because you knew you’d be up close and personal with a man that would make the reaper run away scared if you were not careful.

This was a shitty idea.

Your glass sphinx was well aware that you were about to break down; it probably knew that since you slipped into the coat pocket in the first place. So, it rested its head on your lap and looked at you while your frantic breathing came to a slow.

You pet the animated glass figure as if it were a therapy dog, it must’ve felt your fear because of its link to your amplified magic. It’s probably feeling your emotions as if they were colossal waves threatening to sink thousands of ships and drown anyone who comes in contact with them.

Speaking of colossal. Your colossal adversary had no longer made any noises, the entirety of the flat is completely silent. You know for sure that Drake left to align the satellite dishes, but you’re not sure if Horvath is still here or not.

You took a deep breath and climbed out of the pocket. You stood on the edge of the fabric and helped your sphinx out of there, then you mounted it again and flew off.

At first, you were just aimlessly flying around, looking for a good spot to perch and spy on Horvath, but now you’re just trying to find out where Horvath is. Even for a penthouse, you feel like you’re in an expensive maze that gets more and more surreal with each room you enter.

“Sun Lok,” Horvath’s accent voice echoes through the entire place, “After two hundred years, you are finally free,” You directed the sphinx to follow the source of his voice, “You are needed to help free our next associate, Abigail Willams. Do you know her?” A beat of silence, “Well, she’s the little witch that put Salem on the map.”
Ah, a desk with a fireplace behind it; very classic for an antagonist office. You had directed the sphinx to perch on one of the pillars in the room’s entrance. Windows took up the walls, and the view isn’t bad you’d consider getting lost in the view that this building offers if the stakes weren’t so goddamn high!

There seemed to be no response from this Sun Lok, but you can only assume it was an agreement by a satisfied hum from Horvath. There was a beat of silence before Horvath decided to actually speak, giving you enough time to properly locate and enter the room Horvath is in, along with this Sun Lok. By the way, Sun Lok is confident enough to walk around without a shirt on, which is intimidating in itself.

“Excellent,” Horvath gripped his cane tightly, “I’ll send her your regards.” Before you or Sun Lok could even question what Horvath meant, the eldest Morganian charged forward and put the jewel of his cane on Sun Lok’s neck. Sun Lok collapsed on the floor, almost lifeless. He took Sun Lok’s focus and slid it on his staff.

“The parasite spell,” You murmured, worried what was going to happen next. Horvath then tapped the top of the nesting doll and a magical ring appeared in the middle of the doll, the shell with the younger sorcerer trapped in began to burn off.

The flames grew brighter and brighter to the point where you had to look away as the flames formed a little girl. “Master Horvath.” She bowed to him, “I await your instructions.” Horvath gave her a twisted grin and then spoke, “The Prime Merlinean has been found,” she looked up at him with concern. Dave’s full potential must be very powerful if they’re worried, so that’s good news… you suppose.

Horvath showed Abigail a photo of Dave, “He’s in love too,” The girl rolled her eyes, but then looked at Horvath once more, “Find whoever they are, they’ll be the bait to get the Dragon Ring and then we’ll be able to free Morgana.” The girl smiled and bowed once more.

You gasped, quickly covering your mouth to not attract any attention to yourself; ultimately failing. catching Horvath’s and Abagail’s attention. Horvath didn’t say anything but him white-knuckling his cane, which now glowed an even brighter blue, gave it away that he heard you. Abagail’s iris and pupils glowed red as she tried to find the source of the voice. You can only hope/assume that Horvath has no idea it was you because of how small you are.

His eyes searched the sky and that was your cue to get the fuck out of there. The Sphinx hopped off the pillar and flew into the other rooms that this penthouse has to offer. A growl from Horvath was your only indication that he’s spotted you.

Shit.

As you expected, spells began to be hurled in your direction as you directed the sphinx away from magical hazards from behind you. Looking over your shoulder, you can see that Horvath is taking chase while Abagail continues to fire spells at you.

You won’t be able to reach the doors in time. You could cop out and escape through the painting, but you’re not sure what kind of spell Horvath could use on the painting and use that to his advantage. You looked at the window and sighed, if there’s a will there’s a way. “Brace for impact.” You pet the glass sphinx head, and you then directed it toward the window while casting a Shield spell.

You got closer and closer to the window while Horvath began to close to the gap between you and him. With one last flap of the sphinx’s it lurched forward while Horvath’s hand came in your peripherals.

The sphinx broke through the window and you were free from Horvath’s grasp. The cool night air felt refreshing from what you just ran out of. But saving your own hide isn’t as important as saving Becky’s!

You need to find her before Abagail does!

First, you need to figure out where the hell you are in New York so you can get back to the lab. You looked down at any buildings you recognize and your eyes landed on one of the campus buildings that belong to NYU. From there, the subway turnaround is just left of it!

Without further thought, you began to fly to the subway turnaround, knowing that time might not be on your side. Every second that passed reaching your destination felt like a century, your heart began to beat wildly as the weight of Becky’s safety -and the situation as a whole- is starting to dawn on you.

You arrived back inside the subway turn and went back into your destroyed studio, it broke your heart to see it in such a condition, but you can’t worry about that at the moment; no matter how much of your work was broken.

Thankfully, the painting you needed was one of the few things that made it out alive. So, you landed the sphinx and took off your painting backpack, and hopped in the enchanted painting without a second thought.

As expected, you came out of the normal-sized painting at your regular size. You grabbed your copy of the keys to the subway turnaround and bolted toward NYU. It may not be far, but it feels like forever with how much you’re panicking for another’s well-being.

One thing you did find odd, is that the streets are empty. It’s only the early evening, so normally the people who’ve worked until the late hours would start to get out of work and pack the streets. You can only assume this is supposed to help the young witch find the people that Dave holds close and dear to his heart.

You had made it to the NYU campus completely out of breath and a side stitch that hurts to high heaven. You had doubled over to catch your breath because

You entered the campus studio and saw Becky packing up her records and CDs’ for the day. You felt a wave of relief wash over you as you knocked on the glass door, hoping you were calm enough for her not to question what happened to you and where you just were.

You were not.

You hesitantly knocked on the door, and Becky looked in your direction. At first, she was alarmed that someone would be in the studio other than her, but she relaxed when she looked at your face. “Y/n?” You nodded, “Yeah, I figured we can talk, Dave had told me a lot about you.” You can see her look at you in deep thought, “Did you run here?” You nodded, “Because I wasn’t sure if you were going to be here when I was finished with my project.”

“Are..” She took a step forward, now noticing that you were partially freaking out, “Are you alright?”

You tried to shrug it off, but you knew that your facade wasn’t fooling anybody. “I-“

A knock startled the both of you and your face paled. The Salem getup and those beady little eyes are the same as you saw in the penthouse. Becky walked behind you and whispered in your ear, “Do you know her?” You shook your head.

“I’d like to make a request.” She smiled and her eyes were glowing red as she stepped forward.

Oh no.

Chapter Text

“I wasn’t sure who specifically has Dave’s heart, but they both are still important in the boy’s life.” Honestly, you could’ve broken out of Abigail’s magical bounds on you… you could’ve if you wanted to cause a freakout.

“Becky, you’re going to be alright.” Dave reached out his hand in a soothing manner to calm down the panicking blonde. “No, she’s not,” Horvath interrupted Dave, “She’s going to ground up into chunks and fed to the cat; unless you give me Merlin’s Ring and the Grimhold.” You’re not sure why the child is holding you captive, but that’s an L move for Team Bad Guy as you landed a right hook on the little girl.

“I’d normally refrain from harming kids, but you’re a couple of hundred years old and you tried to kill me.” Horvath’s head snapped to you and the girl on the floor. Becky took that as an advantage to stab his foot with her heels, Horvath loosened her hold and then she kneed him where it hurt. Becky bolted toward Dave and you bolted towards the exit.

An L move on your part. 

Horvath collected his bearings and dragged you over to him with a spell, and you are once again a hostage. His grip was firm, but it didn’t hurt you. He had a hand over your chest and pressed you against him. His focus was pressed against your neck, but it lacked the threatening glow that it had before.

You reached into your pocket, grabbing hold of a pen you’ve had since grade school. “You know the drill: Give me Merlin’s ring and the Grimhold and your little friend here lives.” You could feel the vibrato of his voice reach your entire being. If you’re being honest, you could feel his heartbeat and his chest rise as you are pressed against him.

It’s not like that matters….. so, you clicked the pen. Reversing the gravity of the room. There was a brief pause before confusion set amongst the humans and sorcerers. The realization only dawned on the group when furniture and artwork began to ascend.

Dave sputtered as he tried to get a grip on his focus, fumbling with the ring a couple of times with his poor hand dexterity. It makes you wonder if he can even throw a ball correctly. Becky was trying to get away from the situation while you were watching Dave struggle to slip on his ring.

You are the only one familiar with this enchantment, which is surprising that there is an ancient sorcerer holding you hostage at the very moment. It just only proves that you can change the tides of a battle on a whim and even the playing feel overall.

It seems that your consistency of thinking outside of the box is your ace in the sleeve. Which, It tracks, but it also can be the death of you if you’re not careful. The size-changing paintings were a prime example, the smaller size made it so much easier for stealth, but a moment longer and you would’ve been crushed in Horvath’s hand.

Speaking of Horvath…..

His hold on you went away, so you swam through the air to safety. Horvath’s face shone nothing but surprise, his eyes wide as everyone else took to the air. “Balthazar,” Horvath grits his teeth as his focus glows brighter.

Yup, it’s time to get the hell out of there.

Dave and Becky -who were still trying to grasp the situation- attempted to do the same thing as you, but they looked like a bunch of flailing toddlers struggling to swim. Under different circumstances, you would’ve found that funny; but with Horvath trying to take control of the hostage situation for the magical artifacts, it was more teeth-clenching than anything else.

Horvath began to fire plasma bolts at the duo, and Dave tried his best to use the little magic he learned to defend his helpless crush. Abigail just looked like a corpse floating through the air, which was kind of disturbing.

Some of the bolts were specially aimed at you. So, you treated it like a dodgeball game back in school. The jocks always singled you out for hiding in the back, so they would throw the balls at you at the speed of a bullet. It’s honestly scary how hard a twelve-year-old boy can throw something if it means they get to watch someone suffer.

The plasma bolts crashed into nearby pieces of artwork and furniture, smashing all of the custom-made objects into smithereens. Your inner artist died inside at the sight. Statues are blown apart and specially made paintings are torn from the blast.

Dave tried to fight back, using his small magical skillset to the best of his ability. His ring flickered and flashed a forest green as he attempted to conjure any of the few spells he knew. He scrunched up his face as he concentrated on forming a plasma bolt.

All he did was make a tiny spark that fizzled out two feet in front of him…Well, at least he tried.

Horvath laughed and You sighed and clicked your pen, returning the gravity to its normal state. You landed on both feet and watched as everyone else landed face-first on the ground. You honestly would have laughed, but the pure fear and adrenaline pumping in your veins had you acting out on just a mere whim.

You ran over to Becky -dodging any form of magical projectiles sent from Horvath- and pulled her out of the penthouse. You slammed the door to the penthouse and you ran, dragging Becky along with you. Down the stairs and out of the building; it may have been quite a few flights that you both ran down, but it’s probably for the best. 

Heads turned to the booth of you in the lobby, but neither of you cared. You were far more focused on getting the hell out of there and somewhere remotely close to safety before a coherent thought crossed your mind tonight.

What you did need to think about was where to sleep for the night. You were more focused on getting outside of the damn building, getting away from immense danger. Becky tugged at your wrist and ran in the direction of the residential side of New York. You can only assume that she’s leading you back to her place for the evening.

Phew.. at least she can think on her feet. You sure as hell can’t.

The New York streets weren’t bad in the evening, especially when you got away from the more populated roads. Jaywalking was more of an unspoken answer rather than a question, getting that close to death can really change someone’s current mood quite fast.

Most streets had little to no cars on it, making it really easy for you and Becky to traverse the concrete jungle’s streets. Your lungs screamed and ached for you to stop, but you couldn’t. You still didn’t feel safe, and you might not for the remainder of this sorcerer escapade.

Then it dawned on you.
Will this ever end?

Will Dave truly master magic? Because it doesn’t seem playable at the moment. Honestly, it’s more so a constant struggle on getting a hold of a damn magical doll prison. You’re not keen on such concepts. You and Dave have to graduate, and there are still classes for another month.

You may have gotten your magnum opus done, but you do not want to spend every single minute throwing your life on the line over a damn doll. At that point, you’re better off trapping someone in a mirror and taking their focus so they can’t get out without the outside help.

Anyway, you need to break this damn cycle, you want to nip this thing in the bud so you can move on with your life. There’s no way in hell that you’re going to stay in New York for the rest of your life. Constant life-threatening battle daily is not ideal for an upcoming artist.

Your thoughts began to fade away as Becky slowed to a stop in front of a door leading to an apartment complex. She unlocked it, fumbling with the keys just like a damsel in a horror movie; it’s so silly how poor their decision-making skills are when their lives are at stake.

She grabbed your wrist and pulled you inside the complex, silently trotting through the halls; wanting to get to her room fast, but not fast enough to the point where her neighbors start to bitch. She -once again- lacked the dexterity to properly hold her apartment keys correctly.

She got the apartment door opened soon enough, and you were yanked inside by Becky. She almost slammed the door shut and began to lock it, even going as far as to place a few heavy objects in front go the entryway to ensure that nothing could get in to harm you and her.

Though, with the way that Horvath and that other guy broke into Dave’s lab, you have a feeling that they can get into any room no matter what. She had moved a small dresser and a chair in front of the door, she then whipped around to face you with heavy breaths. 

“What was that?!” She was gasping for air, tears prickling the ends of her eyes. “Sit down, and I’ll try to explain everything.” You held out your hands in front of you to show Becky that you are not a threat because you know for certain that she’ll think you are when you show her magic.

“That was magic,” You started, she nodded slowly since she witnessed the physical evidence in the apartment, “And only specific people can wield magic.” You rolled up your sleeves to show off your arm bracelet, the focus gem in the cobra’s mouth shined brightly.

“From my knowledge; myself, Dave, a man named Balthazar, the girl who captured us, and the guy holding you captive are sorcerers” You listed off some people as if that would help deescalate the situation, “We need focus in order to preform magic.” You gesture to your arm bracelet as it glows brighter, you hail your backpack and a few art supplies from the lab.

Becky appeared to be in a cold sweat, she was moving away from you. It is what it is, honestly, if you didn’t think on your feet like you did ten years ago you would’ve been traumatized just as she is now. “You’re-“ She took in a sharp breath, “One of them..”

“Yeah, but there’s no way that I’m strong enough to fight that guy earlier. Not to mention, your safety is very important to me.” Your earnest expression appeared to ease some worries, but it’s obvious that she’s still on the adrenaline high.
It’s a feeling you’ve gotten to know well: the heavy pounding in your heart and the urge to keep moving no matter what. You’ve experienced it quite a lot since Horvath and Bumper Car were released from an urn you knocked on them ten years ago.

“Well,” she finally huffed out the words that must have caught her throat, “Thank you for getting me out of there.” You nodded, “Dave will be alright, he’s got a bit of help with him.” Becky arched a brow, but didn’t question it further; potentially knowing that the answer would already be magic or magic-related.

You hummed, then looked over at the window that opened itself. In came the items that you willed from the lab, Becky yelped and jumped back. You held both of them out to her, and she immediately calmed down because there was no way you would kill her with a paintbrush.

“Do you mind if I work on some homework?” You asked, she waved you off, “Oh no, you’re fine. I just might ask for help because I have an art class.” You smiled as you set your bag down, pulling out your supplies, “Of course, you can just bring your assignment out and I’ll help you.”

Becky smiled and retreated into one of her apartment rooms. Moments later, she came out with a few pencils and a sketchbook in hand. You had knelt on the ground and began to work on an assignment, it was an easy one. You just had to draw a few pages worth of figure drawings, you could knock this out within a few minutes…. If you don’t get distracted.

Becky quickly sat next to you and began to tell you about her assignment, which lucky for her was essentially the same one but with far fewer pages than you were assigned to do… lucky duck.

You weren’t foreign to teaching or assisting someone with assignments, but you were rusty. Granted the similarities in assignments helped, so the two of you were in an art groove in the matter of no time.

It wasn’t long before Becky finished her assignment, so she put her sketchbook in her bag. You could feel her eyes on you, “Yeah?” You tilted your head in your direction. “I’m just worried about Dave.” Ah, so she does care for him after all. That’s good. You weren’t sure of her right away.

“Ah, don’t worry, Dave will be fine. I bet he’s on his way-“A knock at the front door cut you off, further proving your point. (Hopefully) Not a beat later, Becky clambered on the furniture to look through the peephole.

“It’s Dave,” she breathed out, completely relieved that the love interest did actually survive like you said he would. You hummed, moving out all the furniture preventing the door from opening with your magic, allowing Becky to properly open the door.

Becky opened the door and she was immediately held by Dave, “Becky! Are you alright?!” He held her close with a confidence that was unlike him. You arched a brow, Dave never had the confidence to be near girls and speak complete sentences.

Something isn’t right.

“I-“ She tried to speak, but no words came out at first, I’m fine.” She then stepped back, “Once Y/n got me out of there, they brought me up to speed and helped me with my homework.” You hummed and nodded, from the glance that Dave gave you. That’s also unlike him, he was raised to give everything his full attention; his mother would consider the side glance quite rude, and he was a momma’s boy.

“Dave” opened his mouth to say something, but the door was opened again. This time by Balthazar, with the Grimhold in hand. “Good you’re all alive,” he mused, and “Dave moved his hands behind his back, showing off his dragon ring to you without his knowledge.

Your eyes widened;

The gem glowed blue.

You froze, going stiff as a board. Your gut was right, Horvarth is here parading as your childhood friend. What’s more surprising is that Balthazar -the most experienced sorcerer in the room- has no idea that his enemy is parading as his apprentice.

Balthazar then walked over to you, not before shrinking the doll, and placed the Grimhold in your hand. “Since you were so good at hiding things last time, I trust you to hold onto this.” You nodded, completely unsure if you should be allowed to watch over such a powerful magical artifact again.
It’s obvious to doubt yourself, Horvath broke in and destroyed your sigiled studio without the bat of an eye. Hell, any sort of preparations you’ve done up to this point has fallen flat. Sometimes you truly wonder if you’re cut out to be a sorcerer in the first place.

“Uh,” You shifted uncomfortably with the Grimhold in your hands, “Sure?” You shrugged, pocketing the tiny doll in your hoodie pocket. He then turned to Horvath, “After your encounter with Horvath this evening, it’s obvious that you need to train more-“

“If you’ll excuse me,” You then walked into the bathroom, hoping that the situation in the living room wouldn’t escalate as you began to attach a key chain to it. The spell itself was fairly simple, but you didn’t want to raise suspicion.

The walls were fairly thick, so any eavesdropping was out of the question. You ended up just sitting on the toilet for a few minutes to think about the consequences of all of your actions leading up to this point.

Moments later, you re-entered the living room and everyone went silent. Becky looked like she wanted to say more, but you could see her entire posture droop. “I think I’m going to sleep now. You can stay if you want.” Balthazar then spoke up, “Well, I bid you goodnight. Dave,” The imposter turned to look at Balthazar, “It’s obvious that you need to train more.”

“A- are you sure? I-“ Before Horvath could continue his pretty close impression of Dave, Balthazar waved him off and left, “Then come back tomorrow to train.” The door was slammed, and it appeared that Balthazar was in a sour mood.

Becky walked to her bedroom, “There’s a guest bedroom across mine.” She pointed to the room across from the one she just disappeared in, “Goodnight.” Was echoed before her bedroom door shut.

“Goodnight,” You uttered, knowing full well what was going to happen next. So, you decided to delay the fact that Horvath will try to kill you. You opened the screen door, giving you the perfect view of the New York smog.

You can feel the measured footsteps Horvath took to follow you out on the balcony, once again, a flaw in his acting skills. (Dave normally trips every third step) Though, if you don’t essentially live with Dave in the subway turnaround, you would’ve been none the wiser.

“How are you after all of that?” You finally said after a long beat of silence. “I’m shaken up, but otherwise I’m fine.” You hummed and turned to him, “What was that? All those weird energy bolts and the gravity flipping? That’s-“ You pretended to be out of breath and in shock, “That’s not normal.” 

“I am a sorcerer,” He showed you his ring that glowed blue, “I can cast spells and move this with my mind… it’s a lot.” He sighed, “Balthazar hasn’t been the best teacher.” You hummed and nodded, that was one thing that Horvath got right.

Balthazar is.. an old-fashioned teacher. He’s still in the do-or-die mindset in the twenty-first century. Therefore, his teachings and life lessons are far outdated. Not to mention, he hasn’t had training in over a thousand years nor has he taught anyone before Dave. 

Most importantly, he is unaware of the modern American mindset. Mental health is becoming more of a prominent thing nowadays, therapy is advertised frequently and awareness in most workplaces has greatly improved.

From what you have heard from Dave’s training sessions, is that he messes up and Balthazar lectures him on him needing to do better rather than giving any actual advice that could be used to improve his magical talent.

“Must be an interesting lifestyle,” you focused on looking at the New York smog. “It’s interesting for sure.” You can feel his act of Dave is starting to fade. Well… it’s time to call him out on it.

“I think I can start coating the Sneaky Serpent in silver,” You mused, “it’s going to take a while, I hope I can get it done before the due date.” Horvath hummed, “I’m sure you can pull through, you’re always a hard worker.” Gotcha, bitch.
You chuckled lowly, causing Horvath to look at you confused, “What is it?” 

“Well, I know that’s not you, Dave,” You looked up at him to see any changes in facial expression, “and I think you know that too.” You tucked your hands into your hoodie pocket, thumbing the shrunken Girmhold key chain.

“And here I thought my performance was taken rather well,” The lower accented voice rang through the air. You looked up and saw that Dave began to grow, both in height and in weight; his face began to change into the evil wizard you know and… fear.

Speaking of fear, you felt panic shoot from your stomach to the rest of your body. Your instincts screamed at you to run for the hills. You huffed, “It was,” shaking your head, you decided to face him head-on, “but I’ve known that idiot before he could tie his shoes.”

“Well then,” Horvath pressed his focus gem to his lips, closing his eyes in thought before speaking to you again, “You know that sorcerer and magic exist, that alone can put you in a dangerous situation.” His focus glowed brighter for emphasis as if he was trying to threaten you.

“Well, the last time I saw you was in a reflection of a mirror,” Horvath huffed as you side-eyed him, “I think I know what I’ve got myself into.” Horvath gave up on appearing bold or intimidating after that, he rather chose to lean on the banister with you.

“It seems that we keep meeting,” He spoke after a minute of admiring the bleakness that New York offered. “It seems so,” You replied, “Is that bothering you?” Horvath’s head swayed in your direction, “No, it doesn’t. For now.”

You sighed, “The feeling is mutual.” Honestly, if you weren’t playing it off as a big deal, you’d be screaming your lungs out for help. Because the second he finds out you’re a sorcerer is the second that he’ll try to kill you.

“In Dave’s lab,” he started, earning your attention immediately, “There was a studio of sorts behind a curtain. Was that yours?” You nodded a bit, “It is, though if there’s anything magical about it that probably wasn’t done by me.“

“I assumed so,” he mused, “It pains me to say that I may have destroyed parts of it.” You sighed, “As long as you didn’t harm my statue, I need that to graduate.” You know it wasn’t harmed, but still… if you’re going to continue to lie through your teeth to a very dangerous man, you better keep it up.

“Is that the Sneaky Serpent you mentioned before?” He asked, standing straight. You hummed and did the same, scrunching up your face as a few choice bones in your back popped. “Tell me about it, I’m normally a fan of the arts.”

“Well,” you took in a deep breath, “There are countless statues where the snake or any sort of serpent has been depicted as cruel or conniving.” You glanced over at him to see if he was still listening, his eyes were wide and attentive; unlike the man who was holding you hostage.. you’re probably not going to talk about it just to be safe.

“I figured that such an animal didn’t deserve to be treated like that, it’s honestly misunderstood. So, I wanted to make a statue where the serpent can be itself, it can bear its fangs without the judgment of others.” You finished your spcheal of your art piece that you memorized by heart.

“Well, I can relate to such a thing,” He responded, “I’m certain that it will get the praise that it deserves.” His genuine look scares you. It’s not uncanny, but it looks more natural than his perm-frown. “Ah, thank you.”

“Now, as much as I am intrigued by your art, there’s something far more important that I need to ask of you.” Ah, there it is…

“That doll that Balthazar gave you. It’s called the Grimhold, and it’s a powerful artifact that I need.” His face went serious, but not angry, “May I have it?” You thumbed the Grimhold in your pocket nervously.

On one hand, you can have your life spared; but on the other, you can become Horvath’s new target.

Your breathing becomes heavy as the shrunken doll rests in your hand.

Chapter Text

Balthazar entered the subway turnaround, once again left alone with his thoughts; once again left alone with the dread of the last thousand years worth of fighting. Fighting for the shot of being free, to finally live a life of a subordinary human.

He found himself already holding the Encantus, his body essentially moves like clockwork without his full knowledge nowadays. Not to mention, that all the fighting has been numb to him for the longest time.

He knows the patterns, he knows the spells. There hasn’t been a single thing that he has not seen before. Some sort of ace hidden in someone’s sleeve had been put there by him all those years ago. Honestly, he could do the whole thing with his eyes closed

“Balthazar?” Dave’s voice cut through the sanity of the turnaround. “Dave?” He tilted his head to the side, “Weren’t you at Becky’s apartment?” Dave furrowed his brows, but panic began to show on his face when the pieces began to put themselves together.

“Becky’s apartment? I’ve been waiting here for you since we escaped the penthouse!” He exclaimed, “You said to wait for me here, and I did. If Y/n is with Becky then she’s safe.” His voice wavered, when Balthazar turned back to look at him. 

“How would she be safe? This Y/n just knows about magic and sorcerers, they don’t possess any magical abilities.” 

“They are a sorcerer!” Dave blurted, causing Balthazar to freeze and look at him in shock, “How do you think the Grimhold was shrunken? I didn’t put on this ring over the last ten years it was all them!”

“They lack a focus-“ Dave cut him off, “It’s an armband! They always wear long sleeves so nobody would get suspicious!” Balthazar stiffened, “What color is their focus?” 

“Uh…purple.. I think.” Balthazar froze, looking at the sorcerer’s heritage page; he flipped through the bloodlines and all the focus color affiliation and complimenting designs. The only focus with that color is…
“Veronica.” His grim expression showed so much pain and confusion for that name. She’s only been trapped in that doll and apparently became quite the conundrum because of it. She is becoming a muse of mystery for.. everyone. She’s the reason why Horvath switched sides, she’s the reason why the grim hold is even a bargaining chip. 

“What?” Dave pulled back, appalled. Though, more so out of interest than shock, it all leads back to her, unfortunately. 

“Before she was Merlin’s apprentice, she fell in love with another. She conceived a child and it was soon born with magic, just like her.” Balthazar then avers his gaze, “She casted a spell to weaken the magic in her bloodline, so they can have a life that she did not have. But with your friend, they seem to have squeaked through and have magic.”

“I-“ Dave was silenced by Balthazar, “That’s not important right now. Horvath is left alone with a weak sorcerer who has the Grimhold.” Balthazar went back out of Dave’s lab, willing the metal eagle outside of the abandoned subway turnaround.

Balthazar hopped on and stared at Dave in dismay as he poorly attempted to mount the eagle as well. Balthazar rolled his eyes, pulling him up right before the eagle took off into the night. The bird flew past the New York, passing above the skyline. 

The view was great, if a lot wasn’t at stake at the moment.

Dave couldn’t even remember the moment the eagle had landed in front of Becky’s apartment, everything was a blur and now he’s watching you in your distraught lean on the balcony railing. Balthazar wanted to say something, to scold you, but Dave didn’t allow it… just this one time.

“Am I? I don’t stand a chance,” was all you said, not wanting to show him your tear-stained face; there were times when you broke, where your body caved under the pressure. You’d cry, you’d scream, you’d feel trapped with nowhere to go. This was one of those moments when you knew you’d just been had, but you’re still alive….. for now.

“But you’re the best sorcerer I know,” Dave interjected, but you stopped, “He would’ve killed me, Dave! And Becky! And anybody else who knows you!” Your voice was uneven as you horribly attempted to be stern and strong.

“You may have called the Grimhold and myself dangerous, but you just willingly put that doll into the most dangerous hands of all,” Balthazar spoke, his voice eerily calm as always. He’s been aware and lucid for a millennia, he must’ve been in worse situations beyond your comprehension.

“Do you know where he could be?” Dave turned to Balthazar, and he nodded, “There was a map back at the penthouse. The spell is going to take place at Battery Park,” He turned to you, and it looked like he wanted to call you to fight as well, but your pure display of cowardice kept the words in his throat.

“How the mighty has fallen,” Balthazar whispered, his voice so hushed that you would’ve mistaken it for the wind as he opened the front door once more. Dave quickly followed him out, leaving you in a puddle of self-pity observing the bleak New York cityscape.

You can’t tell which was worse, the slam of the door or the defeated sigh from Dave. He’s always been there for you, like the little brother you never had.

It was you, the pollution that the city brings, and the honking cars from congested traffic. 

You wanted to cry your eyes out. Though, that wouldn’t solve anything, you’ve come to learn that far too many times. No matter if you couldn’t get the detail right in a painting or chisel too much of a statue, or you just couldn’t muster the strength to draw that day; you always came back from it. Granted, with a snack and twenty minutes.

You normally move a little slower the rest of the day when that normally happens, but you pick yourself up fairly quickly. Right now, you need to move no matter what.
As much as you gave the ace in the sleeve to the enemy, that doesn’t mean you can’t turn the tides of the fight.

….

You can’t remember how you had gotten to the park so fast, but now you’re here witnessing a modern-day sorcery battle that will determine the fate of humanity. You knew that the world would die out if you didn’t intervene, so you used a spell to change your face and clicked the pen.

Everyone in Battery Park began to levitate. Horvath lost focus on freeing Morgana, giving you enough wiggle room to intervene. You grabbed hold of the Grimhold by the now-larger key chain and searched the air for Dave’s teacher.

Horvath, who’s already fallen for this trick once, used his focus to guide himself through the air to stop you. You winded up your throwing arm and lobbed the magical prison, directing the Grimhold back to Balthazar, who caught it before you clicked the pen again.

You scampered out of sight, chasing to hide behind a telephone box as the sorcerers began to duel. Balthazar had caught the Grimhold like a football but fell hard due to the weight of the enlarged keychain addition when the gravity reverted to normal.

Horvath took advantage of this, having landed just fine on his feet- to launch an assault of spells before using the strength of all the magical jewelry to call over the magical artifact. The Grimhold soared through the air toward him, but stopped in the center of the park; Balthazar intervened, trying to stop the calamity that was prophesied a thousand years ago.

The Grimhold fell slowly and ended up perched in the center of the fountain as Balthazar was combatting Horvath, it appeared that the focuses attached to his cane had empowered him, filling his body full of magical energy as he overpowered Dave’s mentor.

The Grimhold was opened when Balthazar was knocked on the ground, setting free a black mass that eventually formed a body containing two souls. It appeared that the Morganian leader was the one in charge at the moment, she was starting The Rising.

Dave was nowhere in sight, but with how the spell was being performed, you could only assume that he was either stuck in traffic, aligning the satellite dishes, or both. With Balthazar down, it’s probably for the best that you stall and potentially prevent the spell from being complete.

You took a deep breath and channeled one of your artworks sitting in your studio while also trying to stay hidden from the other two sorcerers. Even if you used a spell to make you look like a different person, your life is still at risk.

“Did you know that a gored matador can take up to three days to die? Sounds quite painful doesn’t it, Balthazar?” Horvath said, his cocky tone made you livid; though any further thoughts were put on hold when you saw the Wall Street bull come to life.

Your eyes widened as the bull charged at Balthazar, the sorcerer quickly ran and ducked behind the nearest car. The bull impaled the half-ton of steel making the automobile look like a crushed soda can. Balthazar tried to run somewhere else, but Horvath had sent a recycling bin after him, knocking him off his feet.

Before the bull could finish Balthazar off, it was suddenly knocked to the ground, it was being coiled rapidly. Balthazar quickly scampered to his feet, and took for the Grimhold. Horvath wasn’t aware, he was more focused on the car with a Tesla coil strapped to the front of it.
Dave was at the wheel, so you assume he’s found a way to mix science with magic…… aaaand your assumption appeared to be right when Dave hit a switch and electrocuted Horvath. The sorcerer screamed in pain, then collapsed to the ground when Dave turned off the switch.

He quickly got out of his car and started to rant to you about how sorcerers are good conductors for energy, but it was all rushed and panicked so you understood about every other word or two. “Look, thats great, but an ancient sorcerer is about to be set free. I’ll handle this one right here.”

Dave nodded and ran inside the park, just when there was an explosion that went off in the center of the park. The spell that Morgana was performing appeared to be very complicated, so you can assume this was the consequence of it going awry.

Though, you weren’t quite sure what exactly was going on in the center of the park, you were wracking your brain on what to do with the ancient sorcerer passed out at your feet. You glanced over and saw that Dave was using magic without a focus. Good for him, you suppose.

While Dave had gained the power he inherited from Merlin, you looked down at Horvath and made a decision. It’s going to take out-of-the-box thinking to keep him locked up, and you have just the idea of keeping him away from everyone else.

You used the levitation spell on him and carried his unconscious body through the dimly lit streets of New York…..

Chapter Text

Horvath groaned as he was brought back into consciousness. His head throbbed and his arms felt limp and lighter than they were before, it had to be from David’s little science project. Most importantly, he could feel the lack of energy his focus provided him. His eyes popped open, that alone was enough to sober him up from the hazy recovery of the battle. He got to his feet immediately and observed his surroundings.

The room he’s in is familiar, no doubt; but why? The uniquely crafted furniture, the artwork strewn everywhere, and the-… the curtains! The warded curtains that separated David’s little lab space from here! Balthazar must’ve trapped him here. Without his focus, he’ll be unable to leave the heavily warded room.

This is an issue, truly. No other Morganians can free him because he’s the only one left who represents the evils in magic across the world. Not only that, but since the prime Merlinean was found, he’ll age unless he once again casts the spell his master used on him. So, dying here is his fate now.

The curtains opened and closed. He groaned, this will be fun.

“Hey.” He froze at the voice, it didn’t belong to Balthazar nor David; it was you, leaning on the doorless door frame with arms folded over your waist. Then he realized that he’s not only trapped in the sigiled art room, but he was also stuck in a mirror.

Your face was solemn as he realized that he was stuck in reflective glass. “I designed that mirror myself,” You sighed, unsure of what your relationship with this centuries-old sorcerer is, “The silver and gold leaf rims were a pain to twist, but that’s how I learned I can’t handle designing metal accents very well-“

“Shut up.” He firmly spoke and you frowned. He swallowed any further insult or threat, you weren’t pathetic, you did grace him with your presence after all. Maybe that could be of use, “I need you to do something for me-“ he stopped talking when your facial expression didn’t change, you only shook your head. “You’ve seen my staff, it must be nearby.”

“Horvath, you know I can’t.” Your expression was pitiful, something he never wanted to see again and he grits his teeth, “Then why are you here?” He flicked an eyebrow and you sighed, lowering your head and shaking it. “Because I have work to do,” your tone lacked any emotion, your face blank as you walked over to your desk and pulled out the supplies before speaking again, “As much as you want to be a menace in my life, You being trapped in my hand-crafted mirror isn’t going to stop me from graduating college and getting a career.”

You blinked a few times as if you remembered something, “Speaking of graduating,” You shut your eyes and took a deep breath, the three-gemmed focus wristlets began to glow, “I need to get my magnum opus back in the studio.”

Horvath furrowed his brows, but didn’t say anything as you continued to channel your magic with lightly closed eyelids and even breathing. He knows better than to interrupt a magic user when they’re channeling their magic. 

Moments later, the giant brass snake slid into the room at mach ten and charged at the mirror, fangs showing. Horvath stumbled backward, fearing for his life and clutching his chest. “Behave! You had the entire fight to be violent.” You called the snake to the open part of the studio, allowing it to take its original pose and lose its sentience, “I’ll use you when I need to, I promise.” You patted the snake’s head before going back to your desk.

“You.. are a sorcerer.” He said, finally deciding to be civil again. “Well, there’s no point in hiding it anymore,” You said flatly as you continued to paint, not bothering with looking in his direction. “Was all of this; the enchanting and shrinking of the Grimhold, your doing?” You didn’t answer him, which was enough for him to know, “and here I thought Balthazar was all that.” He exhaled as he remembered how much skill in magic -used in strange ways- was used against him.

Once again, you didn’t respond choosing to make all your paint supplies float. You brought a couple of canvases in the air and began to paint on them all at once, magic helps you multitask which in turn helps your art skill improve.

“You, are quite cruel.” He finally said, trying to chip at your emotions; but you’re made of steel with a heart made of ice, “As are you, Horvath.” He looked at you as if you had just spit on a loved one’s grave.

He then chose to be petty, “You are well aware that I’m better addressed than just my last name.”You scoffed, “I could address you as The Merlin Betrayer instead.” And he was speechless, blinking repeatedly as he brought his head back.

You stayed silent, having your magic paint out your thoughts on canvas. You could see Horvath sulking from the corner of your vision, but you could really care less about him right now. You can hear him take in a sharp breath as more objects begin to levitate in the room, including yourself.

He tried speaking to you again, you were unaware of how much time had passed, you were too busy painting to care what he said anyway, “What sorcerer do you descend from?” Your lack of response tells him that you didn’t know and potentially didn’t care either. “Your focus color, what is it?” His impatient question bit at you; even when trapped, he’s still a dick. 

“Purple.” You spoke before you realized that was the final nail in the coffin. You froze, shoulders tensing as you could feel your feet being planted deep into the ground. You locked up so tight that your breaths got caught in your throat.

“Veronica,” was his aghast response, “She had an affair.” His shock turned to malice as he turned into the man you silently fought off for a week. You can feel his grimace and glare despite having your back turned.

“What’s funny, is that she tried to weaken the amount of magic being passed down from generation to generation to the point where it would just be humans. Instead, she just created a bloodline of incredibly weak sorcerers.” “You are pathetic.” He snarled and you shook your head, “Yet, you are the one trapped in a mirror. Without a focus,” You walked over to the curtain to leave, but you looked over your shoulder, “And completely alone.”

“Why don’t you trap me in the Grimhold then?” He said, nothing but pure malice in his tone. If he was going to be nasty and manipulative, you supposed you’d be a bit vile too. 

“Because you were stuck in it before, and it obviously didn’t work. Neither was being trapped in an urn,” You glanced at him with an ugly look, “So, I decided to choose the one that will flatten your pride. It worked in the bathroom, so it will work here.”
If he’s going to be a dick to you, antagonize you, then you’ll give him your worst. The masking tape is off, showing an ugly coat to him.

….

You walked into the studio again, finally able to ship away the sneaky serpent to a museum. Nothing was going to ruin this, not even the douchebag who deserves to be humiliated inside the mirror you trapped him in.

Horvath noticed you were there immediately, he walked to the edge of the mirror and opened his mouth to say something, but you grabbed a curtain and put it over the mirror, “Behave, I can’t deal with your quips or insults today or at all.” You murmured, more footsteps entering the room followed.

He couldn’t quite hear what was going on because a bunch of heavy lifting equipment had entered the premises, and the best he could do was plug his ears, hoping the noise would end soon. Even after the machines powered down, loud chattering and praise could be heard. He could only assume you were celebrating something, considering the smell of alcohol wafting in the room.

Though, with his patience, it all came and went. Part of him wishes to be amongst whatever celebration you had, the good feelings. Maybe this was the right thing for you to do, make him understand in a different way. How such violent actions can leave one outcasted from society, no matter how powerful they are….

Something had to give.

…

“Where is Horvath?” Veronica asked, starting a thick and heavy tension at the table. It was one of those nights where she wanted to help train Dave for an evening which normally follows dinner with the both of them while you took question after question.

“And here I thought I was going to have a nice dinner,” You murmured, partially wishing that you took it back into the lab as Dave did. Balthazar seemed to silently agree with you, his eye roll, however, was anything but subtle.

“Taken care of,” You bluntly answered, choosing to eat your dinner before it got cold. Veronica gasped, “He’s dead?!” You rolled your eyes, “He’s imprisoned, he’ll never leave it either.” You practically pinned the final words of your statement, Horvath will never see the light of day. His immortality is up, he will soon face the fate he set in stone centuries ago.

“Since they had made a point that the Grimhold was safe under their watch, I left Horvath’s imprisonment up to them,” Balthazar explained to his wife, pointing to you when it was convenient. She gave you that look, the one where she wants you to do something for her. You honestly despise it, because it never turns out in your favor. “Where are you imprisoning Maxim?” Veronica asked you, in which you arched a brow at the woman who caused a historically long war, “Why do you want to know?”

“I must see him,” was her horrible excuse of a reason. Regardless, you had to listen to your ancestor and lead her to your studio where the man in the mirror is. You really didn’t want to deal with Veronica, her advice tends to be outdated and unhelpful.

You opened the curtain and the man looked tired, and he looked even more done when he realized it was Veronica, “Here he is.” You turned to leave, but Horvath spoke up and called your name, “Don’t leave, please.” You stopped walking but didn’t turn around.

Veronica looked between the two of you, seeing the pain in your eyes and the regret in Maxim’s; she sighed and shook her head, “Maxim, if you are holding any hatred or resentment toward my descendant because of me, then so help me I will bring you out of that mirror and kill you myself.”

As much as you hold resentment towards the woman, you are pleased that she stood up for you and is threatening to knock some sense into the evil sorcerer. Maxim opened his mouth to protest, but you cut him off, “Listen to her. God knows you don’t listen to me.”

It’s not like Maxim had time to think about what you had said, because Veronica started to rip him apart with her words. Random accusations and all sorts of insults were being shot at the trapped sorcerer; all he could do was take each blow and move on to the next round of slander from the source of his infatuation.

You had witnessed all of it, all the slews and curses coming from Veronica’s mouth; you honestly wondered if the woman could be a modern-day Karen. She’s got the vocal cords for it, the only thing she was missing was that stupid pixie haircut and a divorce mixed with it. Honestly, it makes you wonder if she ever kissed her mother with that mouth.

And Horvath? He took every single blow with a straight face, centuries’ worth of long-awaited insults and chiding looked like punches straight to the gut. Some of them you knew for a fact he didn’t deserve, but you’re not sure if you should intervene with your ancestor. She already weakened her magical talents to pass down, you don’t want to know what she could do to you. The kind of power she has over your head.

But at the same time. She was a big factor for Horvath to switch sides.

Well, a little insult or two couldn’t hurt anyone…
When Veronica finally stopped, she was heaving for breath with hands on her hips. You could see that she still had more to say, but you weren’t having that. She opened her mouth, with a deep breath prior, ready for a bunch of loaded insults; you intervened, “Are you finished?” 

She stopped and turned in your direction. “Is all your anger out?” You tilted your head to the side, “It must’ve been so satisfying to mow him down with words,” You smiled in a condescending manner, “if must’ve felt great, didn’t it? To stoop down to his level. No, it was lower.”

She was appalled, rendered speechless by your sharp tongue. Horvath didn’t look surprised, at the statement; mainly because you already stabbed him with it, but he was being a dick to you. “Did you have fun?” You mimicked her pose, hands on hips as you leaned forward, “You must’ve really wanted to do this, you’re all out of breath.”

You tilted your head to the side once more, angering your ancestor more. You can see her gem glow as she sends a concussion blast after you. With a sigh, you catch it and launch it back at her, knocking her against the wall. One thing you have learned when defending yourself against spells, although you cannot conjure your own, you can send a spell back to your adversary.

She staggers up to continue the fight, but you glide back against the wall. You touched one of the statues you made during winter break with your focus. You had made a big statue of the goddess Aphrodite, You are still proud of your craftsmanship of that thing to this day.

The statue’s eyes glowed a bright purple as it began to move, walking over to Veronica with such poise and elegance. Veronica was grabbed by the statue before she could even try to shoot another spell in your direction. She was then carried out of your studio kicking and screaming.
You peered beyond the curtain to see what the statue does with her next. “Release me! You freak of nature!” She was then thrown down by the statue, “Urgh!” She writhed in pain, but staggered to her feet, “Be lucky that I spared your life, you freak-“ she was cut off by the statue essentially roaring at her and stomping off back into your studio.

You held the curtain open for your prior magnum opus, and she entered. “Don’t listen to her, she’s been in a doll for a thousand years. Her perception is a bit skewed.” You said, checking the statue for any damages given by Veronica.

“Are you referring to me?” Horvath asked, but you didn’t comment, only helping the statue get to its original position. Before it lost its sentience, it looked at you and Horvath then winked at the elder sorcerer as the magic left it.

You stayed still for a moment, embracing the silence after the sudden bout of hate and chaos.

“I applaud your boldness to remove Veronica from the room,” Horvath spoke in such a way that it almost sounded like a compliment. “Just….” You fold your arms, refusing to turn around to meet Horvath’s gaze, “Don’t say anything. I can’t handle your backhanded bullshit right now.”

“It wasn’t.” He stated, but you shook your head, “I don’t believe you.” You sat down at your desk once more, pulling a bunch of art supplies near you with magic. You began your process of creating, ignoring any notions from Horvath.
“And I understand,” Horvath sighed, making you pause briefly before you continue your work. You blinked a few times and attempted to lose yourself in your magical process. Empty canvases levitated from everywhere, and you silently channeled your magic within the objects allowing them to become an extension of your conscious.

“Veronica was right, you know.” You cursed yourself silently for pausing again, what this man had more than you was wisdom, when he decided to use it or not it was there. Your doodles on paper nearby began to come to life, hopping out of the page and interacting with each other.

“It was wrong of me to hold resentment of her and direct it toward you.” You stiffed, and the drawings all looked at him. Your painting of a dragon even looked at him, “Now you say it?” The painting scoffed, “The nerve.”

“Better late than never,” You softly spoke, trying your best to continue to paint. Your sass didn’t appear to shock him, which was expected considering the other times you stabbed him with your sharp tongue; though it appeared that your painting had caught his eye above all.

You stopped painting, setting down your brush in pure anguish, “Well, what are you going to do about it?” Horvath arched a brow, but you kept speaking, “Will you make amends and take the steps to change your ways? Or will you be stuck here, in my mirror until your life expires?”

Horvath stared at you in silence, as you said, “The choice is yours.” You then stood up and left the room, giving him the space and silence to lament or consider his options.

Chapter Text

It appears that after that fateful evening, Horvath’s demeanor had changed within the past few months.

Stubborn and witty remarks were still a common thing from him, but it appeared that it was more in a banter form rather than an insult meant to chip at you. His eyes lacked the wrath they had before but were regal and he somehow looked more like a gentleman. He’s even asked you how your day is going, to which you would promptly answer. Though, his response to that is always the same, “The life of a student.”

He finally chose to be a decent person, it made you wonder if Veronica was just the root of all malice. Well, in your eyes she has. Thankfully, she hasn’t dared to bring herself near your studio again after that, and you don’t come out to see her.

Tonight is another night that Veronica will come and teach Dave, so you’ll just focus on the repairs from the damage that Horvath did to your studio. It seemed the actions of magic and the noises caught his attention.

He was sitting cross-legged on your couch’s reflection, reading one out of the bunch of books you had bought him. Since he started to play nice, you would too; you even personalized a few items to Maxim’s taste, and it honestly improved yours as well. “What are you doing?” He asked, marking the page he left off at and standing up.

“Just cleaning up and rebuilding,” You answered, catching him in a thousand-yard stare at the damage he’s done. “You know, I forgive you from that day,” You started, breaking him free from his guilt, “You’re making the effort to be admirable rather than violent, so I don’t have a reason to hate you at the moment.”

There was no further comment on that, so he tried to change the subject instead.

“How did you find out that Veronica had weakened your magical bloodline?” He finally asked, which caused you to stop and look at him. Your magic was still puppetting the supplies around the room, so there wasn’t a true slowdown in progress.

You purse your lips, not wanting to bring up that woman again, “I had a gut feeling considering I struggled with spells that create something with just magic. But Veronica’s hushed comments to Balthazar around the lab, she was talking as if I couldn’t hear her.”

“I see,” he’s been betrayed by her before, so the feelings are mutual for sure. “What was it like during the Arthurian times?” You changed the subject, it was for the best; Veronica is a touchy subject and an awful person. It would be best for both you and Horvath to move on and talk about something else.

“Do you want the truth?” He said, which confused you; the room was now clean and now he’s become the main focus. “I prefer the truth. Good or bad, I’d rather not you sugarcoat it,” You said, “I don’t have the patience for made-up ideas or concepts that are not real.”

He gave you the traces of a smile, but it seemed to not reach his eyes, “Well, there I times when I miss the past, but there are other times when the conveniences of the present are useful.” You nodded as he kept talking, “The air is cleaner, and no place was too crowded. The mountains and forests stretched on forever, and the water was drinkable.”

You sat on the couch, using your magic to build and repair a few items, “Tell me more.” He nodded, sitting right next to you in your reflection, “Gladly, I can’t recall when I reminisced the days of old.” You nodded and waved your hand for him to continue.

“Back then, the magic was deeply rooted in the world rather than the sorcerers. There were fae creatures roaming the magical world as well; they would often visit our towns and kingdoms to trade and discuss politics. Though, the nymphs and the elves were only kind enough to do that,” he spoke wistfully, his eyes never leaving the ceiling where some glass charms hung from the ceiling, “Traveling was a long-term affair; people lived in towns or were always on the road doing quests or discovering the world they came to exist in. Humans are scarce, so gatherings were a huge celebration too.”

You didn’t notice the dry-erase markers making a scenery on the mirror. Horvath stopped talking and made a noise of amusement, snapping out of your enamourment from his tales and descriptions. “Your mind wanted to wander to when my days were as simple as this.”

It seems that your subconscious was making the scenery he was talking about his time. It seems that you were also yearning to go to a faraway past that a being of the future would never comprehend. “Could you blame me? A time like that sounds Wonderfull.”

“That’s because I haven’t brought up fairies, goblins, and dragons. They’re the reason why humans were not the strongest and why we were a rarity before humans discovered to have magic in them.” You nodded slowly, “You mentioned that the magic came from the earth, what happened to that?” 

Horvath humored your question, “It went away during the Victorian times, when the world began to evolve at a rapid rate. The fae creatures either went into hiding where no human could find them or returned to the earth. The era of magical beings ended a long time ago; to my knowledge, sorcerers are the last beings to contain magic at all.”

His smile went sad before fading away completely, “I suppose that’s why Merlin was so hard on me.” You nodded slowly, thinking about what he’s said altogether before speaking. “So, you were supposed to take Merlin’s role as head sorcerer? To make sure the legacy can last as long as it could.” Maxim nodded slowly, this is a really touchy subject, “I’m impressed you can put that together.

“Such pressure,” You murmured, “Did Merlin also want you to court Veronica?” Maxim nodded, “He was never one to reveal his plans, so there was no room to argue, but there was always suspicion.”

“He always taught us to respect others with magic, that taking magic will corrupt the mind of a sorcerer,” As Maxim kept talking, you’re starting to find that Merlin isn’t a saint as everyone thought he would be, “As someone who has great respect for the beings that have wisdom; I followed his lessons with open arms.”

His face grew grim, “The night I was rejected by Veronica I had gone to his study to ask for consultation. His study was glowing blue by the time I got there. He was using his circle in order to steal the magic of fae creatures,” your eyes widened, this man was truly wronged by the world, “He was the thing to become the most powerful being of magic over all time.”

“And you switched sides because of it,” a man who is wronged by the world; who spent so many years obeying the rules of another and to only find them to assign such rules to restrict others. If you’re going to do what you think you are, it’ll hardly be a reversible process.

You stood up abruptly, “Do you trust me?”

“What?” He furrows his brows, standing up soon after. 

“Do you trust me like I trust you?” You walked toward the mirror, not breaking eye contact with the ancient sorcerer. He eventually answered, “I think you’re the only person left who has my trust.”

“Then I trust that you will take a turn for the better; I will teach you everything about the modern world, should you choose to act in justice and not of malice.” You held out your hand to shake and Horvath mimicked the pose; not entirely sure what you mean by all this.

You reached forward in the mirror, it was like sticking your hand in the water to check the temperature, but the surface beyond wasn’t water. It was strange, but you still held out your hand for the elder sorcerer to take.

Maxim leaned forward, partially pulling your upper half into the mirror for a moment. Your eyes widened, thinking that he might hold you hostage here. His concerned glance told you otherwise. “Please, don’t be afraid of me,” he said, his voice partially muffled and reverbed because he was still inside the mirror, “I can’t handle being looked at that way anymore.”

“I don’t,” you used your hand to trace against his face, “That’s why I’m freeing you.”

His eyes became glassy as he brought his lips to yours, kissing you between dimensions of reflections and reality. He grabbed the back of your head, not letting this compassion end; he hadn’t experienced love in a millennia, so you humored him. His lips caressed your own as you brought him back into the normal world.
“I..I must apologize for my actions, they were unpredictable and unorthodox-“ he stopped when you shook your head slightly, “It’s fine, I just….” You exhaled for a pause. You wanted that, but you needed to heal first, “Need to work up to it first.”
Maxim nodded, “And I will wait, no matter how long it takes.”

Out of all the things that had entered your life at Mach ten, this is what you really needed all along. Someone who was willing to wait.

You smile, eyes going wet as you say, “Thank you.”

Chapter Text

That evening was an interesting one for sure.

When you freed Maxim, the other three sorcerers were still within the confounds of Dave’s laboratory. Meaning, you had to not raise suspicion until the rest of them left. It felt like you were bringing someone in your parent’s house, having to go through all that effort just for them to spend the night; even though, you could’ve asked and they will say yes.

However, if you ask to take Maixm out, you’re certian that you won’t get a positive answer. At least it’s not from your family…..well, you. don’t know of the three very powerful sorcerers would be better than your family.

Then came the fear of anyone interrupting your privacy withe the elder sorcerer… Well, it was more of an anxious choice on your behalf, but you ended up revisiting one of your enchanted art projects.

“I hope you don’t mind this,” You took his hand and guided him to your painting. “Not at all,” He replied, holding onto you so tightly. You led him in, coming out in your hidden compartment within your desk drawer.

Maxim looked in awe, “You live here?” You shrug, “Sometimes. I have a small apartment a few blocks from here. I’m just lucky enough Dave allowed me to set up a studio here. I’m only here when he’s occupying my pull out bed or I’m doing an all nigther.”

Maxim walked around the room in awe, admiring the artifacts you’ve collected and the artwork mixed wiht magic strung throughout the drawer apartment. “Did you make everything here?” You nod, “I call it an interactive portfolio. I don’t want my works to remain unused for the sake of preservation. That’s what photographs are for. If we just always work into preserving the past, how the hell can we live in the future.”

Maxim looks at you, appalled, “Not even when your talent could make history?” You snicker, “I already have a giant snake on display at a museum. There is no need to spend so much time trying to extend the life of a peice of work. Everything has to go eventually.”

Maxim said nothing, but something in you felt like you should continue, “Time is an enemy to most. Mainly beacuse it is the main prescense that pushes everything forward. There is no option to go back, and I, for one….Am a fan of it.”

For a man that’s lived for a thousand years already, you can tell that your statement didn’t quite reach him, but that doesn’t mean he’s annoyed wiht what you’re saying, “There is no need to relive anything, it almost taints the fondness that the human emotions apply to a memory.” There is always time to make new memories, however, don’t make it your sole duty to do such a thing. The memories and moments will find you when warrented.

Maxim had that thousand yard stare after you said that. You weren’t entirely expecting to show him a new perspective on life. Hoenstly, you would’ve thought that he’d know this lesson, but apparently not. Maybe it’s because he’s been bitter for a long, long time.

“For someone your age, you certainly have a lot of wisdom.” He finally says. You shrug, “I’ve just seen a lot of shit. Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, I let the world shape me rather than other people if that helps.”

Maxim nods, pursing his lips as well. You might be two sides of the same coin; one refusing to change after life betrayed them and the other growing from it. But now, there’s an option to learn. You only hope he takes that opportunity.

You can see him look at your collection of books on the wall, “Did you bookbind all these?” You nod, partly glad that he changed the subject, “Since art is such a broad topic, I figured that I can’t get burnt out if al my hobbies are of different mediums.”

“That reminds me of my old hobbies,” his smile was small as he mentally traced the past, “I used to make glass art when I wasn’t on adventures. I seemed to put my happiness on pause when I decided to switch sides.”

“Were you any good?”

“Heavans no, I was just glad I could make something that didn’t require using magical energy. None of my art could stay intact nor look appealing when I was done.” You smile, that’s how a hobby should be in your eyes. You do it for the sake of happiness, not for perfection; a lesson you still need to learn, sadly.

There was a beat of silence, so you spoke, “I’m going to check if it’s safe for us to leave.” Maxim nods and you hop through the painting once more, returning to your normal height. You peer through the curtians and grunt. “We’ll never leave at this rate.” You plop down at your desk and prop your head up with your hands, “I don’t feel like spending another night here. I’m starting to miss my real bed.”

“Odd,” Maxim mused, hopping off the shelf and perching on your arm. You arch a brow, “How so? They’ve always stayed up this late. Sometimes, they wouldn’t leave until the next day.” Maxim huffed at your statement, “They weren’t always like that. I was the only one up all night studying alongside Merlin.”

“Things change, I suppose.” You twitched a bit when Maxim rest his tiny hand on your own. “Ah, my aplogies-” You stop him mid apology, “There’s no need, I’m just antsy. I want to leave so badly.”

You take him in your hand, resting him on your shoudler and putting on your coat with the intention for leaving. You pick up both canvasses and walk out of your studio. There, the magical couple still sits at one of the cleare off tables and Dave was tinkering with his project. All is calm, they shouldn’t suspect a thing.

Your name was called by Veronica. Shit.

“Yes?” You decided to act tired and cranky, loosening your facial muscles to make it look like you’ve been losing sleep.. well, you have due to getting ready for your graduation.

Maxim stirred, knowing that Veronica is wicked. Nobody will belive him, other than you, so you’re essentially going up against a wolf wearing a poorly made sheep disguise.

“I want to apologize,” her eyes glow a dark pink while her smile appeared to be insincere, putting you off. She gets near you, but you are quick to back away, “Nope! You can apologize when you actually mean it.”

You catch her snarl before you speed walk out of Dave’s lab and back to your appartment. Maxim had said nothing the entire time, not sure what to make of that encounter. You mounted the paintings to the wall, and Maxim went through them without a word. He met your gaze, a knowlegeable look was shared between you, but no words were spoken,

When Maxim spoke up, you were relvied that he didn’t comment on your previous interaction, “What’s beyond this door?” He gestured to a door near your kitchen. “Ah, just a storage closet, I mainly use it to hold all my cleaning supplies.”

Maxim hums, and taps the door with his focus. A metal dial then appears on the doorknob. “Twist this to the right, and my personal suite will be on the other side.” He moves out of the way and you do just that, it lead you to a lavish apartment. Something you could only dream up after reading a book or watching a movie.

You shut the door in shock, shaking your head, “You are full of surpises.” He shrugs with a small smile on his face. “Ah, where is your washroom?” You had to do a double take onwhat he had just said, reminding yourself that he hasn’t fully grasped the 2010s yet, and his terms for certain things are from the 1920s. Regardless, you still answered, “Right across from my bedroom. It’s on the left.”

He nodded and entered the room, shutting the door behind him. His eyes went to his reflection; he’s tired, sure, but rest isn’t too far away. But then for a fleeting moment, Maxim didn’t see his exact reflection. He saw himself, sure, but his face appeared younger. Strong, not the same kind as he is now, but like an ox. His long hair rested on his shouders, his eyes are sharp and judgemental as they gaze at him… only for a moment.

Rather than relieving himself, he just left the bathroom completely confused. You were walking down the hallway with a few towels in hand and your sleepwear tucked under your arm.

“Ah, before you get ready for bed-“ You whipped around, curious at the elder sorcerer. He was shocked for a breif moment, expecting you to look angered or annoyed by him stopping you, but no.. you were patient and wanted to hear him out.

“Yes?” You tilted your head to the side, “Is everything alright?” He nodded, and snapped himself out of his light stupor before talking to you. He looekd to be battling his inner thoughts for a moment, before speaking up.

“If I may,” Maxim looked at you, almost shy, “I wish to spar with you.” You looked at him with furrowed brows, “Maxim, you’d win. You have a strong magic in your blood and I’m lucky enough to pull off attack spells-” “But you don’t use attack spells to defend yourself.” His counter-argument shut you up right away.

You gave him a sheepish smile, “I can’t gaurentee that my preformance will be elloquent.” You really didn’t knw what to say, all you know is that you’ll be steam rolled by a thousand year old sorcerer with unchecked magic.

“It doesn’t need to be, alright?” he smiled at your answer and kept talking, “Then I’ll escort you to the roof.” You were about to walk him to the door, but he held onto your shoudler, and a bright, baby blue light surrounded the both of you.

Your current posesions were no longer in your hands, rather, appearing on the end table. Your surroundings changed to the roof.

Maxim was across from you, a Merlin’s circle forming in the space between you two. It glows form blue to purple as you two slowly circle eachother. His focus glows like the northern star, gleaming with magical energy.

His porture is stiff but his smile is out of pure anticiaption, he’s far too excited to be serious. You know some part of him has been yearning to be able to spar someone, to show off his magical talents without any risk. To take on the role of a mentor to foster the next generation of sorcerers, like his orginal purpose was.

He wants to rememdy wthat through you.

He launches a plasma bolt at you, it sails faster than a baseball pitch. However, you were quick to catch it with the use of the vaccum espell. The bolt rests in your palms. So, you improvised the vacuum spell; splitting it into threes and launch it back at him.

With Maxim distracted with deflecting the bolts, you call a bunch of the loose scrap metal and other items to you. Using your magic, you allow it to morph and weld themselves into a wireframe wolf.

Maxim smiles as the wolf charges at him, and you know that can’t be good. You brace yourself as he hits the ground with the bottom of his staff, reversing the gravity for you, himself, and the wolf.

You swam through the low gravity like it was mere water. Considering that you’ve messed around with this before, and even used it to get the grimhold out of his hands when he was still evil; Maxim Horvath had gave you the advantage without the forethought that you were skilled in the more trickery aspects of magic.

You climbed around the wolf, Maxim started to launch fire balls at you. So, you twisted your body around in weird ways that only an acrobat can achieve with normal gravity. But with none at all, that open the playing field for you.

He once again launches a plasma bolt at you, and you do the same tactic with splitting the vaccum spell once more. This time, you put a bit of energy into shooting a plasma bolt of your own. Maixm was definetly distrcacted, which was enough for you to get to the front of the animated wolf.

You removed one of the teeth from the metal wolf and allowed your magic to transform it into a sword. You then pushed off the wolf and charged toward Maixm. You made no noise to give away your active positon, consdering that he was still focused on avoiding the onslaught of the wolf alone.

So when he saw you coming, he had this look of surpise on his face, but it soon morphed into one of pride. His focus glowed a bit brighter, and you found that it tranformed into a sword.

The magical duel had just transformed into this sword fight. You were fighting off exhaustion while Maixm seemed to be shaking off the rust in his own skills. He even let out the faintest hint of laughter. He was having fun, genuine fun, not just outside your few intelectual conversations.

This man is an enigma, you’ll give him that. Deep down, you felt sorry for his past that has been locked away for so long. However, wish you beign trapped in your own mind thinking about the sorcerer, he took full advantage of your mental dormant state and knocked you to your knees.

You were pinned under Maxim’s magic and sword, on the cusp of exhaustion when you tapped his focus twice, signaling that you give in. As much as he hasn’t done anything evil, you’re still on edge… just a teeny bit because of how powerful he is.

Maxim then smiled and pulled you up with him, “Your use spells are not what they’re intended for, giving this battle a breath of fresh air compared to Balthazar and his handful of tricks.” He dusted you off and smiled a bit, a uncommon sight coming from him.

“I’m an outside-of-the-box thinker, what can I say?” You croaked, but your sassy remarks still reign strong. You put your hands on your knees to catch your breath, more focused on being able to recover from such action rather than anything else.

“Indeed,” he stated, giving you space to breathe, “but you also manipulate matter rather than creating it. I’m guessing you struggle with attack spells because of that.” You stood straighter, “I never had thought about that.” Maxim shrugged, “It’s not like you had time to either. You were getting your life in order, something far more important than any magic can possess.”

You can only assume that this is his old self, albeit with some rough edges because of his scars of the past. He’s extremely knowledgeable about magic, you can only assume that he was Merlin’s right-hand man when he was learning magic all those years ago. You’re charmed, truly, by not only his intellect but his noble heart that’s waking out of its slumber.

“What doesn’t help is that Veronica essentially stunted your growth as a sorcerer because she poisoned the bloodline. You may have weaker magic, but you use it to the extent of your knowledge and fast thinking,” he grimaced a bit, internally chiding himself for being a fool. Still, he keeps his appearance of a wise master and continues to speak, “That alone is impressive. May I ask how long you’ve been studying magic?”

“Since you were released from the Grimhold at the Arcana Cabana,” You answered Horvath. His eyes lit up with recognition, “It was you, wasn’t it? The one who hid from myself and Balthazar.” You nodded, “I tried to get him out of there, but he was frozen with fear.”

“As young David normally is,” Horvath mused, that melancholy look still in his eyes, “But about the Encantus. How did you use it without a proper master?” He titled his head to the side, curious that the masterless apprentice was the clever one out of the bunch. Though self-oriented studies may not be a bad idea; the apprentice wouldn’t have the pressure of shaping themselves into their master’s vision, let alone the pressure of most lessons to begin with.

“It was mostly curiosity that drove me through my younger years. The thought of having magic excited me,” You smiled from the nostalgic memories that your statement brought, “Not to mention, it helped me get through my life when I was bullied, but they couldn’t know so I found ways to have magic without anybody knowing.”

“A clever way to use the Encantus, I must admit. Did you condense it to study it on the go?” You tilted your head at this, “The Encantus can be condensed?” Horvath smiled, “It’s a spell not documented in the book, but it’s very useful when you want to learn.” He pulled out a very small book. From there, he began to pinch at the edges and unfold it into a larger book. He repeated this a few more times and then he pinched the center of the book, pulling at it to increase its thickness, “It’s essential for all sorcerers.”

You nodded and grabbed your own Encantus from your rebuilt studio, you held it out and tried your best to repeat the folding patterns that Horvath had just done earlier. You weren’t sure about where to fold next, until Horvath placed his hands over yours, “Think of it as a note, just keep folding it in half until it’s manageable.”

His hands left your person, yet you found yourself drawing near his hands for a moment. You shook it off and met his gaze, that pleased smile never left his face. “You know,” he said, “You having an apprenticeship under me may be beneficial to both parties.”

You smiled at his formal sense of talking, “That may be true.” You pocketed your Encantus and folded your arms. “How do we go around scheduling potential training sessions?” Horvath hummed and he thumbed his focus, “I presume that we’d work around your schedule until you graduate. It’s not too far out, but balancing two separate ways of life is not easy.”

“That is true.” You added, “What were you thinking?” Horvath answered immediately, “Weekends, specifically in the evening. If you are too tired from your school week, we won’t train; but if you do, using your magical energy before you rest is very healthy. Merlin encouraged this practice because we would wake up well-rested the following morning.”

“Then it’s settled,” You clasped your hands, “I agree to become your apprentice, Maxim Horvath.”

And the smile he gave you is priceless.

Chapter Text

It’s one of those rare nights in Dave’s lab that you actually are left alone in it. No sorcerers, just you. Maxim had to deal with personal affairs and catch up with the world at his own pace.

So you allow your magic to move around, unchecked, knowing that nothing can be harmed outside your studio. So, it takes the form of your artwork while. You don’t pay your magic any mind and focus on your process.

Speaking of magic, your training has been giong quite well between you and Maxim. He’s informitive when you need help, calm when you struggle, and just outright a respectable master overall. Far better wiht how you’ve seen Balthazar teach Dave. Though, that daynamic is a whole different can of worms considering that Dave is teh descendant of Merlin and is still having a hard time tapping into the untammed magical strength when he doesn’t use the ring.

However, your best friend’s stress can be seen when he trains. So, it’s only a matter of time when you have to step in as well. For the sake of his happiness and teh security if your own in the future.

He likes to train on the roof of your appartment building, even though there has been multiple nights like this when the other sorcerers are gone. Not to mention the amount of fail saves and escape plans you have with your magical artwork. Maxim doesn’t really want to see them right now, and you don’t blame him either. honestly, you don’t trust them since Veronica was freed from the Grimhold.

Now with the lessons you learn with Maxim specifically are almost recaps for you with the Encantus. A lot of the times he’s been teaching you to better cast the spells so you wouldn’t drain yourself in teh heat of battle. He would always say, “The moment you falter, is the very same moment the fight is over.”

The few times when you did have to learn a new spell, he was very patient with you. Casting different spells is essentially reaching into the depths of your own magical ability and having it learn soemthign new. He even had to remind you that when you got too hard on yourself.

What you’ve also gotten good at is using magic throughout the day, exersizing it in morderation if you will. It’s been helping your training session wiht Maxim, and if today goes really well, then you’ll inform him about your practices. You’d allow your magic to take any form, do anything in your studio; with the only rule of not harming you, your artwork, and the studio itself.

And you? You get to feel calm as you create, nothing biting at the corner of your mind that would hinder your process. It seems you always have a knack for getting lost in the process once you learned to use a little bit your magic throughout the day.

Maxim, however, was at a crossroads this evening. His mind keeps wanting to wander back to you no matter how many twists and turns he takes within the confounds of New York City. You’ve became his safe space, and you know that; choosing to accept him no matter what.

What touched hm the most was when you said, “I’m just glad you trust me enough with this information. It was proabbly awful sitting in your chest like that.” And you were right, you always were. It seems the scope of knowlege that the modernized people bring appears to be more empathetic. The humans of today didn’t want to deal with the struggles of the past, so they all vocalized them; something he’s still learning.

That meaning, should he tell you about his current dilema? It would make thign a lot better for him, taht he’s come to know is for certain. However, the dilema is cetnered around his feelings for you: they’ve gotten stronger.

Love was the reason why he switched sides, causing a war that has shapped history. A war that you had helped end, may he add. He’s afraid of his own irrationability towards you, not the people he’s known. they’ve carved a hole in him when he pledged his alligance to Morgana, and yet you stood there and filled it; you don’t know that, of course, but he will tell you one day.

Maybe after you’ve mastered magic. You’re getting close, your spell casting is getting far stronger than what he was starting with. It’s only a matter of time that you best him in magical comabt. Maybe then, he’ll submit to you; when the student has become the master.

With that thought in mind, he quickly traveled back to the subway turnaround. He could faintly hear the modern music playing from outside the entrance. He finds himself far eager to meet with you than he did with Veronica all those years ago. Even though you’re a descendant of her, you’re far more full of life and fun than she could ever be.

Maxim called for you, his voice barely reaching the edge of your consciousness. He stepped into your studio to see what had gotten you so lost in thought that you had drowned out his voice. Not intentionally, of course, you were never one to ignore him nowadays.

Then he noticed everything. Your magic wafted the room with a faint colorful haze; paintings, sculptures, and drawings moved on their own. Hell, some of your two-dimensional artwork began to pop off their surfaces and walk around the room.

Canvases began to paint themselves, sculptures formed themselves on mere thoughts, and sketchbooks were being filled every handful of minutes. The entire room might as well be the textbook definition of the inner workings of the right brain.

He’s appalled, really truly.

He calls for you once more, smiling when you perk up; head raising as all of your artistic creations face him. Little doodles crawled up him and rested on his shoulders. “Oh, I’m sorry,” You spun on your chair to face him, “I didn’t hear you come in.” You sounded a little startled by your surroundings and his sudden appearance.

The little doodles looked up at him, stylized yet adorable little people looked between you and him like parental figures. The simplified versions of you and him didn’t go overlooked; they had climbed ways up a shelf and sat at the top, the drawing of you leaning against him as his doodle observes the whole room.

“Ah, I was going to ask if you would like a training session?” Maxim shifted his body to the side to have his shoulder point to the door, “If you’re not up for it I completely understand-“ You waved your hand at the thought, “No, no that sounds good. I need to step away from my assignment.” You flick your wrist and all of your art supplies whisk themselves away in spots for cleaning or to set for finalization.

You met Maxim in the middle of your studio, he held out his arm for you. Smiling, you set your hand on his arm and allowed him to guide you into Dave’s lab. All the doodles that had scaled the man had jumped off to the nearest flat surface. You look over your shoulder to see all of your creations peek through the warded curtain watching you and Maxim.

As per usual, the Merlin circle began to glow; small flames ignited within the circle’s radius, half of the flame was the color of your focus while the other showed off Maxim’s color. You could see him holding his tongue, which sparked your curiosity. 

“What is it?”
He gripped his cane, “I’m curious, how are you able to multitask with magic and art at that level? I haven’t seen anything like it.” You tapped your chin in though, “I guess being scatterbrained helps, sometimes, there are so many concepts and ideas that cross through my head and overwhelm me. So, I ended up having my magic execute those ideas.” 

“I see that,” the end of his cane taped the ground for a moment, “But how do you keep your magic in check? The Prefrium statua attuna spell can be very unpredictable, and any item you use it on can be rebellious.” You did a double take for a second but remembered that every wacky spell you pulled off from a kid to now had a wacky name.

“It was chaotic when I started, but when I gave my sentient objects things to do or free will -within reason- they’re as happy as can be.” Your answer earned a thoughtful hum from Maxim, he then nodded a bit before stancing up in a more instructor-like pose. Shoulders back and a high head seemed to be a common thing between him and Balthazar.

“Flowing with the magic rather than controlling it,” he averts his eyes ans focuses on the other drawings before speaking, “A practice I’m familar with, but it’s been a long time since-“ He furrows his brows when he looks back at you.

A cold sweat showed prominetly all over you, and your breathing was staggered. Your legs appeared to struggle holding your own weight. “Are you alright?” The magic in your studio began to fade, sentient items returned to their dormant state, falling to the ground or nearby surfaces.

And soon, you do too.

Your body goes limp as you fall forward. Maxim catches you and brings you to the ground, holding you ever so gently as you are wistuflly asleep.

As he holds you, his gaze momentarily switches from your peaceful face to the mirror you trapped him in for so long. It feels like forever ago at this point, and this is the first time he’s ever seen you in such a compromised position.. if he was the man you faced in battery park, you would’ve woken up just like he did that next morning.. without magic and stuck in a mirror world.

No. It wouldn’t be good to even think of that. You are the first person to trust him in a millennium. That alone is one huge reason why he can’t move on from his past.

He fears that he might fall in love again. That the mistakes wil apear in patterns, and he’ll be alone and bitter for the rest of his life. This time, however, he can feel that it’ll be different, he’s been through changes that make him for the better. He knows it.

And he’ll glady change even more, because not only does it make him a better person, but it airs out the shadows of his past. That makes you happy, and he’ll do it to see you smile more.

Chapter Text

It’s another day, just like the one before. Comfortable, quite, and creative.

Maxim sits on your studio couch while you go apeshit with your art skills. Afterwards, you practice with him to strengthen your skills in spell casting. You can’t recall anybody that you were comfortable creating in front of, so it’s new and…. nice.

Fine arts and the mystic arts, two that are diiferent in thier own right, but blend together perfectly. Albiet, with some hiccups along the way. However, after your recent incident relating to magic, you find that your spell casting has gotten weaker.. After all the progress you’ve made before that, it’s been practially undone completely.

“I want to try something..” you trail off in thought, mentally talking hemming and hawing at the thought of revealing the jumbled mess that is your creative process. You heard him hum, and you knew that you had his full attention now; he even set a bookmark on the page he was reading.

“I figured since my magic is still somewhat weak, I can attempt to bring back an art that probably died after the Middle Ages,” you reached for a rose-themed whip that you had made, and Maxim arched a brow. If anyone knew about that time period, it’d be the man who lived it.

You then tried your hardest to conjure the spell of untamed plant life. Your face scrunched up as you channeled your magic to make your spell work. Beads of sweat showed very quickly, and your focus glowed brighter and brighter.

Maxim rose to his feet and reached for his focus, nothing but concern was etched into him. “If you were wondering how weak my magical ability is when it comes to creating magical spells out of thin air,” you grunted, “then this is a prime example.” You forced a smile as the spell finally decided to work.

The color drained your face as you got the spell to go from you to the weapon you originally made for cosplay purposes…. Yep… you’re going with that. Nope. No other reason for cosplay or self-defense. None at all.

You gasped and braced for impact, hoping to land on the couch because making any sort of magical spell without the use of another item is starting to drain you more. You didn’t land on the couch or the hard floor like you thought; you landed in Maxim’s arms.

“Before you tell me that I almost killed myself with that spell,” you took a few heavy breaths before speaking again, “look at this.” You flick your wrist and thorny vines sprout from the whip, the longer they are out the more they grow and move around. You flicked your wrist again and they went back in the whip.

Maxim hums, “You are correct about the tactic being used in the Middle Ages,” he taps his cane on the ground, transforming it into a sword. You suppress your awe -no matter how many times he does it, it’s alwasy so cool- and speak instead, “I wanted to put the magic back into weapons, I got an idea because of one of my colleague’s drawings of Excalibur.”

“Excalibur,” Maxim rolls his eyes, “Merlin enchanted that and shoved it into a stone for someone to find.” You snort, “That makes sense.” You’re finding that Merlin was more of a crazy old man wiht magic rather thana wise old amn with magic the more stroies you share with Maxim.

“Impressive,” he said, trailing his hands along your whip, “but has spellcasting always been that hard for you? Were you just masking your pain during training?” His curiosity isn’t a good thing, not because of his past actions, it’s that a knowledgeable sorcerer that has been alive for millennia may not know how to fix you. “No,” you said, “it was harder and harder to cast spells each year, our training actually improved my spellcasting ability for a whole, but now it’s getting harder with each passing day.”

Corncern shows on Maxim’s face, “Her poison spell is working on you gradually, I fear if you try to make another spell it may break your focus, or worse… kill you.”

“How so?” You cough, “It wasn’t like it when she was stuck in the Grimhold.” Maxim’s eyes never left your own as he tries to make sense of this all. How many mysteries will uncover that surround this mysterious woman? It feels endless and annoying.

“She’s,” his expression went completely solemn, “She’s actively performing the poison spell on you.” You pale as he connects the dots, she’s finishing what she started: the end of magical descendants in her family tree.

She’s trying to get rid of her mistakes, and you are on the top of that list.

“We need to speak to her,” you gasp, “She can’t get away with this.” Maxim nodded, “After you regain some sembalance of magical strength. I have a feeling you may need it when confronting her.”

…

His feeling was very much accurate. Too accurate might you add.

Balthazar had been making the effort into purchasing back his old store an remodeling it. So, he spends most of his days there, along with Veronica. So, it was only a matter of time before you dragged him to the streets to confront the woman.

Buildings and streets blurred into eachother, and soon the Arcana Cabana was before him. You bursted through the front door. “Maxim!” Veronica looked suprised, as did everyone else in the room. But you can tell that something else was on her mind, especaially when you started talking. “Veronica, why are you doing this? Sapping my magic and killing me from the inside out?”
Despite your sudden intrustion she seemed prepared to answer, “To make sure you have a normal and happy life.” Too bad you’re upset, as well with being filled with piss and vinegar. “I’m an artist, my life is not normal nor happy,” You fold your arms, “Try again.” She does, though this excuse wasn’t as believable as the first one, “So that you are safe from danger. Who knows what kind of dark magic is hidden amongst the world.”

“The root of dark magic is dead, you physically being here is proof of that.” She grows agitated the more you uncover her deceits. “I refuse to keep playing this game,” she addressed you by name. You refrain from speaking on anger at the exact moment; not before taking a deep breath.

Fuck it. Blood relative be damned, you’re burning bridges today. You clasp your hands, the clapping sound made her look at you once more, “You know getting rid of my magical ability won’t cover up that you had an affair when both Maxim and Balthazar were making active attempts to court you. ”

The entire room was always silent, save for your argument with Veronica; now the tension is so thick that Maxim’s sword could cut it. Veronica kept silent, so you cross that line, “You’re just hurting me more than you are fixing your self-image. The guilt will consume you if you’re not a shameless person.. though by the looks of it, you lack shame.”

Veronica is speechless, so you kept going. “For someone who wished for a normal life, you’re excessively using magic to sap some from another.” You say, walking closer and closer to her. Maxim moved out of the way while Balthazar had a solemn look on his face. He loved her, he knew he did; wisdom from the past thousand years has allowed him to learn that Veronica is not all daisies and roses.

“You child!” She barks, “You have no idea what I went through! What my fellow coven sorcerers went through!” You share a glance with maxim, “I think I might. Considering that you put them in this mess.” You step forward, neither of the men try to stop you. This is fight you will do on your own terms. this is a relationship that you will tarnish it your own hands. This is a bloodline that will end with you, not her.

“How dare you speak to me like this!” Veronica’s hands engulfed into flames, and you frown. She is unstable, resorting to magic almost instantly rather than hashing it out with words. Actions speak louder than words, “And you say that I don’t need magic. When you are actively attempting to either threaten or harm me? Your only descendant with magic left?”

She swings for you, ungraciously. You move out of the way and watch her stumble. Despite the millenium age gap, it’s clear as day to see who is the bigger person between the two of you.

The past and the present are here to fight, who will be the fate of the magical future? A sorceress who steals or her blood that she’s trying to remove?

For the first time ever, Maxim was torn. A deer in headlights. Descions were always black and white with him and his strong sense of moratily. Now, the product of his infatation and the product of his prosperity are weighing on a scale too large for him.

You charge up the parasite spell, and beads of sweat form on your face as your focus glows brighter. You then slap your hands on her shoulders as the spell knocks her out, she collapses; not before Balthazar catches her, however.

Veronica wasn’t the only one affected by magic, your magical energy that you used took all of your strength. You fall to the ground, the world distorting into a warped void. A faint echo of masculine voices shouting things all faded into a inaudible blur.

.

Maxim picked you up with his own hands, the war between his past and present fight beneath his eyes. He’s happy that you are able to rid of the shadows of his doubts, but there’s that part of him.. that wants those old days again, the days that you were even fond of. He’s silly of thinking that rebuilding his kinship with Veronica will give him those days, but it’s not meant to be.

It’s not the Aurthurian times anymore, and it hasn’t been for a long, long time.

It cannot be helped, but the present and the future is right here, in his arms. Trusting him unconditionally again. He almost feesl like a royal threw themselves on him, begging for him to give them an adventourus life…

“Are you alright, Maxim?” he almost didn’t recognize Balthazar address him by name, “Yes, I’m certian.” Balthazar lets out an airy laugh, “Your habits die hard, old friend. Your voice is never that soft when it’s an answer.” He felt touched to earn that name- he looked up for a moment, it almost shocked him at what he saw.

Balthazar was in his adventure cloak, and the source of light came from his hand. He wasn’t in the subway turnaorund, he was… he was in England again..

His sword is at his side, and his outfit had the armor he lost in a war… It felt so long ago, but this sight is even longer. One that he’s longed to return to. His hair is even long and curly again, resting on his shoudlers, the wind tossing them faintly.

“Maixm. ..”

He looks down and sees Veronica in his arms, and a horrifying goblin in Balthazar’s. Her eyes look at him adoringly while the goblin squelches and shrieks in his friend’s arms. He felt sick to his stomach looking at the brunette.

“Maxim!” He blinks rapidly, whipping his head from left to right as he shook off the stupor. He’s back where he was, you in his arms, in the suit you liked. He traced his thumb over your focus. His eyes widened.

There, in a clear view from the light, is a crack deep enough to the gem’s very core. Some part of him knew that you didn’t care for magic; you may have grown up with it, but you always saw it as a tool rather than a way of life. You also hated Veronica, and that in itself is a driving force for you to stop what she started.

It’s a shock, but a shock that will spark the turn of a new era of rebellion. One that he’d gladly spend with you.