Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jackson was staring at his ceiling in the dark. He couldn’t fall asleep. But it wasn’t like that was a new thing for him. The only thing that had been on his mind was the diary. He needed to figure out how it worked and why it was specifically connected to Exer. His best theory was that the diary connected to the closest person with magic, or maybe the only person with magic left. Were there more people like Exer? If so, where were they? Did Jackson have any actual magic or was it all the diary? Did his mother intend for the diary to be magical? Had he created David and Exer’s relationship or just their first kiss? Were David and Exer actually dating or was Jackson looking too deep into it? If only there were someone who could appear right there to give him all his answers.

Knock Knock

Jackson jumped. He quickly realized it was probably the wind.

Knock knock knock

Jackson hated how easily spooked he was because his heart started pounding.

“Jacksoooon.”

“AHH!” Jackson whipped his head around to look out his window and he saw a figure out his window. He scrambled away, but ended up falling off his bed. He whimpered in pain.

The figure laughed.

”Okay, what the actual fuck?” he thought.

Jackson peaked back up at the window. Seems like he got his wish, or at least the first half.

“EXER??” he exclaimed.

The figure, Exer, waved to him. Then he gestured at the window and did a pushing up motion. Jackson followed his silent request and opened the window.

“Exer, what the fuck? It’s midnight, why the hell are you here? And could you have maybe used the door??”

“Jeeez, ya don’t have to interrogate me. I just need to ask you something.” He slipped inside Jackson’s bedroom.

“And you couldn’t, I dunno, wait ‘til morning?!”

“Sorry! It’s just… it’s urgent and I don’t think I’m getting sleep if I don’t get an answer right now.”

“Fine, fine. What is it?”

Exer reached in his pocket and pulled out a picture. He showed it to Jackson and pointed to a woman in the middle of the photo. The photo showed 4 teenagers; 2 boys and 2 girls. They seemed to be mid laugh, or something. Jackson’s eyes widened as he recognized two out of the four people in the photo.

“You recognize her?” Exer asked. Jackson slowly looked up at Exer.

“Where did you get that?” Jackson asked slowly and sternly.

“I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes.’”

“Yeah, but, for real, where did you get this?”

“My dad.”

“Oh. That… that actually makes sense.”

“So… that girl’s your mom, right?”

Jackson nodded. “Did Harry give you any context for this photo?” he questioned.

“Yes, actually. He said the other three were his best friends back in his day. The other girl is apparently my mom, and the other boy is, I’m assuming, your dad. He said he had passed away the earliest of them all and then the 2 girls disappeared, leaving only my dad,” Exer explained.

“Oh… woah.”

“Yeah… it’s really sad if you think about it.”

“Did he just tell you this?”

“Yeah, he said that when my mom left, she left a note that told him to tell me the story of them on that day, but when I was 18. Today was that day.”

“Oh…Wait. He said the girls disappeared, correct?”

“Well, yeah. But he said he assumed they died by now. He’s not one hundred percent sure about that, though.”

“Okay… what are we supposed to do with this information?”

“I really don’t know, that’s why I came to you.”

“Maybe we can find more about this somewhere.”

“…Like where? What is gonna have information on our parents?”

“Maybe… maybe the library has a book on missing cases? I dunno.”

“Alright, we could try looking there.”

“Now?”

“If you wanna.”

“…Fuck it, let’s go.”

Exer nodded, putting the photo back in his pocket and heading back out the window.

“Wait! Exer, is the library even open?”

“Uhhh… I think it’s open 24 hours… for some reason.”

“Weird, but okay.” Jackson shrugged and started climbing out the window after Exer, shutting the window behind him.

”Tia and Tio, I am so sorry for sneaking out. I’ll be back before morning, though, don’t worry,” Jackson thought as if his found family could hear it. Exer had already, somehow, gotten back on the ground. Jackson had just looked down and realized how far the jump was.

”Haha… okay I can do this.”

He got ready to jump off, but backed up again. He swallowed.

“Um… Exer? How do I… how do I get down?”

Exer scoffed. “Patheticcc.”

Jackson gave him a death stare. “I will beat you up, Exer,” he threatened after a moment.

“Alright, alright, my bad. Just slide down, you’ll be fine.”

“Um…. what if I-“

“For fucks sake, I’ll catch you.”

“I don’t know if I trust that.”

“Dude. You’ll be fine anyway, just do it.”

Jackson got ready again, he took a deep breath. “You got this.” He started sliding down. Exer smiled. “Yes! That’s it, keep going-“ Jackson’s heart skipped a beat and he scrambled back up.

Exer groaned and smacked his forehead. “You were so close! Come on, it’s not that hard!”

“I’m afraid of heights!”

“Jesus Christ… you’re just like David.”

“Oh what does that mean, ya gonna kiss me now?” Jackson muttered under his breath.

“Whaaaat? Did you say somethin’?” Exer raised an eyebrow.

“Nope!” Jackson lied, chuckling awkwardly.

“Oh, alright. Well, HURRY UP AND GET DOWN!!”

“I’M TRYING!!” Jackson lifted up his hands and shook them in front of his body in frustration.

He really should’ve thought about the fact that his hands were the only thing keeping him on that roof because the next second he was sliding down the roof and he couldn’t process what was happening in time to catch himself.

“HOOOLY SHIT!!” he yelled as he fell off the roof. He squeezed his eyes shut.

”This is how I die.”

He realized he was wrong when the fall wasn’t even that long. He landed on top of Exer, who had actually tried to catch him. “See? You’re fine,” Exer told him. Before Jackson could start to climb off of Exer, a slow clap started from behind them.

Jackson jumped off of Exer at the sound and searched for where it was coming from, Exer doing the same. His eyes landed on a blue haired boy leaning out his window.

“Ron! Oh, right, you live with Jackson,” Exer remembered. Ronald saluted in response. “What you two doing so late?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh we’re… well it’s a long story,” Exer explained.

Ron hopped out of his window like it was nothing (Jackson blushed in embarrassment because clearly he was the only person who found that hard) and walked over. “Tell me,” he requested, but his intimidating look and lack of english vocabulary made it seem more like a command.

Exer sighed. “Alright, but you’re coming with us now,” he agreed. Ron nodded and gave him a thumbs up. “Good good. Was bored anyway.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Hey, why are you up this late in the first place?” he asked. “Was doing homework. Then couldn’t sleep,” Ron answered. Jackson shrugged; that was a fair answer.

“Anyway! Let’s go,” Exer ushered, starting to walk away to his car.

~~~

“Ohhh. That’s… wow,” Ron responded to Exer’s explanation of where they were headed and why.

“Yeah…” Exer agreed.

The rest of the car ride was quiet, but not entirely awkward. Exer hummed along to the quiet radio, while Jackson and Ron enjoyed the sight of the town dimly lit by occasional street lamps.

Exer recognized the library he had been using as a quiet study spot for years. He pulled into the parking lot and parked his car. He turned around to look at Ron and Jackson. They had both chosen to sit in the back since they didn’t wanna fight over the front. “We’re here,” he told them. “Yeah, I figured that much,” Jackson mumbled, unbuckling his seat belt and climbing out. The other two did the same. They walked towards the large building.

”Huh, I really wonder why this place is open 24/7?” Exer wondered. He’d been coming here for years, but the fact it was open so much was never really relevant to him, so he never questioned it. Until now, that was.

When he walked in, the smell of books instantly hit him. It was such a calming smell. It always reminded him of when he was little and could get engulfed in the story a book was telling for hours. He wished it had stayed that way. Reading had become less of a fun experience after he was forced to do it for school. Now it was just stressful unless he was, like, extremely intrigued by the topic, which didn’t happen often.

“Hello! Oooh, seems like a group of night owls, ay?” Exer looked over to where the introduction came from. He found himself looking at a short, skinny man who looked like he could be some sort of evil scientist. Or a ghost. His voice was way too enthusiastic for the time it was. And even more enthusiastic because, guessing by the man’s eye-bags, it seemed like he got very little sleep. Exer wondered if maybe he spent his whole life inside this library because his skin was so pale he might as well had never seen the sun.

“Oh, yes, hi,” Exer replied finally, realizing he had probably stared for a little too long. He couldn’t remember ever seeing this librarian around here. Perhaps he was only here for the night shift.

“If you three need any help, let me know! I know this library like the back of my hand, I can find any book you might need,” the librarian joked, but Exer wouldn’t be surprised if he actually knew the library like the back of his hand.

“Alright,” Exer replied, turning back to Jackson and Ron. Jackson gave the librarian a suspicious look, an eyebrow raised. Ron didn’t seem to notice anything odd about the man, and was instead looking around the library. “Um, right. Sooo, I guess we start looking around?” Jackson supposed, tearing his eyes off the energetic librarian. Exer nodded and started looking around, the other two going their own ways.

Exer started in the history section, but had no luck. Then he tried the historical mysteries section and, once again, no luck. He tried looking at every year around when his father was a teenager and nothing. He tried the science section, but, expectedly, nothing. He even tried fantasy and fiction at one point, but nothing. He checked in with Ron and Jackson a few times, but they both just shook their heads.

Exer ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. They’d already been here for almost an hour but nothing. He leaned against a bookshelf, checking what section he was in. “Paranormal,” he read out loud. He looked up and down the aisle, skimming the titles of each book. He stopped in his tracks at a book titled “Does Magic Actually Exist?” but not because he knew the answer to that question. No, he stopped because the book was… glowing.

“What the-?” he asked out loud. He looked left and right, making sure no one was watching him or something.

”Theres literally no one else here besides that librarian, you’re fine,” he thought, realizing that it was kinda stupid to even check. Better safe than sorry, though.

Exer pulled out the book, running his fingers over the cover. It had swirls of green, blue, and a bunch of different colored magic on it. It was actually quite the pretty cover. He flipped through the pages, seeing if he could find a source for the green glow. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about it, though.

“Huh, weird.” He reached back to the shelf to put it away, but his hand went right through the shelf, the part he touched turning into green mist for a moment. His eyes widened. He tried putting it back again. His hand still went through. “What the fuck?”

“Exer having any luck?” Ron asked, coming out from the aisle Exer was previously in. Exer turned around to look at him. “Come ‘ere,” he requested, gesturing at Ron to come. The blue haired boy listened and came over to where Exer was. “What’s up?” he asked, leaning against the shelf Exer was currently investigating.

Or at least he tried to. Ron went right through the shelf and wall, yelping as he went down.

“Shit! Ron, are you-“

“What just happened?” Jackson asked, seemingly appearing out of no where. He screamed when he saw Ron’s legs coming out of the wall, but couldn’t see his upper half.

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED??” he yelled.

“JACKSON! Lower your voice!” Exer hissed, glancing back at the librarian, hoping he would get the hint.

“SORRY!! Oooh sorry, sorry,” he apologized, wincing at how loud his first “sorry” was.

“Um, Exer? Jackson? Things on other side of wall,” Ron told them.

“Ohoho!! Wow, I didn’t think you were one of us! How interesting!” Exer jumped at the voice of the energetic librarian. The man started inspecting him, poking at him lightly.

“Whaaat?? No! Haha, no! Nothing happened, I don’t know what you mean,” Exer lied.

The man raised an eyebrow, looking down at the legs sticking through the wall, which were now moving and disappearing completely to the other side.

“Um… That’s uh… Wait. Did you say one of us?” Jackson checked.

“Yes-er-roo!”

“So… what does that mean?” Exer asked. “Do you… do you have magic?”

“Yep-skees!”

“Someone else come here?” Ron requested through the wall.

“Seems like you found the lucky book!” the librarian inferred, completely dismissing Ronald’s request.

“Uh… Can we… Can we, like, go through it? What’s on the other side?” Jackson asked.

“Of course you can, silly!” he responded. The librarian grabbed both Exer and Jackson by the wrists and pulled them through the wall.

It led to another library. It was ten times the size of any library Exer had ever seen, though. “Woah…” he breathed, taking in the beautiful chandeliers hanging and the, like, thousands of aisles of bookshelves.

“I know right? This place is amazing! It’s like home for me! The smell of the books, the view of the chandeliers, and, most of all, the unlimited knowledge that lies here! Ohhh it’s just magnificent!! I wish I could see it for the first time again,” the librarian raved.

“Um, what exactly is this place?” Jackson asked.

“It’s the Magic Library! The home of the magic ‘freaks!’ There’s one library in each town in the world that has a copy of the lucky book which, when a magician pulls it out, the shelf turns into an illusion and you can walk through to here! Most people who come eventually stop leaving, though. It’s dangerous for us out there. But! The town you three come from is known among us magicians for being incredibly safe, so I wouldn’t worry about it much!”

“Oh, wow.” Exer didn’t know what else to say.

“Are non-magic people welcome?” Jackson asked.

“Oh, of course! Well, as long as you’re trusted, that is.”

“How do you know if trusted?” Ron asked

“Well, there are many ways we can tell. For most magicians, we can just tell by the vibe. There’s also the chance that a non-magician will be a magician’s soulmate, and those are always welcome! But, if it comes down to it, the boss makes them sign a document swearing to not rat out the community of magicians we have here.” 

“Oh. WAIT. SOULMATES ARE REAL??” Exer asked, his face instantly spreading into a wide smile at this new information.

The librarian nodded. “Of course! Every magician has one. They don’t even have to be your lover, too. Your soulmate can be a friend, a cousin, a business partner, a co worker, a lab partner, it could even be your cat! There are many theories as to why we have them. The most likely answer is that the person a magician is soulmates with is supposed to be a regulator for their magic. They help them control their magic and separating it from their emotions. Most magicians say that when they’re around their soulmate they feel completely at peace, like everything will be okay. But also magic will always do anything to protect these soulmates, even if you’re not trying to, so some people say it can get out of control around them, especially if they’re hurt. It’s quite contradictory, so there’s many, many theories. I, personally, believe that they’re an emotion regulator and that the reason for the excessive protection is so magicians don’t lose that regulation because if they do then the magic will get even more out of control, becoming possibly dangerous.”

Exer could feel a blush spreading across his cheeks as the librarian rambled, knowing exactly who his soulmate was. “Ohhh! That’s so cool! Why is it only-“ Exer started to ask, but Jackson slapped a hand over his mouth. “Stop making him ramble. It’s getting annoying.” Exer rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay,” he agreed.

“Oh! I almost forgot about this!” The librarian took the apparently lucky book from Exer’s hand and put it back on the shelf behind them. “When you wanna get out, just pull out the book again and when you’re on the other side, put it back,” the librarian instructed. Exer gave him a nod.

“So!” The librarian clapped his hands together as he spun around to face the teenagers. “Would you three like to meet some others? I’m sure there’s at least 10 other magicians hanging out somewhere. There’s always someone here,” the librarian suggested. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Jackson consented. The librarian started walking and gestured for the other three to follow.

“Sooo, Exer knowing who soulmate is?” Ron asked with a knowing smirk. He elbowed the shorter boy. “Oh, shut up,” Exer laughed, rolling his eyes as he blushed. He didn’t even notice Jackson’s suspicious look.

The librarian stopped and cleared his throat. He put his hand on a door knob and twisted it. “May I present to you…” he started, slowly opening the door, “…The society of magic freaks!” He swung the door open the rest of the way.

Chapter Text

yeah i think it's obvious enough this isn't getting finished but i just wanted to come back and say it. i kinda just lost ideas and i lost connection with a lot of the plot points and lore i made for this. i also lost connection with the ocs i made to be in this for a while. but if anyone wants to know where i was going with this, i'll post a chapter summarizing it. i think it could've made a really good story but there's just no motivation anymore. even though it went nowhere itself, this story was kinda my first taste of actually writing original plot points, world building, character building, yk, everything a writer needs to know how to do. so i'm really glad i gave it a shot!!

pls let me know if you want the summary i'll be happy to share it with y'all <3

ty for reading the first chapter love you all !!