Spirits of the Earth

"Aahva, stop." 

Aahva Chatterjee followed the pillowheaded boy through the hall, a nasty grin on his face. He had spotted Arthur alone, and had taken the opportunity to harrass him. "Why would I stop, retard?" he asked cruelly. "I'm just asking questions!"

"Well, your questions are mean and I don't wanna answer them." Arthur replied, his pace quickening. "Go bother somebody else- ow!"

Aahva smiled as he shoved the boy into the wall. "Hey, hey, I just wanna know who's name you cry out when you fuck that crusty hat at night! Is it Margath? No, wait, Fen-Breath!" The Thanati boy put his finger on his cheek. "Or is it that whore Professor Summers?"

"Shut up!" Arthur yelled, cheeks flushing bright red. "You shut up right now!"

Aahva began to laugh, only for the Clearwater boy to aim a weak punch at him. Easily shrugging it off, he quickly had Arthur pinned against the wall. "That's not very nice, Pillowhead." he said, dangerously quiet. "I might just have to throw those faggy trading cards of yours in the wishing well if you don't apologize..."

The halls were relatively quiet at that time, and Brendan Chase had found himself between classes with nothing else to really do. He decided to go to his aunt's base in the meantime, as she would surely have something for him to do. His mind was occupied with a gentle tune that he had heard earlier from a lute player in one of the campus courtyards, and he was unconsciously whistling it softly.

Bren stopped when he saw two boys in the hall. He recognized them more from reputation than anything else, but he had seen them both around before. Aahva and Arthur. An inaudible groan escaped the young man, as he realized what was happening.

"Just walk away and go to Clarissa's base," a female voice said in his head. "There's something interesting and fun to do! This isn't your problem to deal with."

I know it isn't, Nikki, but it's about to be.

Despite the protests from his sister's voice, Bren started walking towards them. His confidence was palpable, yet he never came across like he was trying even slightly.

"I'm sure the wishing well would appreciate the cards," Bren said, approaching with a relaxed smirk. "Then again, everyone's aware of its biting wit, so it just might end up mocking you for something like your Thanati accent." He raised his right brow and shrugged with his hands in his pockets, bright green eyes showing just how much he was done with the boy's taunting. "Really, Aahva?" He asked tiredly. "Aren't you done with this shit yet? I would think it gets old after a while."

The sound of a young man's voice caused Aahva to release Arthur from his grasp. Shooting the boy one last dirty look, he turned to look at the newcomer. "Oh great, it's that popular guy." he thought, crossing his arms. "Exactly the retard I wanted to see."  He glaced back at Arthur, and was suprised to see the boy was shivering nervously, staring at the man as if he was a ghost. "Well... this is is interesting..."

Aahva looked at the upperclassman, smirking. "Well gee, I wish it that easy." he said smugly. "In order to get bored with it I'd need to keep a stick up my ass, and I don't practice that every night like you do." The bully turned on his heel and began to walk away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta leave. It's gettin' real gay over here."

Aahva would walk away, leaving only Bren and a visibly frightened Arthur.

The young man smirked, chuckling silently and shaking his head with a sigh. He knew better than to challenge Aahva; not because he was afraid the boy would beat him, but because it would be feeding a bully's ego to be challenged. Besides, he had better things to do.

"Great," Nikki's voice said in his head. "Now, you can go!"

"You feed into it," Bren said, looking at Aahva's back. "He wants a reaction from-" He looked at Arthur and furrowed his brows at the shaking boy. "Hey, are you okay? Kia, Arthur... You're shaking like an autumn leaf." Bren would put his hand on Arthur's shoulder, a concerned look on his face.

"Oh no! What if that's how he does it?"

"N-no!" With a small gasp, Arthur pulled away from Bren's hand. He scuffed away, stopping a few feet away. "I-I, I mean, really I'm fine!"

"Shit! Shit!" Arthus shook his head. "T-thanks for making him leave... I just got shook up, that's all!"

Bren lifted his hand, as the boy slid away from him. This isn't just a reaction to Aahva, he thought to himself. Nikki's voice was quiet that time, which put him slightly on edge.

"Arthur," the young man's voice was quieter then, "what's wrong? What're you afraid of?"

"You," Nikki's voice said to him. Bren's brows furrowed, and his lip twitched momentarily at the comment, but he ignored it, instead waiting for Arthur to mumble his way through an answer.

"Umm, well..." 

"Aah! I gotta think of something fast!"

Arthur glanced to the side. "Aahva has this friend, her name is Beatrix..." The boy's breathing grew shallow. " All she ever does is tattle on people! She's gonna tell the professors that I hit him, I just know it..."

"You know Beatrix," Nikki's voice said. "That's the shadowmancer girl."

Bren nodded. Though Arthur's answer was clearly a way to sidestep the question, it wasn't a falsehood. Beatrix was notorious for fabricating stories when it came to Aahva's bullying, so it would make sense that Arthur wouldn't want to run into her after the ordeal.

"Listen," Bren started. "First of all, if I vouch for you, you'll be fine. No one working here is going to take the word of a first-year tattletale over a last-year with strong connections throughout the school. Second of all, come on." The young man took a few steps, jerking his head in the direction Arthur was originally going and putting his hands in his pockets. "Walk with me. Where are you heading?"

"Ummm..." Arthur silenty cursed himself- his excuse had made things worse. He swallowed nervously. "R-right... Thanks..."

The pillowheaded boy stared at Bren, and unconsciously took a step back. "I-I'm just heading to Professor Summers' office, down by the library. We-we have a deal where she gives me A's if I write her short stories instead of schoolwork, I just gotta hand 'em in..." He shook his head frantically. "I'll be fine, I can get there myself!"

Fuck, Bren thought to himself. Professor Summers was one of the very few people that he avoided at all costs. Of course no one actually knew this, save for his aunt and girlfriend, so he had to keep up appearances.

"Arthur, it's pretty clear that you don't want to be around me," Bren said plainly. He had a great deal of patience, but it wasn't everlasting. "I don't know why, and if you want to tell me, I'm all ears. Really: I promise I won't be upset. Thing is, I said I would walk you to your destination, and I make good on my word. So, quickest way to get rid of me is to simply let me escort you."

"He was literally giving you a way out," Nikki's voice said. "Are you seriously that stubborn?"

Yes.

"No! I can't let him have it!" 

Arthur's face darkened, and the boy took another step back. "L-look..." he said shakily, pointing his finger accusatorily. "I know what you're t-trying to do! It's not cool, and I d-don't like it!"

"Shit, shit! I'm saying too much!"

Arthur shook his head slowly. "D- don't make me call my brother! He's tougher than you, he'll win!"

"You know what I'm trying to do?" Bren asked, genuinely confused. "Well, would you mind clueing me in as to what that is? Because I thought I was trying to help you..."

"You fucking idiot," Nikki's voice said. "He thinks you want his magic."

Why would I want his magic?

"You wouldn't, but he doesn't know that!"

The young man sighed, brows furrowed at the boy who was clearly terrified simply by being in Bren's presence. He could've easily opted to walk away and go about his day, but something about the pure fear Arthur was expressing held Bren there. "Your brother, Percy?" He asked after a moment of silence. "Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's just not true. I know his magic, and I have at least seven different defense spells that I can think of just off the top of my head."

Arthur went completely silent, staring at the older boy in horror. Even underneath his multiple layes of clothing his chest was visibly heaving. "You... you t-t-took his m-magic already?" he said, seemingly on the verge of tears. "But... but..."

"Run!" he told himself. "Run to Professor Summers, she'll help you!" Arthur tried to move, but found himself paralyzed in fear. "S-stay away!" the boy squeaked. "You can't have mine, I won't let you!"

Bren's brows lifted in shock, and he burst into laughter at the boy's horror. "Arthur," he huffed, "that's not..."

"Play along, Bren," Nikki's voice said. "Come on, it'll be funny."

Stop, he thought. I'd be no better than Aahva.

"Just for a moment!"

The young man took a deep breath, relaxing himself with just a smirk that could've been interpreted as devious. "Yes, Arthur," he said. "I took his magic. I could even show you the spell, if you'd like." He patted the satchel he was wearing, which contained his spell book. It wasn't a lie; not even an exaggeration. Bren had patted Percy's back after seeing him perform his magic and taken the power. "He wasn't as powerful as I had expected..." Now, he was starting to lie. "Still, better to add another power to my collection. Why shouldn't I take yours? It's pretty interesting, from what I hear, and you're not using it."

An entertained grin began to tug at his lips, but from the level of terror Arthur was expressing, he probably couldn't tell that the entire thing was an act.

Arthur was now so terrified that he had backed up into the wall. The boy began to hyperventilate, his eyes the size of saucepans. "Do- do you even know what that'll do to you?" he asked, his voice a panicked whisper. "S-souls have rules! You'll die if you keep going!"

The young man took a single step forward, his hands formally behind his back and a new darkness in his piercing green eyes. "Oh, you naïve, foolish boy," Bren said, shaking his head slowly. "My soul is untainted, void of any magic I've collected over the years. My mind has memorized every spell, but my soul is pure. I can keep gathering, and gathering, and gathering all kinds of magic until I've decided that I'm finished. Or until there's no more magic to collect. Whichever comes first."

"Alright, showoff," Nikki's voice said with a hint of worry. "Don't overdo it."

He spun completely around on his heel and spread his arms out with a shrug. "And why shouldn't I?" He asked, scoffing slightly. "Who's going to stop me?" Taking two more steps towards Arthur, Bren put his hands behind his back again.

"The thing is... My method of harvesting is completely harmless." A genuine smile crossed his lips, as he broke character. "Everyone whose magic I've taken still has their magic, no less powerful than before." Bren chuckled lightly. "I'm not a monster, Arthur. I'm just a collector."

"B-bullshit." Arthur said angrily, cutting Bren off before he could finish. "I just told you, souls have rules. If you aren't using your own, then there's a second involved. Magic cannot simply exist in a vacuum- even when dorment it needs something to tether to our plane."

The boy stamped his foot on the ground indignantly. "With the sheer amount of magic I feel surrounding you, it has to be a soul! I know it's not a link network, because then it'd all be dispersed around and I wouldn't feel it!"

Arthur swallowed nervously. "I-it doesn't matter where the soul is or how it's stored, it's gonna have limits! There's no such thing as unlimited power!"

The young man lifted one brow with a half smirk. "See, this is where your inexperience cripples you, kid. If you actually took the time to learn and understand your own magic, you would have a better grasp on the concept of tethering magic. You're right that souls have a limit to how much power they can contain, but an immortal soul doesn't. Like a human would keep living without aging, a soul would basically keep growing. Or, if you want another route, you can tether more than one soul to a person, then tether magic to the souls. But either way, it doesn't matter..."

Bren unclasped his satchel and pulled out his large, leather spell book. The book was a true work of art, and if anyone watched it carefully, they would notice that it seemed to grow slightly in thickness every few days. He opened the book and flipped rapidly through the hundreds of pages covered in strange symbols Arthur never would've seen before until he reached the end. With a quick movement, he stuck his finger between one of the pages to touch a spell. The entire book was full, yet Bren wore another smirk.

"This is the tether, Arthur." He held his hand over the end of the book, and a faint blue light shone from his hand to the book. As the light touched the book, a new page seemed to materialize out of nowhere. "This isn't a human soul, so it does have unlimited power. I can collect magic until I feel like stopping."

"An immortal soul? What is he talking about?" Arthur stared at the spellbook timidly, watching the upperclassman flip through the pages. As Bren turned to the last page, the boy narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute..."

"Bren... that is a human soul." Arthur said quietly. "Look at how the energy wafts from it, the little wavy patterns in the soulsilk, it's not even dormant!" He shook his head, panic spreading through him. "This is an AAA capacity multimantic human soul. You need to take this to Magister Maergath, this thing could be really dangerous!"

A breathy chuckle escaped Bren's lips, as he actually thought Arthur was trying to pull a fast one on him. When the boy started backing away wreaking of genuine fear, something made him pause. He closed the book and tucked it back into his satchel.

Arthur could hardly ever speak louder than a whisper. This was a boy who literally wore a pillow everywhere he went on the off chance he decides to nap. Seeing the level of panic-driven excitement coming from him was the only reason Bren actually started considering the possibility that what Arthur said could be the truth. A frown tugged at his lips, and his brows furrowed in thought. He went to open his mouth to speak, feeling his heart racing, but something cut him off.

"Everything's dangerous here," came an accented voice from down the hall. Bren looked to his right and saw a dark-skinned woman in tribal clothing walking towards them with her arms folded over her chest. A hint of a smile appeared on Bren's lips at the sight of his best friend, and Sunny approached smoothly. "I was eavesdropping," she said openly in her thick Duhjari accent. Sunny hugged Bren, then turned to Arthur, a genuine smile spread on her lips. "What's happening?"

For the briefest of moments, Bren looked unsure of himself. Arthur's shoulders tensed. "Does... does he believe me?" he thought, not allowing himself to feel relieved quite yet. "Or is he gonna just keep talking?" 

A female voice caused Arthur's head to swivel to the left. It was Sunny- Bren's girlfriend. The pillowheaded boy frowned. "Great, now what? If I tell her, she might get mad at me, or dump him, or something else stressful..."

The boy exhaled raspily. "Umm..." He shifted on his feet. "We're talking about the, um..."

"Damnit, what do I say?"

"Arthur claims my spell book has a soul bound to it," Bren said, tucking Sunny's hair behind her ear. "Apparently, that's why I'm able to collect so much magic." His tone was slightly confusing. The words flowed from him with such ease that it would seem like he was simply summarizing a story, while his tone hinted there was a touch of worry behind his voice.

Sunny chuckled, shaking her head. "Bren, that's ridiculous," she said, shaking her head with a grin. "You've known me for how long? I would know if a fucking spirit is the source of your magic." She cocked her head with a satisfied look at Arthur, before reaching into his satchel and pulling out the book. "It's a book, love. Just a normal spell book." His heart rate slowed, and she bit her lip. "Hey, I left my herbology book in your room. Be a dear and grab it for me?"

Bren nodded once, squeezing her hand and starting back in the direction he had come. He looked cautiously at Arthur, not completely convinced of either side. For once, the young man was actually at a fork in the road and wasn't sure which path was correct.

As soon as Bren was out of sight and earshot, Sunny's jovial nature faded away. She sighed, looking at Arthur with an uncomfortable gaze. "So, now you know, too?" She whispered to the boy.

Sunny's tone of voice made Arthur feel almost guilty. "M-maybe I'm wrong..." he thought nervously, looking at his feet. "She does know him really well..."

Arthur watched as Bren left, the opressive feel of raw magic following behind him. He sighed, relaxed his shoulders, then looked at Sunny. The underclassman's eyes widened. "Wait... you know?" he asked, glancing to the side. "You- you gotta tell someone! He could be in serious trouble!"

"Of course I know," she said. "I'm a shaman. My entire life consists of working with spirits, so I'd be pretty bad at my training if I couldn't tell."

Sunny twirled her hair around her finger, leaning on the wall near Arthur. She'd known about his book for years, even seen the spirit in its corporeal form once or twice.

"Arthur,  I've known Bren for seven years," she said, shaking her head. "He's the most amazing man I've ever met... Kind, generous, intelligent... Surely you must be able to tell how much he is, regardless of the magic. The spirit inside of his book is extremely powerful, but Bren controls it, not the other way around."

She smiled and looked at the boy desperately. "I'm begging you to keep this to yourself. If you have concerns, talk to me. If Maergath finds out, Bren could get into serious trouble. He doesn't even know the truth, so what harm will it do to let him keep this?"

Arthur shook his head slowly. "Y-you weren't there..." he stuttered. "You d-didn't hear him!" The boy cleared his throat, and began to speak in a smooth, oily voice. "Foolish boy! Who's going to stop me?" He swallowed nervously. "Like, like, only creeps say stuff like that! He could be pulling one over on you!"

"Shit, that was probably the wrong thing to say..."

"Um... yeah. I, uh, think I need to let Magister Maergath know..."

"Weren't you here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes curiously at the boy. "I said I was eavesdropping. I heard everything, and that was him trying to freak you out; not the real him."

He's not going to change his mind, Sunny thought to herself. It wasn't that she cared for the spirit inhabiting Bren's spell book, but rather she cared what it would do to Bren. A lot of himself was put into his magic, so losing what he had spent most of his life developing would be an absolutely devastating blow to him.

Though she hated what she was about to do, the Duhjari girl felt she really didn't have much of a choice.

"Arthur," she started, her voice darker and her eyes suddenly holding a green glow, "you're not going to go to Maergath or Zinc or that Professor Summers you spend so much time with or anyone else for that matter. I'm going to make sure of it. I'm sure you've heard of a certain Duhjari clan... You know, a shadow of death that levels an entire village in less than an hour... Chief Kalaraja is my father's best friend. He's like my uncle, so he would do anything for me." A small smirk grew on her face, easily masking the guilt she felt. "If they can reduce a village to ash, what do you think they can do to one boy? All I need to do..."

She snapped her fingers once.

Sunny folded her arms over her chest, tilting her head slightly to the right. "Now, I like you, Arthur. Really. I don't want anything to happen to you, but I don't want anything to happen to Bren more." Her eyes returned to normal, and a soft smile replaced the smirk. "You can talk to me if you have any concerns, but that's it. Can I count on this being our little secret? Or do I have to take precautionary measures?"

"I- you, you would..." Arthur stammered, eyes wider than before. "You... you can't..." It was no use. Arthur had heard Kana talking about the tribe in question, and if Sunny wasn't lying about her connections to the chief...

Tears began to form in Arthur's eyes. "O-okay..." he said, beginning to cry. "I w-wont tell anybody... Just, just p-please keep them away f-from my f-family!" Tears were now roling down his face freely, and his nose began to run. "I-I'm sorry..."

"It's over..." the boy thought dispondently. "The book will go over capacity... Bren's soul will collapse... armegeddon..."

Sunny hadn't been completely lying when she told the boy about her connection to the rogue Duhjari clan. She exaggerated a bit, as they probably wouldn't do her bidding without good reason, but she did have a legitimate connection to them. Her biological mother was impregnated by a man from that clan, though she wasn't sure of his relationship with the chief.

She crouched down in front of Arthur, fingers laced together and elbows resting on her knees. "You're completely safe, Arthur," she said quietly, "as is your family. You have my word, okay?" Sunny pulled a handkerchief out of one of the pockets in her pants and extended it to the drippy boy. "You know I'm not cruel, but I have to protect the people I love. You would do the same for your family, right?"

Standing up again, Sunny nodded with a forced smile to the boy. Bren, you owe me big time for this one, she thought.

Arthur took the hankerchief, but he he didn't use it. He scooted along the wall slowly, sniffling. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. Then, holding onto the top of his hat, he would sprint down the halls towards his dorm.

"A nap. I need a long nap."

Sunny watched him leave, then turned when she heard footsteps. Bren came into view only a moment later, holding her book up with a smirk. "Where'd Arthur go?" He asked curiously.

The Duhjari girl shook her head. "I wasn't going to have him wait around," she said calmly. "He left." She took the book and smiled at him. "Come on, your aunt was asking about you."


Bren was asleep, his spell book in his satchel against the nightstand. In the far corner of the room, copper-golden eyes stared, unblinking. It had already been nearly forty-five minutes, and this wasn't at all what Simon had planned for the single hour he was able to be free of that damned book's leather bindings, but he had to do what he had to do.

If only you were ready, Simon thought, looking at Bren's sleeping form, as he had been since midnight.

The man stepped closer to Bren, the light from the moon and stars illuminating the blue highlights in his hair. He moved softly, sitting on the nightstand next to the young man's bed.

His already intimidating eyes briefly flashed a brilliant gold, and he was able to see Bren's mind, as though he was looking through a maze that he had memorized from traveling it too many times. Little by little, Simon picked through Bren's mind, cleansing certain pieces of it, but careful to leave most, as the faintest detail could be his undoing.

There were less than two minutes left until his hour was up, and Simon finished what he was doing. He sighed, shaking his head and looking at the young man with something that resembled pity. "Sleep well, Bren," he said. "Perhaps, next time, I won't need to take your memories again." Simon's figure faded, and he was once again trapped inside of the book until the next night.

"Aren't they done yet? It's been like, ten fucking minutes!"

Beatrix Evens sat on the floor in an abandoned classroom, her eyes closed. "Aahva, hush." she whispered softly. "I'm trying to memorize all this stuff, it's really important!"

The girl, of course, was used to her best friend asking her to eavesdrop on people- hell, most of the time he didn't need to ask- but this time was different. Beatrix had fully expected to listen in on some juicy drama between the Clearwaters and the dreamy looking Chase boy, but instead she seemed to have discovered an actual conspiracy. Feeling Arthur begin to run, she pulled her conscious out of his shadow and opened her eyes. "Paper, quill, now."

Aahva raised his eyebrows. "Wait, tell me what happened! Why is Pillowhead so-"

"Paper. Quill. Now, Aahva, while it's fresh in my memory."

Aahva flinched, then scrambled to his school bag. Pulling out an unused notebook and an enchanted RediQuill, he hurried back to his friend. "Sweet tittyfucking Inima, what happened?" he asked as the girl hastily began scribbling down notes. "Who's getting in trouble this time?"

"Bren is playing around with human souls, and Pillowhead knows about it." Beatrix said flatly, looking oddly worried. It was a sensitive topic for her- according to the mistress of the orphanage she lived at, soul tampering was what had made Beatrix the way she was now. "Bren's girlfriend threatened to kill Clearwater if he tells anybody."

Aahva wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Oh, that's fucking gross!" he exclaimed angrily. "Back on Thanatos, you get lined up against the wall if you do that soul shit. Goes against everything Inima fucking stands for." The boy crossed his arms, sneering. "We're taking that degenerate faggot down. I just gotta think of the best way to fucking humilate him..."

Having written down everything she could remember about what she had just witnessed, the blue haired girl shot her best friend a sly grin. "Well y'know..." she said smugly, her eyes rippling dangerously. "They really didn't want Maergath to find out..."

The Thanati boy smirked back, and the two troublemakers high-fived. The two soon skirted out of the room, Aahva leading Beatrix by the hand. The girl smiled blissfully.

"This. This is what I was missing."