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Cherub Rock (SDB) [M]

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, April 10, 2018, 05:13:10 PM

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Eckhart_Von_Musel

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?"

Celegwen

"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.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

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!"

Celegwen

"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?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

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..."

Celegwen

"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?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"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..."

Celegwen

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.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

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."

Celegwen

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."

*a little after midnight*

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.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"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."

~fin~

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