Crystal

Hi there! :D You can call me Crystal. I'm a writer. Of fanfiction, specifically. I don’t know how it started, it just happened and by now it's My Thing. I have many fics going on, they're AUs about Jacksepticeye and his ego boys. There's a new story posted every Sunday, 12PM MST. Stay and read a few if you like, or just vibe with all the other random stuff I reblog. Either way, have fun ^-^ The Switch AU The Inverted AU Fantasy Masks AU SepticHeroes AU Paranormal Preteens The Stitched AU (finished) The PW Timeline (finished) Masterlist Link for Mobile Users Enjoy your stay! ^-^

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Night Council - Part One

Shadow City AU - Chapter Sixteen

A JSE Fanfic

So do you guys remember how last chapter I said that this one was delayed because I knew it would have to be long for worldbuilding purposes? It turns out, it was so long that I couldn't finish it and had to split it in two XD So this week, enjoy the first half of this super-long scene! Part of the group gets together to visit city hall, where the Night Council meets. The goal is to look up records and historical data, in the hopes that they'll find a clue to Chase's death and Anti's whole deal. But this first part is mostly descriptions tbh XD Hope you guys like it! Enjoy! :D

Chapter 1 | Previous Chapter | More AU | Read on AO3 @ CrystalNinjaPhoenix

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Chase couldn’t help but be a little nervous the next time he went out in the evening. For a couple different reasons. First, today was the day they were going to go visit the Night Council, to see if there was anything they could do about the complicated web surrounding Anti, Chase’s strange abilities, and whatever else might be going on. But also, more immediately, he and Jack were going to try something.

“Alright, seatbelts on,” Jack said jokingly, closing the car door and taking out his keys.

“Very funny, bro.” Chase rolled his eyes from where he sat in the backseat of Jack’s car. “Honestly, even if you stopped suddenly, I don’t think I’d get thrown forward, so the seatbelt is doubly useless.”

“Yeah, you’d probably just be unaffected by the momentum, huh?” Jack mused. He started the car. Music blasted from the radio for a bit before he quickly turned it off, coughing. “Uh, ignore that.”

“Dude, do you have a CD in there?” Chase chuckled. “In this day and age?”

“I usually just listen to stuff on my phone, but yeah. Just in case the phone doesn’t work for some reason.”

“Well that was pretty cool music. I think I’ve heard it before, what was it?”

“System of a Down. But anyway.” Jack grabbed the steering wheel. “I’m gonna go pretty slow. You should feel it when you start reaching the end of your limit, just let me know and I’ll stop. Oh, and, uh... focus really hard on staying solid. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, but if you suddenly fall out of the car, I might not be able to stop for a bit.”

“Gotcha.” Chase gave him a thumbs up. “Okay, go.”

Jack started the car, backing out of the small driveway and getting onto the road. Since Jack would have to drive over to the Council building anyway, they wanted to take the opportunity to see how far Chase could go from the house now. It had been a while since he tested out that invisible tether tying him to his point of death. When it suddenly occurred to him to try again, he found that he didn’t feel that pull at all at his previously-established limit—that being the front yard of the house across the street. This made him curious, and, well, here they were. Why was he so nervous about this? What was he afraid of? Was he afraid of being stuck in the house? Of not meeting expectations? Or... of something else?

As promised, Jack went pretty slow, driving well below the speed limit, even for this quiet neighborhood. He took the straightest possible route away from the house, heading towards the city center. And frequently glanced into the rear-view mirror to check on Chase. “You know, uh, you could’ve sat in the passenger side.”

“Yeah, but like... somehow, I think that would’ve distracted you,” Chase reasoned. “Ghost guy in the corner of your vision? Seems distracting.”

“Ah, I got over that when I was fifteen,” Jack said jokingly. “You learn to live with it when you’re born with medium sight like this.”

They continued on for a while longer. Soon, they made their way out of the neighborhood and into the adjoining area, zoned for restaurants and small businesses. Chase’s anxiety increased. Why wasn’t he feeling that tether yet?

They passed a McReynold’s, the distinct golden M raised above the other restaurant signs. Chase remembered ordering from that place way too much during his recent life, when he was pouring his all into streaming. He probably should have taken better care of his health in life... but too late now—

And that’s when he was pulled out of the back of the car.

“Hey wait Jack—!” Chase gasped, passing through the back window and the trunk as the car continued driving while he stayed still. He stood still in the middle of the street (empty, though it wouldn’t have made much of a difference to him if there were a ton of cars passing through) and watched as Jack pulled into the McReynold’s parking lot and got out of the car. Jack looked at him and gestured for him to move over to the nearest sidewalk. Chase nodded and did so, following a straight line as he stayed at the absolute limit of the tether. As Jack approached, he said, “Well, now you’re gonna look like a crazy person, talking to no one in the middle of the sidewalk.”

Jack laughed. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.” He took out his phone and held it to his ear. “Now it looks like I’m taking a phone call.” A smile flashed across his face, but then he became more serious, tilting his head as he looked at Chase. “We drove... pretty far. I’m guessing this is your new limit?”

“Yeah.” Chase nodded, pressing his hand to his chest, where he felt that pull back towards the house. “Um... so. How... normal... is this? For ghosts?”

“Well, uh... honestly?” Jack hesitated. “It’s different for almost every ghost, but... I feel like your limit suddenly jumped in a way that’s... uh, new to me.”

Chase sighed. That ball of anxiety squirmed in his stomach. This must have been what he was afraid of. More confirmation that he was different. “I guess it’s not a bad thing, right? I could, uh...” He looked around. “...if you ever want something from that Scent & Shower Works, I can grab some soap for you or something.”

Jack laughed. “You can try, but I think they’d be spooked.”

“I can do it on Halloween, then.” Chase grinned slightly, but his smile quickly fell.

“Everything okay?” Jack asked, concerned.

“I just... I’m thinking about what someone could’ve... possibly wanted from me,” Chase said quietly. “Why would they do... this?” He gestured at himself. “Like, what could my powers possibly do for someone?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know. But I promise we’ll figure it out. Starting with tonight. Checking out the records the Council has will be a good starting point. Right?”

“Yeah.” Chase nodded slowly. He mimicked a deep breath, steadying himself. “Alright. You keep on going. No, wait. Text Marvin first to let him know to summon me. No, wait. Tell him when you arrive. I’d rather walk around for a bit than stand around waiting for everyone.”

“Got it.” Jack nodded. “Honestly? Marvin might not be there yet, anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was the first to arrive. I mean...” He looked into the dimming sky. “Schneep’s probably gonna leave soon, but he might wait a bit to be sure the sun’s down. So if he’s just leaving, it’ll definitely be a minute before we’re all there.”

“I figured. Man, you really don’t know how inconvenient vampires have it until you have to wait for the sun to go down.”

“Eh, Schneep could probably go out in this lighting if he had a hat or something,” Jack said. “But he’s not gonna. He’s cautious like that. Anyway. You’re just going to walk around until we’re ready to summon you? Are you... sure that’s what you want to do?” He still looked concerned.

“...yeah.” Chase gave him a slight smile. “It’s... been a while since I’ve gone on a walk. Especially in this area. I just want to check stuff out. Go on. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Jack nodded slowly. “I’ll see you in a few. Maybe half an hour.”

“Got it.” Chase gave him a thumbs up. “Now go on. Get off the phone and get in your car.”

Jack laughed and took his phone away from his ear. “See you soon, Chase.”

“See you.” Chase watched as Jack turned around and got back in his car. As he backed out of the parking lot, Chase waved. Jack waved back before heading down the street, leaving Chase alone in the area.

Chase looked around. Things were quiet in this area, though he did see a few pedestrians wandering about. There always seemed to be pedestrians on the streets in Scuabyrg. For a second, Chase wondered how many times he’d walked past someone and didn’t know they were a witch or a werewolf or something else. He wondered how many times he’d walked through a cold spot, unaware that he’d just walked through a ghost spacing out.

Deep in his thoughts, Chase wandered around the area before the others finally called for him.

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Scuabyrg City Hall was an older brick building, built some three hundred years ago or so. Its main shape was that of a massive cube, but with a low, wide triangle on top for the roof. But there were additional columns and three-dimensional window frames that stuck out, giving it more of a silhouette beyond that. All the buildings around it were generally more modern, with many of the most modern ones towering over city hall. But city hall itself did have a few updates to the older design. The steps were new, as was the ramp next to them, the clock in the roof had been added in the 50s, and there was a small concrete courtyard out front that was very recent.

Marvin, Schneep, and Jack waited in that small concrete courtyard, with Marvin standing up to cast the summoning spell while the other two sat on the edge of a cement planter holding a young tree. When Chase appeared in his usual way, they all waved. “Good evening, Chase,” Schneep said.

“Hah, you’ve never sounded more like a vampire.” Marvin snickered.

“Hey guys.” Chase waved back, then took a moment to look around. “Huh... you know, I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to city hall.”

“Really?” Jack tilted his head. “Never had a need to?”

“No, whenever Stacy and I had, like, legal stuff to do, we went to different places,” Chase said. “Like... I think we went to a courthouse to make sure our marriage license was all good... and, uh... we went there after, too. For... other stuff.”

“What about a driving license?” Jack asked, distracting Chase from his thoughts.

“Oh, uh, well I never had one—I mean, not for England. I had an American driver’s licenses from when I moved here... but that’s definitely really expired now, cause I stopped driving a while ago. Stacy mostly did that, and I don’t know where she went for her license... I’m assuming there’s a DMV or something here.”

“You do not know where your wife went for her driving license?” Schneep repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean, she told me whenever she had to go out to do stuff about it, but never specifically!” Chase said defensively. “And, uh, when Declan was born we did all his legal stuff in the hospital. And his school stuff in the school, obviously. My point is, I’ve never been here before, and it’s kinda funny that it took me dying to come here.”

“I think that’s funny, Chase,” Marvin said, taking care of the summoning circle.

“Thanks.” Chase nodded. “So, uh... what do we... do?” He looked around again. There were some cars parked in a nearby lot, and some people hanging out in the windows of surrounding buildings. No everydays in sight... yet. Inevitably, someone would appear. “Do we have to find a secret entrance or something?”

“Nope.” Jack shook his head and stood up. “Actually... we’re just going to walk right in.”

Chase blinked in surprise. “Huh.”

“Did not expect that, did you?” Schneep chuckled, also standing. “Clara will meet us inside. You will see how things go from there.”

“...secret floor in city hall?” Chase guessed. “Or secret basement?”

“Oh it’s cooler than that.” Marvin grinned. “Hard to explain, though. Uh... the Night Council and the everyday City Council kind of... exist in the same space.”

Chase didn’t bother to hide his confusion. What, like... there were just offices for werewolves and vampires next to offices for the treasury and parks departments? “Let’s just, uh... go inside. I think I’ll get it if I see it.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Jack agreed. He started walking towards city hall. “Come on. Stay close and invisible, Chase.”

The group headed towards city hall, walking straight up the steps and into a large reception room. It was rather plain in here, despite someone’s attempts to brighten it up with some paintings on the wall. Rows of plastic chairs with basic cushions filled the area, broken up by a few magazine racks along the walls, which had probably gone untouched for a long time. There was a large wooden reception desk, curving around to block off the corner, with a plastic shield attached to its worn surface. The young woman behind it was the only person in sight. She was on a laptop—probably her own personal device, since there was a monitor that had been pushed aside to make room for it—but she glanced up when the group walked in. “Hi,” she said cheerfully.

“Hello.” Jack smiled back and waved. “We have an appointment with Clara Berrycloth?”

Chase couldn’t hold back a surprised snort of laughter. What sort of last name was Berrycloth?

The young woman also looked confused, and a bit doubtful. “Uh, yes, of course. One second.” She pushed her laptop to the side and pulled a keyboard and mouse for the monitor closer, clicking and typing. “Oh! Huh.” She seemed surprised by what she saw, but nodded along. “Right. Just down that hallway over there. Meeting Room C.” She pointed to the left, where an archway led into a corridor leading further into the building.

“Thanks.” Jack nodded, and he headed that way with Marvin and Schneep. Chase took a second to follow, a little confused.

“...Chase did you laugh at her last name?” Schneep muttered under his breath.

“What? Uh, no!” Chase lied.

“He did, I heard it,” Jack said.

“Snitch,” Chase grumbled.

The group headed down a hallway—plain white plaster on the upper half of the walls, and yellowish wooden paneling on the bottom. Chase glanced around, looking for any sign of magical or mystical elements, but he found nothing but mediocrity in the popcorn pattern ceiling and the short gray carpet. The group passed a few doors with windows in the upper half, and Chase peered through to see more normal-looking rooms. Offices with two or more desks each, storage rooms full of filing cabinets, and meeting rooms with long tables. They kept going until they reached an intersection. To the right, the hallway continued, lined with more doors. To the left, the hallway ended in a pair of double doors labeled Meeting Room D.

“Uh... okay...” Chase said slowly, confused. He looked away from the obvious double doors, and saw two smaller, single doors on the walls to its left and right. The right was labeled Meeting Room E, and the left... Meeting Room C. “This all looks... very boring.”

“Give it a minute, Chase,” Marvin chuckled.

Jack opened the door to Meeting Room C and the group piled in. This was, indeed, a meeting room. One of the smaller ones, with two long plastic tables and folding chairs stacked to the side. It was mostly bare, so the few things that were in here stood out, like the large trash can and the projector sitting on a small wheeled cart in the middle of the room. Once everyone was inside, Jack turned on the lights and closed the door... and that’s when Chase realized that this door, unlike all the others, didn’t have a window in it. “Okay, who wants to do the honors?” Jack asked.

“Meeee!” Marvin hurried to the projector in the middle of the room. He crouched down to the ground, peering at the underside of the wheeled cart, reaching up and feeling along it... until he drew back, now holding a square piece of colored glass. It looked almost metallic, a coppery sheen on its surface. Chase moved closer, curious. Oh... the sheen was actually from a lot of tiny gold etching on the glass, small symbols that he couldn’t read.

Marvin then turned on the projector. Blue light shone towards the opposite wall, creating a square with some white words reading Input: HDMI 1. He carefully slid the colored glass in front of the projector lens, and that light changed radically. Now the square was bright white, lines of golden symbols crisscrossing the surface, forming a grid pattern with squares that got smaller towards the center as the lines got closer.

The outer edges of that square of white light grew fuzzy. The golden symbols began to move, at first twisting in on themselves and shifting designs individually. But then the lines began running, scrolling up and down and side to side. And as they scrolled faster and faster, the edges of the square grew fuzzier, and then started to expand, the white light creeping outwards. Until within seconds, that moving grid covered the entire wall, and then the other walls, and then the ceiling and the floor and the furniture itself! Chase’s eyes didn’t hurt from the brightness, but he closed them out of instinct as everything flashed bronze.

And then, when he opened them, Meeting Room C had changed. It was still the same dimensions, but now the walls were black, framed with wooden pillars in the corners with dark red finishing. Said columns branched out at the top, lines crossing the ceiling like branches, with bits of glowing white dots peeking through. Like the night sky in a forest. The floor, now made of smooth wooden planks in a herringbone pattern, was the same color. There were no long tables in the room, just chairs lining the sides, done in red upholstery. Small black tables sat in between each chair. In the center of the room, the projector was still there, but it now sat on a black marble table, a dark circle shot through with white veins. A couple of those colored glass squares were scattered across the surface.

“What the fuck?!” Chase gasped.

Marvin and Jack burst into laughter. “I knew you’d like it!” Marvin said cheerfully. He put the glass square he was holding down on the table with the others. “Welcome to the Night Council’s Scuabyrg Hall!”

“How—what—where—how?!” Chase spun in circles, taking in all the details of his new surroundings.

“The Night Council is sort of... overlayed on top of the normal everyday city hall,” Jack explained. “It’s called a...mirror spell, I think? Right, Marvin?”

“Yeah, basically, though this one’s been modified,” Marvin confirmed.

“Would it help to think of it like a pocket dimension, Chase?” Schneep asked.

“I... I guess...” Chase just kept staring. “How the fuck did a projector take us here?!”

“The spell’s all inscribed on these glass slides.” Marvin picked back up the one he’d used. “They just need a lot of intense light to activate them. Well, that, and an enclosed space. It wouldn’t work if the door was open, it would just take everyone in the hallway here, too! Anyway, the projector was perfect for that.”

“They used to use a very powerful flashlight,” Schneep recalled. “But it kept getting lost. For some reason, the everydays do not move the projector from the room as often as they would a flashlight.”

Chase gaped at the room for a second more, then shook his head. “Uh... well. I think... we should, uh, go to that... appointment. Thing. We had. We don’t want to keep your friend, uh, Clara waiting.”

Schneep grinned, showing off his fangs. “Right, right, of course. Let’s go. She’ll be expecting us in her office on the next floor up.”

The group left the room—walking into a much different, and much busier hallway than the one they’d left behind. Here, the walls were mostly black, but with the faintest swirls of other color, giving the whole place a shimmery effect and making it much lighter compared to the pure-black stone columns that occasionally broke up the wall, standing tall on the corners and around doors. The ceiling was alight with stars, swathes of them that glowed so brightly they lit up the darkness perfectly, like images from a fancy telescope had been pasted onto the ceiling. People bustled about here. Many of them looked fairly normal, but mixed in with business-casual men and women were animals—wolves, cats, and even blackbirds that swooped through the air—and... stranger creatures.

“Chase, come on!” Jack called. He and the other two were already heading down the hallway.

Chase followed, though he couldn’t help but look around at said ‘stranger creatures.’ There was a tall man with horns and batlike wings in one corner, his skin seemingly made of stone. And a figure hurrying by with the body of a woman but the head of a pumpkin. He even saw a pale, washed-out woman pass through a closed door and into another door on the opposite side of the hall. He couldn’t help but stop and stare for a solid few seconds after that happened. That was... another ghost, wasn’t it? His first glimpse of one other than himself.

Soon, though, they reached a set of stairs, traveling up them to the second floor—which was similar in design, though a lot less busy. The ceiling was also different, now looking like a field of purple-tinted clouds with arcs of lightning between them. That provided slightly less light than the stars, so there were some wall sconces on this floor, shaped like white flowers with dark black-purple veins and a center of the same color. The hallway extended to the left and the right. “Where’s your friend’s office, Schneep?” Marvin asked.

“Well,” Schneep said, turning left. The rest of the group followed his lead. “It should be right down—”

“Henrik!” A shout came from behind them.

“Oh, nevermind, it seems she is here to meet us,” Schneep said, turning the other way.

A short woman was hurrying down the hall towards them. Her skin had that notable gray tint that all vampires did, but it was partially hidden by the makeup she was wearing—skillfully and tastefully applied. Her mane of blonde curly hair gave most of the shape and definition to her otherwise slight frame, and she wore a sharp, dark purple suit with a lavender tie. “So sorry, you probably expected me in my office,” she said as she approached. Her voice had a pronounced, posh accent. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

“No, of course not, we had only just arrived,” Schneep said. “Marvin here wanted to show off the projector entrance to Chase.” He nodded at each of them in turn. “Everyone, this is my friend Clara Berrycloth. Clara, this is Marvin Fletcher, Chase Brody, and... have you met Jack before?”

“I have not, but I believe I’ve heard of him. Jack McLoughlin, correct?” Clara held out her hand to him. “You’re a medium?”

“That’s me.” Jack smiled and shook her hand.

“Wonderful. It’s always good to meet one of you.” Clara also shook Marvin’s hand, and then turned to Chase, hand still extended. “Are you comfortable with a handshake, Chase, or is that still difficult for you?”

“Oh, no I, um... wait.” Chase realized something. “You can... see me? I’m not—I’m not trying to be seen.”

“Right, I suppose you wouldn’t know. The Night Council Hall is enchanted,” Clara explained. “With a few different ones, but the relevant one now is a Truesight area spell. There are no illusions in here, and anything—or anyone—invisible is revealed. Ghosts included. Doesn’t help much with the solidity, though, which is why I’m asking about the handshake.”

“...huh.” Chase nodded slowly. “Uh, yeah, we can shake hands.” He took Clara’s offered hand, and she shook his firmly. “Sorry if I seem... spacey or something, I’m just... new to this whole thing, still. And, uh... it’s a lot.”

“It can be very overwhelming the first time anyone steps into a place like a Night Council,” Clara sighed. “I remember it well. Things used to be very different, but the sheer amount of new things to see is... well, it’s always a constant.” She smiled gently, keeping her lips closed so she didn’t show off her fangs. “Do you need a moment?”

“No no, I can keep up,” Chase promised. “I just might be a bit quiet. But I-I know we’re here to... find out some stuff that can help me.” He straightened his shoulders. “So I’ll do my best to help.”

“Alright, but let me know if you need anything, alright?” Clara said. “Now come on. You all are at the stairs, and I was going to take you to the next floor anyway after we met. We can walk and talk on the way.” She gestured for them to follow her as she walked past them to the stairwell, climbing up.

The group followed. “Where are we going first?” Marvin asked. “Schneep said you’ll be able to help us find Patrol records and historical stuff that might help.”

“All of that is kept on the floor above,” Clara explained. “Ground floor is meeting rooms and day-to-day affairs, first floor is offices for representatives like me and other similar positions, second floor is for records of all sorts. Then the top is where we do the important stuff. Of course, it’s a lot more complicated than that, but that’s the gist.”

The next floor up—what Chase knew as the third floor, but what was apparently called the second—looked plainer than the ones below. Still dark, with walls covered in dark brown paneling. But the whimsical sky-based ceiling had been replaced with a black-and-purple tile design, and the patterned hardwood floors were covered up with a plain black carpet, the sort that was thin and short, like you’d find in an office. The hallways themselves were a bit wider, which confused Chase until the group had to pass a man pushing a cart full of boxes of folders. With carts like those, wide halls were necessary.

“Can you tell me a bit more what you’re looking for?” Clara asked as they walked.

“Well, Chase here was murdered the night of April 17th,” Jack explained. “Or... maybe very early morning on the 18th, we’re not entirely sure.”

“The time period ranges from 10:30 to 3 in the morning,” Schneep clarified.

“You mean Chase doesn’t know?” Clara glanced back at Chase. “Sorry, you don’t know what time you died?”

“No, I don’t remember any of it,” Chase said. “I know that’s unusual. A-and apparently I’m a pretty strong ghost, maybe unusually strong. Marvin thinks it’s because of this, uh... lingering spirit spell.”

“But even that doesn’t account for everything,” Marvin added.

“So you want to check the records for that night during that time period.” Clara nodded. “I understand.”

“And, uh, we want to know if there’s been anything... historically significant in this area,” Chase continued. “Anything that might have something to do with, uh, ghosts and other undead and all that sort of stuff.”

Clara nodded. “Well, the Patrol records are closer, so we’ll take care of that first.”

They arrived at a pair of double doors, slightly inset into the wall, made of wood with a reflective window in their upper half. Clara pulled it open, holding it and gesturing for the guys to go in first. The space beyond was... pretty much an ordinary-looking record room. There were rows of shelves and filing cabinets filling the space, contrasting the more old-fashioned-looking wood-panel walls. In addition to that, there were a couple desks in front, each one equipped with a flatscreen computer monitor, with matching mouse and keyboard. A single person sat at one of the desks, a man with salt-and-pepper hair whose eyes were locked onto one of the computer screens. When Chase looked closer, he realized the man’s eyes were pure black, but with strings of glowing... binary? Running up and down them.

“Hello, Jefferson, don’t mind us,” Clara said, choosing another computer. The man with the binary eyes raised his hand in greeting but didn’t say anything. “Alright, everyone, gather on here.”

Everyone crowded around the computer monitor. Jack laughed to himself. “You guys have better systems than my work does.”

“Well that’s a right mess for you, isn’t it?” Clara giggled. “Alright... the 17th, you said?” She powered on the computer, logged in, and opened up some sort of program with an icon of a filing cabinet.

“...this looks like a normal database,” Chase observed, watching as she adjusted some sliders to narrow a date range.

“Well, if it works, why change it?” Schneep reasoned.

“I just expected something more... fantastical, I guess?”

“What’s fantastical is that Jefferson there uses his computer witchcraft to instantly digitize the rows of paper copies we have here,” Clara said. “It’s really handy. But not flashy.”

“Oh. Okay.”

The database took a minute to load after the search. But once it did, there weren’t many results. Chase and the others leaned close to examine them. They were presented chronologically, from 10pm to 3am on the night of Chase’s death. Some minor incidents populated the results—apparently the Night Patrol still had to deal with noise complaints and dumb customers on top of whatever supernatural duties they had—but the one result that stood out was pretty early. “What’s that one?” Chase pointed at it.

“‘Investigation Report: Possible Hunter Spotting’...” Marvin read out loud. He inhaled sharply through his teeth. “Um... what?”

Clara clicked on it, bringing up what looked like a scanned image of a form, filled out by a Night Patrol volunteer. There was a typed transcription below it, which she scrolled to, and everyone went quiet for a bit as they read.

After a bit, Schneep began to summarize. “Residents on Ripley Avenue reported seeing a suspicious figure lurking around. Supposedly, a ghost in the area got close enough to examine the figure and saw he was armed. Later, gunshots were heard, and when a werewolf went to investigate, they reported the presence of silver in some of the bullet holes.”

“Holy shit...” Marvin muttered. “Wait, why haven’t any of us heard about this? Silver bullets? That’s... that’s big. That’s... monster hunting.”

The room seemed to get colder. “U-um, there, at the bottom.” Jack gestured. “It was all hearsay, anyway. The bullets weren’t recovered, a-and no one could detect silver. So... maybe it wasn’t really a monster hunter. Just... an everyday criminal, or something.”

“I am surprised Jackie didn’t know about this...” Schneep said quietly. “You would think rumors of silver bullets would spread through the werewolf community quickly. Even if they were not true.”

“We can ask him about it later,” Chase said quietly. “Um, more importantly... gunshots.” His hand drifted upwards towards his head. “That... can’t be a coincidence. Guns are illegal here, and you’re telling me that the same night people reported gunshots is the night I died?”

“Ripley Avenue is across the city from where you died, though, Chase,” Jack pointed out.

“Yeah, but... look at the time they were supposedly heard.” Chase gestured at the report. “Around 11:30. That totally falls into the time period where I probably died. I-I could totally see someone with a gun making their way across the city and getting to my house before 3 am, which is the latest I probably died.” He paused. “It still doesn’t explain why the hell a monster hunter would kill me, though.”

“Were you an everyday in the know, Chase?” Clara asked.

“No, not at all!” Chase shook his head. “I only found out about this world after I died.”

“Hmm... very odd...” Clara mumbled. She returned to the original database, and typed Chase’s full name into the search bar. Once the database finished loading, the only thing that showed up was a single file titled ‘Ghost Registration 18/04/2022’.

“Uhhh what’s that?” Chase asked.

“Oh, I did that,” Jack said. “Part of my job, I have to register any ghosts I find with the Council. It helps them to know where you guys are, just in case you need help or cause trouble.”

“Ah. You could’ve... told me you did that. Earlier.”

“Could’ve sworn I did...” Jack said quietly. “Anyway... I noted you were strong, but I don’t think I did much else... We didn’t know any of this stuff at the time.”

“Hm...” Clara pursed her lips together. “Chase, we definitely need to make a case file for you. Your death is... clearly strange. I can’t believe we haven’t done it yet. I’ll be making a note to send an undead representative to your place of haunting to talk to you.”

“What? We can’t do that now?” Chase asked.

“Clara doesn’t have the jurisdiction for that,” Schneep said. “She is a vampire representative.”

“I’m already doing a lot by giving you guys access to here,” Clara explained. “It’s annoying, yes, but it’s how we keep the peace here. By not stepping on any toes.”

“I’ll fill out some stuff once we get home,” Jack said. “Or, uh, I can help Chase fill out some stuff, if you’d prefer that, Chase.”

“Yeah, that sounds... better.” Chase nodded slowly. “Anyway, uh... can we... look for any of those historical records now?”

“You don’t want to look at any other Patrol records while we’re here?” Clara asked.

“Well, actually.” Marvin cleared his throat. “Do you guys know about a vampire called Anti?”

“Oh.” Clara made a face. “We’ve had reports about that man... personally, I’m hearing a lot from various vamps in the city. Do you want to look at the stuff we have for him?”

“Yes, please,” Marvin said. “He might... have something to do with all this.”

Clara went back to the search bar and typed in ‘Anti.’ The results that loaded in were spread out over the past couple months, many of them with the word ‘(Alleged)’ tacked onto the end. “Hmm...” Schneep leaned forward. “Look, there are the cases me and Jackie made. When my wallet was stolen, and when Jackie’s pack mate was attacked.” He pointed at them. “The earliest incidents, and some of the only confirmed ones.”

“That definitely reinforces our theory that Anti only started attacking randomly after Chase’s death..." Jack muttered.

They spent a few minutes looking through the files some more, but unfortunately, didn’t find much else. Just Anti’s usual pattern of attacking randomly. Chase asked to do another general search around the 17th, and Clara widened the search pool for a week before and a week after. But nothing new there, either. It seemed they’d learned everything they could from the patrol records.

“Alright, if that’s all you want to look at here, I can bring you to the historical record room,” Clara said.

“Aw, I don’t want to move,” Marvin said jokingly.

“Well, if you want to find out anything more, you’ll have to,” Clara chuckled.

Marvin sighed dramatically. “All this magic out there, and we still have to walk to places.”

“You have been standing in place, how is that much better?” Schneep muttered.

The group got up and made their way out of the room. While they walked, Jack lingered back, leaning close to Chase. “Hey... how are you holding up?”

“Huh?” Chase tilted his head in surprise. “Uh... I’m good. Why? Do I look... not good?”

“You look deep in thought,” Jack said. “I just couldn’t tell if those thoughts were...heavy or not.”

Chase sighed. “I mean... I guess a little heavy, yeah. I just... Even with all this research we’re doing, will we ever figure out... the why of it all? Because I think that’s what’s bugging me the most. Th-this whole thing makes no sense. I guess... JJ did mention that Anti might have beef with monster hunters, so it makes sense why he’s involved if they’re involved. But I don’t know why they’d be involved with me at all.” He paused. “Maybe I... stumbled into something that night. Or, uh, considering I died in my house, maybe it stumbled into me. And... that’s what happened. But it doesn’t explain everything. I... I want to know. I want to know so badly, Jack. And... I’m worried... that I’ll be different forever, and I’ll never know why.” Chase couldn’t cry as a ghost. But nonetheless, he felt the sensation of tears approaching, a phantom feeling left over from his life.

Jack reached up and gently rested a hand on Chase’s shoulder. It went through slightly at first, but he focused on making sure it was in the right place. “You’ll know, Chase. We’re all here to help you find out. And... even if it takes us a while... that doesn’t change how we feel about you, you know? I might’ve found you as a ghost, but you’re not just a ghost to me.”

Chase felt that sensation again. It was strange, to have his eyes start to well up, but not feel any of the tears that threatened to overflow. “Thanks, man. That... that means a lot.” He paused. “If... if this gets you guys in trouble... if we run into something that I stumbled on, something that got me killed... will you guys still be there?”

“Of course.” Jack nodded.

Chase felt a weight lift from his shoulders. “Okay. Okay. Good.” But even so, something remained unsettled in his stomach. “I... I don’t want you guys to, like... die for me, though, okay? Dying... sucks. So. Protect yourselves first, promise?”

Jack looked a bit surprised at that, but he nodded again, looking more serious. “I promise. And I’m sure the others will, too.”

The unsettled feeling calmed, just a bit. Enough for Chase to focus. “Thanks.” He gave Jack a slight smile. “Now... let’s catch up with the rest of the group.”

[kiwinatorwaffles]

just ate an apple so disgusting i accidentally dropped an f bomb in front of kids. apple so bad it overwrote my profanity filters

[wyvern-of-whimsy]

That really was a b-

[super-ion]

Concept: cursed blade rehabilitation center. Destroying a sentient weapon is expensive and highly unethical, so adventurers bring them to the center where highly trained staff can care for them and eventually find them forever homes. It turns out most cursed weapons are products of trauma and are not strictly evil themselves. Some blades turn out to be fiercely protective companions. Others don't even want to be weapons at all, finding joy in simple work like blacksmithing or farming. Most blades just need to be loved.

[super-ion]

A pack of bandits descend upon a seemingly undefended town. But the blacksmith's hammer, the farmer's scythe, the woodsman's axe, they have not forgotten what they once were, and they *will* defend the town that they have come to love.

[super-ion]

This sweet girl has been with us for seven seasons. She was forged in the heart of a volcano and would be ideal for anyone with a preexisting fire affinity (she's a cuddler and is guaranteed to keep you warm in winter). She still loves burning, but it turns out you can only reduce the world to ash once. She would be perfectly suited for forest management that regularly requires controlled burns.

[super-ion]

This weary old soul has grown tired of bloodshed and would much rather spend his days as an ominous decoration in a tavern or common room, a perfect fit for an adventurer looking to leave their dungeon crawling days behind. He likes peoplewatching with his single glowing eye, preferably from high, prominent locations with views of entrances and exits.

[heron-knight]

Dark king Grütmore’s edge of annihilation consumed 10,000 souls in the first era, and as it turns out, statistically a lot of those souls heard stories that never got written down. It works in a library now.

The throngler, however, is just irrevocably fucked up. We put it in a stone in a forest and hoped nobody ever finds it

[animentality]

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

last line hit like a mack truck

ink: diamine oxblood

[demadogs]

nothing can break the bond between a friend who loves spoilers and a friend who just watched an amazing show and needs to tell someone the entire plot from start to finish

[demadogs]

alternatively: nothing can break the bond between a friend who doesnt read and a friend who just read an amazing book and needs to tell someone the entire plot from start to finish

[demadogs]

nothing can break the bond between a friend who cannot and will not watch horror but is still interested and a friend who just watched an amazing horror movie and needs to tell someone the entire plot from start to finish

[rneliflua]

"shipping and blorbofication are not inherently at odds with understanding a story's deep themes" and "some people can't grasp the themes of a story because they never learned how to engage with stories outside of the lens of shipping and blorbofication" are two statements that can coexist

[rneliflua]

blorbofication to me is when you love a character in such a laser focus way that you somewhat detach them from the narrative from which they are inserted and treat them in a way roughly similar to how you'd treat an oc for which you still have no story and just like to put them in situations just for fun. which there's nothing wrong with btw, it's just that it can easily lead to people forgetting the character engine in a narrative and not just a barbie doll

[doriangraysrockcollection]

i must say, i am a huge fan of when a book is in the middle of a very exciting plot containing many interesting problems when out of nowhere for a few pages it's like, "hey by the way, real quick, here's a detailed explanation of the city's water filtration system! i'm telling you this for a reason and you should worry about it. anyway! haha okay back to the plot" and you just get to be Scared for a while

[doriangraysrockcollection]

i am kissing you on the mouth right now

you are the only person who understands me. you and the person who tagged a series of unfortunate events

[cupcraft]

You never know what color pallette someone's Tumblr is till ppl are screenshotting posts and tags

[aropride]

do u like mine

[cupcraft]

Oh wow.

[cupcraft]

Some people on tumblr are reading ancient scrolls and you'd never know

[personsonable-deactivated201908]

me holding a gun to a mushroom: tell me the name of god you fungal piece of shit

mushroom: can you feel your heart burning? can you feel the struggle within? the fear within me is beyond anything your soul can make. you cannot kill me in a way that matters

me cocking the gun, tears streaming down my face: I’M NOT FUCKING SCARED OF YOU

[miaislying]

Hey OP? What the FUCK does this mean?

[personsonable-deactivated201908]

decay exists as an extant form of life

[miaislying]

That’s a terrifying answer, have a nice day

[haystarlight]

THE ORIGINAL?!?!!!!!!!!;!!!!!!!!???

[syistoppedgivingafuck]

i had a vision.

[evilscientist3]

i swear if the wizard doesnt let me out of his abandoned salt mine soon im gonna fucking LOSE IT

[ttechniic]

what did you do to be put into the salt mine

[evilscientist3]

i MAY have eaten his special wizard meal. but i think he should let me out tbh

[ttechniic]

was it good? was it worth it? are you able to bear the weight of your sin?

[evilscientist3]

im not gonna lie it was fucking delicious i would fucking do it again. wait shit youre the fucking wizard in disguise seeing if ive learned my lesson arent you. fuck.

[ttechniic]

10 YEARS IN THE ABANDONED SALT MINE.

[siderealglimmer]

[graytaloty]

A big part of being a quadruped is being able to just lie down anytime. Waiting? Loaf time. Talking to someone shorter than you? Loaf time. Falling asleep in the sun? Loaf time. Bored? Loaf it up till something interesting happens. Leg hurt? Loaf time.

[habbadax]

You wish you were me

[egberts]

also part of growing up is realizing that the embarrassing music you liked in your early teen years still goes hard as hell

[crystalninjaphoenix]

A Whisper From the Past

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

This one is long, but it was so fun to write. I struggled to get into the flow at first, but it turns out you just need the right background noise and then your brain just goes hfjskla I'm not even going to write too long of a description, I just want to get into it. We check on how Jackie and Schneep for a brief moment as they try to navigate the house. Then we cut to Marvin, who's trying to do the same thing as he trusts his cards to take him to safety. And they end up bringing him to see... someone :)c That's all I'll say! I hope you guys love this one! :D

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

Jackie and Schneep had gone in a few laps around the house, walking down the hallway, then back to the living room and through the kitchen and the dining room. At first, it all looked the same. But over time, little differences began to stack up. The doors were made of a darker wood, or the style of the chairs looked more modern. Everything seemed to have that same colorless effect, though.

After ten laps (they were keeping track), Jackie realized something. “Is it... darker than it was before?”

“Hm?” Schneep paused, glancing around. “It... looks the same to me.”

“No, I...” Jackie frowned. “I swear, it’s darker...” He stopped walking, looking around the hallway they were in. With everything so gray and dull in here, the only thing that really stood out to him were the shadows and the light. “The corners are... deeper.”

“Are they?” Schneep stopped as well—he had to, since they were still stuck together—and gave everything a more thorough look. “I... I cannot really tell.”

“Maybe once we get into another version of the house it’ll be clearer,” Jackie said. “C’mon.” He started walking again.

Now that he was paying attention, the lights in the living room also seemed dimmer than they were when they entered. There were bookshelves in the corner (he didn’t remember if they were there at the start, but they were definitely there the last couple times they were in here) and they were now harder to see.

“I... I don’t like this,” he said slowly. “Maybe we should... pause?”

Schneep hesitated, but nodded. “Very well. We can take a break.” The two of them made their way to the sofa, sitting there by instinct. But they both kept glancing around, uneasy. The front door was still missing. It had been missing this whole time. “Are you feeling... tired, Jackie?” Schneep asked slowly.

Jackie paused a moment, assessing things. “I... I think I’ve been feeling a little tired since setting foot in here,” he said slowly. “this place... it weighs on you. A-and that makes it hard to move. Makes it hard to put... any effort into anything. When I was trapped here before, the only time I felt anything was when I was... afraid for my life. Or in pain.” As he thought about it, those old feelings began to affect him again, his heart beating a little faster.

A moment passed. Schneep wrapped an arm around Jackie’s shoulders. “Things are different now,” he said quietly. “Even so... I am sorry you’re back here. You are very brave for agreeing to it, with all the bad memories you have from those nine months.”

“...thanks.” Jackie smiled a little, trying to hold onto the warm feeling of being here with Schneep. “I just... I know that if we didn’t do something, he’d be hunting us forever. A-and I wanted to help. If not for you guys... then for myself.”

“And that is the bravery I mean.” Schneep smiled back at him. “Not everyone would be able to overcome such a challenge.” He paused. “I know I-I felt the same way about IRIS... about being trapped there again. But I tell myself they are gone now. Thanks to our efforts. And soon, Distorter will be the same.”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah...” He let out a long breath. “I can’t wait for that day.”

They sat there in silence for a bit longer. “You know... it has occurred to me that people tell children to stay in the same place when they lose their parents,” Schneep said slowly. “Should we do the same thing?”

“Just wait here for the others?” Jackie asked, and Schneep nodded. He thought about it. “I mean... if the others are trapped somewhere, we can’t do anything by sitting around. There is a chance that if we wander around, we’ll keep missing each other, but... there’s also a chance that if we sit in one place, Distorter will find us. Literal sitting ducks.”

“Fair enough.” Schneep nodded. “So... we need to keep going, don’t we?”

Jackie sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I’m just... worried about why it’s getting dark still.”

“I am worried about why it doesn’t look dark to me...” Schneep said slowly. “But... I probably have IRIS to blame. But I swear things have been dark for me before?” He shook his head. “We can consider it as we walk.”

They got up again. They had to time it perfectly so they stood up in unison, as they couldn’t do it one at a time while still linked together. But that was easy enough. And soon they were on their way again. They walked through the dining room and kitchen, back out into the living room, up and down the hallway, and then back into the living room... and things had definitely gotten darker. The bookshelves in the corner were almost completely hidden in shadow. “...Schneep,” Jackie whispered.

“I can tell it is darker now,” Schneep whispered back.

Jackie reached into his pocket and took out his phone, trying to turn on the flashlight. But somehow, that didn’t pierce the gloom at all. “Um... at what point does the risk of staying in one place outweigh the risk of walking around? Because I’m pretty sure it’s just going to keep getting darker.”

Schneep nodded slowly. “Do we wait again, then?”

“I... don’t know...” Jackie said slowly. “Maybe... one more round?” As he said that, though, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner. His eyes locked onto it immediately, hoping it was just a trick of the mind. But... no. The shadows... in the corner, they seemed to be... writhing. Like staring into black mist. “...Schneep,” he whispered.

“Hmm?” Schneep followed his gaze. And went a bit pale. “Ah... one more round around the area, then?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Jackie nodded.

Back into the kitchen. Through to the dining room. Out into the living room again, which was suddenly much, much darker. The only source of illumination was the dim ceiling light, and at this point, it wasn’t doing much. The shadows in the corners were trembling, and as they stared, they seemed to slowly move closer into the light. “Keep going!” Schneep hissed.

They turned into the hallway, but that was darker still. And at the far end... the shadows continued to writhe and encroach. “Shit!” Jackie couldn’t hold back a surge of panic. “Turn around!”

He spun around and headed back, and Schneep moved with him—at first. As Jackie stepped over the threshold back into the living room again, Schneep stumbled and stopped, seeing something in the darkness that Jackie didn’t realize. “Jackie, the floor is—!”

But it was too late. Jackie stepped forward, and his foot fell through—into midair. He yelped, which turned into a scream as he tumbled forward into the darkness. Schneep cried out as he was dragged down along with him, and the two of them fell down, down, down.

———————

The first thing Marvin felt when he woke up was a sharp pain. He winced, reaching upwards. Part of his hair had some sort of sticky liquid mixed in among his roots. Fuck, he must’ve hit his head during that shaking, when everyone disappeared. He couldn’t remember it happening, though... which was probably a bad sign.

He opened his eyes, squinting at the room around him. He was still in the living room, but the furniture here was a mess. It looked like a tornado swept through the area. A tornado made of knives and hammers. The legs of the sofa and chairs were detached, flung across the room. The bookshelves had fallen over, the shelves cracked in half, their content spilled across the ground in pieces. The upholstery and pillows had been ripped, bits of fluff settled on top of this mess like a fresh coating of snow. Had the shaking done this? Or had he merely been sent to another version of the house, one where everything was wrecked?

“Guys?” Marvin called. “Hello?”

But of course, nobody answered his call. And he didn’t want to try again, just in case Distorter heard him. So, if the others weren’t going to answer him... he had to find him, didn’t he?

Marvin sighed, and pushed himself to a sitting position. He looked around the floor, searching for his cane. And for a full minute, that’s all he did, look for his cane. He even pushed aside some of the nearby debris, crawling across the ground to reach them better. “Shite,” he cursed. His cane was nowhere to be found. And yes, that could be coincidence. But part of him thought it was on purpose. He lost his last cane in this house too, and this one had a much better grip.

Wait, if he was losing his belongings, then what if—!

Fear shot through his heart as he patted his pockets looking for his cards. He found some of them in his jacket, and he took them out, looking at them. This was only half the deck. Of course it was. Because last he checked, the other half of the deck was spread out near the front door, ready to trap Distorter in a spell.

He scrambled over towards the door, but the cards weren’t there now, of course. He frantically dug through the debris, throwing stuff around, but couldn’t find anything! “Fuck fuck fuck no!” he cried, tears springing to his eyes. They were gone, weren’t they?! The jokers were in there—the ones with the time symbols, the ones this whole plan was built on! They were gone, because he hadn’t thought to grab them, he hadn’t thought that of course Distorter would retaliate—dumbass! The plan couldn’t work now, and it was all his fucking fault!

Marvin clutched his chest, feeling his breathing quicken. His racing thoughts echoed around his head, the same pattern repeating over and over. He could practically hear the others shouting at him for his screwup!

But in the mix of this oncoming wave of emotions, one thought managed to make its way to the surface. Jems would never yell at me... And though it was difficult, Marvin tried to latch onto that. “J-Jems w-w-woul’ ne-never yell a-at me,” he whispered, tripping over his voice. “Jems w-woul’ never y-yell at m-me. Jems woul’ n-never yell a-at me...” The more he said it, the more real it seemed. His thoughts were exaggerating. Jameson would never yell at him for this mistake, and neither would any of his friends. They’d be nice. They’d comfort him. Even Anti would. This wasn’t real. They wouldn’t say it was his fault.

Slowly, his hyperventilating calmed, though his eyes still welled with tears and his heart would take a moment longer to slow down to normal. He wasn’t freaking out anymore, though. Huh... he didn’t usually freak out at all. Why had he gone straight to panic? Was he that stressed?

Maybe, but... it was also this place, wasn’t it? It was... an echo chamber. All emotions and powers were enhanced in here, from how they bounced off each other like that. That was what drove him to catastrophe so quickly. That... and a few memories that were beginning to surface. This wasn’t the first time he’d panicked like that while trapped in here, was it?

Marvin wiped his eyes on his sleeve, not even caring about the damage the tears might do to the fabric. Then he used the wall to help him to his feet. He had to focus on action. If he was moving, he wasn’t feeling stuff, and that stuff wouldn’t be reflected back on him.

Okay... he could search this area until he found his cards or his cane, but he didn’t think they were in here. He had a feeling they were both left in the original version of the house. So... what else could he do?

Thinking, he took his cards out of his pocket again, looking at the runes on the back. Maybe he could figure out something with these. A way to navigate this house. After all, he just remembered powers were multiplied in here. Even a little spell would go a long way. He shuffled through the cards a bit, then picked out the four of clubs and the seven of hearts. The runes on their backs meant ‘search’ and ‘safety’ respectively. He put the rest of the cards away, then held these two in his hands, adjusting them and overlapping them slightly until the lines around the runes matched up, forming a solid gold streak.

And when he looked up, he saw a faint line on the ground that wasn’t there before.

He squinted. Maybe he was imagining it? After all, it was hard to describe what it looked like. It wasn’t a glowing yellow path or a series of arrows pointing where to go. It was more like... when you vacuumed the carpet, and could see faint lines, a slight coloration difference following the pattern the vacuum had left. But when he looked away, then looked back, it was definitely there. It led... into the dining room.

Marvin followed the path. There wasn’t much else he could do right now, and if it was caused by his magic, it would probably lead him to safety, right? That was what he was going for.

Like the living room, the furniture in the dining room was smashed and broken, the table and chairs reduced to splinters. But Marvin could see a path weaving around the remains. Like a sheen on the tile floor. He followed it as well, glad that his legs weren’t too tired... and hoping that fatigue wouldn’t hit him soon. It would be difficult without his cane.

As he thought that, he hesitated, looking again at the smashed bits of the dining set. His eyes managed to pick out a mostly-intact table leg, and he carefully bent over to grab it, then used it to help push himself upright again. It was... unwieldy, definitely more of a hinderance at this point in time. But if fatigue hit him suddenly, it was better than nothing. For now, he tucked it beneath his arm and continued to follow that faint path, which his eyes found right away even after looking away for so long.

The path looped around back into the living room... which was different now. The furniture was repaired, and more. When Marvin glanced towards the sofa, he saw... shadows. Faint shadows of people sitting there, facing the television. Like mannequins made of darkness. Quickly, he looked away again, glancing at the cards in his hands to make sure he still held them in place. He was. And the path looped back into the kitchen archway.

He hurried into there, finding the kitchen empty and plain as ever. One cabinet door was ajar. He glanced inside and saw piles of plastic bags, balled up and stuffed into each other. A bag of bags. For a split second, a memory flickered through his mind, his vision as seen through brown plastic. He shuddered and hurried forward.

Through the dining room, and back into the living room again. The shadows were gone, but now he could hear voices. Muffled, as if hearing them through the wall. Was it... singing?

His curiosity got the better of him, and he paused to listen. He thought he recognized this tune... didn’t he? Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear ▒▒▒▒! Happy Birthday to you!

The familiar melody caused his heart to twist. The singing gave way to cheering after that, cheering and clapping and shouting and crying and screaming and screaming and—

Marvin started as the sounds of joy seamlessly became sounds of anger and pain. He looked down at the floor again, picking out the path, and ran after it, following it into the hallway. And the second he walked through the entrance, the sounds disappeared. Leaving only the echo of them in the empty hallway.

He took a shaky breath, glancing around. The hallway seemed safe, so he could pause and think for a minute. The magick of the cards should be leading him to safety in the end, but there was no guarantee the path there would be safe. He had to be cautious, and on his guard. Well, in a pink, the table leg he picked up could work as a weapon. He stood in place for a bit to collect himself, then looked back down at the cards, making sure they were still in place, and then looked further down towards the path on the floor, following that.

The path led him into the bathroom here in the hallway, where the mirror didn’t show his reflection at all. Then back out into the hallway, where the far end disappeared into a gray fog. Then back into the living room, where faint firefly-like lights drifted through the air. Then into the dining room, where there was suddenly a glass sliding door in the wall, though through that, there was only darkness. It didn’t take him long to realize that the path kept ultimately leading him back to the living room... though admittedly, there were only so many places to go in this house. He still felt like it was doubling back a lot, though.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going deeper and deeper into the house, like going deeper and deeper into a cave system. Doubt tried to creep in. Was this spell really doing what he wanted it to? Was safety really deeper into this strange pocket dimension? But he tried to push those doubts away. If he dwelled on them, they would consume him.

Things started to get strange around him... if the shadows and disembodied voices weren’t already strange enough. They were, but now the environment itself was beginning to warp and change. He first realized it in the hallway. He walked over the threshold, and it extended before him... seeming to twist at the end. That was the first time the path urged him to go down the hall. The doubts clamored for his attention, then, but he just took another moment to steady himself and keep going. As he walked forward, the hallway straightened. Or maybe it just looked like it did, since gravity continued to pull him towards the floor. At the end of the hallway... was another living room. One with ceilings that stretched upwards to soaring heights, lined with shelves that extended towards the sky with the walls.

“Holy fuck...” Marvin muttered to himself. His head was starting to pound, a dizzy sensation creeping into the edge of his thoughts. The air felt heavier than ever... but he kept going, following the path.

Through the dining room, which were crowded full of chairs stacked on top of chairs. Back into the living room, where  the furniture seemed to have sank into the floors and walls. Into the hallway, where the walls and ceiling had disappeared altogether, leaving behind only a void that howled with the sound of wind, but the air remained still. He hurried through that one, going down this bridge over nothing and arriving back into a living room where everything was on the ceiling, including more shadows of people.

He was beginning to feel sick. The doubts were fighting for space in his mind with fear. Was someone watching him? Were there faces in the shadows? His eyes darted around as he twisted back and forth, but as far as he could tell, he was alone. Yet, he still felt like he was being watched. He glanced up to the shadows on the ceiling, but they remained in place.

The house creaked, and he jumped, spinning around worriedly. “Fuckin—stupid,” he mumbled. There was nothing to worry about, houses creaked all the time. He took a deep breath and looked back down at the floor for the path—

But he couldn’t find it.

His eyes scanned the floor, going wide as if that would help him take in more details. No path! What the hell?! But the cards were still... Wait a second. When he jumped in surprise, he’d pulled the cards away from each other as he flinched. Now he was holding one in each hand.

Again, the house creaked, and he couldn’t help but tense. He glanced around, including upwards... and saw the shadows on the ceiling had moved. Their heads had tilted upwards. Well, upwards for them. Which meant they were looking at the floor. They were looking... at him.

Marvin gasped and stumbled back. He grabbed the table leg he’d picked up earlier, holding it in front of him with both hands like that would stop an attack. He blinked. And the shadows were different. They were facing the walls, having moved a bit closer towards them. He could hear the faint sound of voices in the back of his hearing.

The cards! The protection! He looked down, fumbling with the cards and the table leg until the cards were back in position, now wrapped around the leg as well as he held them in place with one hand. When he looked up again, the shadows were clustered around the walls. Some of them were... crawling on the walls. On hands and knees, treating them like the floor. “Fuck!” Marvin hissed.

They were moving whenever he looked away, but he had to look for the path. He took a few shuffling steps away from the wall and towards the middle of the room, then glanced downwards. That faint path on the carpet was there, turning around and going back into the hallway.

While he was searching for it, a few more creaking sounds echoed through the room. His head snapped up again and he saw the shadows had moved again! Half of them were now standing on the floor.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Marvin whispered under his breath, slowly moving backwards towards the hallway entrance. Don’t look away from them! Don’t fucking look away from them! Whatever safe passage the spell had granted clearly wasn’t working on them anymore. He had to back away—

The back of his heel hit something on the ground and he stumbled. The instant his vision tilted away from the shadows, the creaking sped up. Marvin shrieked and turned around, running the rest of the way towards the hallway. He was close! The creaking sounds increased, and he heard the sound of voices grow louder as he rushed the last couple feet towards the hallway.

That all stopped the second he ran over the threshold, so he paused to take a breath, looking down at the ground to make sure the path was there. It was... and so was a small, round bouncy ball with a checkered blue-and-white pattern. That must have caused him to stumble. He probably kicked it accidentally in his hurry to get away.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked up again.

And his heart stopped.

Like the last hallway, this one had no walls nor ceiling, just a long stretch of colorless carpet with a few doors attached. Unlike the last hallway, eyes floated in the air here. The whites seemed to glow, standing out in the infinite darkness around. The colors of their irises varied, but it almost didn’t matter, because all their pupils were dilated wide, reducing the iris to a strip of color around a dark center.

The table leg was shaking. No, his hands were shaking. Panic tried to overtake him. He dug his fingernails into the soft wood of the leg and tried to take some deep breaths. The eyes weren’t looking at him—well, not all of them were. They were all staring blankly forward, which meant the ones to his sides seemed to be looking at him. But maybe they weren’t really seeing him. Nothing was happening, after all. No sound. No movement. Everything was okay. Just... disturbing.

The hallway extended forwards, longer than the last one. But at the end, he could see an arch: another threshold. The path was directing him down the hallway towards that arch.

Marvin couldn’t get his legs to move, though. He’d never seen anything this strange in the house. The thought of these eyes watching him... it paralyzed him. Maybe he should just... stay here. And wait for the others to find him. Surely one of them would eventually.

Or... Distorter would.

That thought crossed his mind and he surged forward, forcing himself to walk on. No time to think more about it! Just go! His legs felt heavy, dragged down by fear and fatigue and everything else about this place. But he just had to go! He just had to hurry!

The run down the hallway seemed to take ages. His eyes darted to the eyes in the blackness, meeting the blank gaze of one set for a second before looking towards another. They didn’t return his eye contact.

But behind him, he heard that creaking. He heard those voices in the back of his head.

A cry of alarm sprang from his throat, and he put on a burst of speed, running towards the archway at the end. Ten feet away—five—two—right in front of him—!

And then he stumbled through it. He stumbled through the shadows inside it like they were mere gauzy curtains. He stumbled into brightness.

He cried out in surprise and his legs finally gave way, dumping him onto the ground. The ground, not the floor. Hard packed dirt with tufts of grass poking through. Around him, long pieces of broken, old lumber and piles of brown-gray bricks decorated this space. To the left and the right were houses. Across the street were houses. But this lot he was in... all it had was rubble. He pushed himself to his hands and knees and glanced behind him. A single rickety archway stood in the middle of this mess, connected to a single undemolished wall and part of the ceiling. Up above, the sun shone watery light down through a haze of thin clouds.

A cough.

Marvin looked forward again, spotting movement. There was a man sitting on a bit of unbroken brick wall, off to the side. He hadn’t spotted him before... why was that? Either way, the man was there now. He waved at Marvin. Confused, Marvin just waved back.

“Stay right there,” the man said. “I’ll come to help.” An Irish accent tinged his voice, though not as strong as Marvin’s.

Slowly, Marvin nodded, leaning back onto his knees. He watched the man from a distance. This stranger had hair down to his shoulders, mostly silvery gray but with hints of a darker color. He had a beard as well, which remained dark. The man’s outfit was stylish... at least to Marvin. A forest green waistcoat covered a pale blue dress shirt, the top of a dark blue tie disappearing beneath it. The man grabbed something, pushing to his feet—oh! He was using a cane. Just like...

...

Oh.

Marvin’s thoughts ground to a halt, shocked from the realization. It couldn’t be... he had to be mistaken, right? But the proof was standing right there. Approaching him! And the closer the man got, the clearer it became. Marvin stared, gaping. Then he looked down, checking his wrist for the mental protection charm. Yep, it was still there. This wasn’t a trick. Not one by Distorter, at least.

The man stopped in front of him, holding out his hand. He whistled for attention. “Are you alright?"

Marvin looked up at him. He opened his mouth to say something... but he wasn’t sure what.

“I know, it’s shocking.” The man smiled gently. “I’ve been there, after all. But you can’t just sit on the ground like that. At least let me help you to a seat.”

His head was still spinning, but Marvin nodded slowly and took the man’s hand. The man pulled him upright, bracing his cane against the ground to do so, and Marvin saw there were a pair of strange devices on the man’s legs. Some metal rods and black things that wrapped around his thigh and shin, especially around the knee.

The man followed his gaze, glancing down. “Ah...” He winced. “Leg braces. I’m glad to have them, actually, because it’d be hard to get around otherwise. But, ah, these models aren’t technically designed to go over the trouser legs. I just hate the feeling of them on my skin, though.”

Marvin gave a small, strained laugh. He could see himself doing the same. God. He still felt so dizzy and heavy.

“You look about to collapse again, we’d better get you sat down.” The man nodded back towards the bit of wall he was sitting on. “Come on. That place’s the best.”

In a daze, Marvin let the man guide him back over to the wall. There were two bits, actually, and the man made sure Marvin sat on one before taking the other. The two of them were facing each other now. And with the man so close to him, Marvin knew for sure who he was. But still... “Are... are you...?” He stammered.

“Why don’t we call me Whisper?” The man smiled gently, and gave a little wink. “It’ll probably help you better in the short term. You can’t be having a breakdown here.”

Marvin laughed again. “I-I s’pose you’re righ’.” He looked down at his hands. He’d left the table leg by the archway, but his cards were still clutched in his hands. “The cards... they were leadin’ me... to you? To t’is place? Or...” He looked around again. “Where are we?”

“This is still the Aspen Street house... or, well. It’s where it was.” Whisper  folded his hands on top of his cane. “As you can see, it got knocked down years ago. There’s talks of building a new house here, but nobody really wants to do that. Not after the backlash they got from people for the demolition. A bunch of true crime fuckers made a stink about destroying it. But that’s beside the point. The point is... you’re in the same place.”

“Just... a diff’rent time...” Marvin swallowed a lump in his throat. He looked at Whisper. “How... old are you?”

“Oh, not as old as I look, I promise,” Whisper chuckled. “I went gray quick and decided to embrace it.”

“Went gray quick?!”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just genetics, nothing to be done about it.”

“Genetics?!” Marvin blinked wildly.

“Let’s move on,” Whisper said quickly. “I don’t fully remember how this talk went, but that’s probably for the best, so I don’t have to worry about contradicting my memory and causing a big paradox. But I remember the gist of it, and I know there are things I need to hit on. And sooner is better! When you return to the house, and your own time, the same amount of time you spent here will have passed. So I can’t keep you.”

“You... you’re here t’ help, aren’ you?” Marvin asked. “Wit’ Distorter.”

Whisper nodded. “You and your group... you’re very capable. If you were given more time, you would’ve found what I’m going to tell you, and you would’ve been able to put your plan into action. But unfortunately, you didn’t have time. Due to circumstances beyond your control.”

“You helped me in IRIS, too,” Marvin recalled. “For the same reason, I’m guessin’?”

Whisper shuddered. “Ugh, IRIS. Yes, that whole situation was out of your control, which is why it was so terrible and why I had to step in so directly.”

“I see...” Marvin nodded slowly. “So. What... what shoul’ we do?”

“I have what you’re looking for.” Whisper reached into his waistcoat, and took out a familiar deck of cards. “First, take this.”

“Huh? Wait—are t’ose yours?” Marvin asked, confused. “Wouldn’ it be a problem if I took them, in t’at case?”

“Hah, no, they’re yours.” Whisper grinned. “I went back and got them after you left them behind.”

“Oh... How?”

“Eh, it’s a long and complicated story. Like I said, I can’t keep you too long. But if you want a general guide...” Whisper looked around. “The whole lot here is still technically part of the echo chamber—which isn’t really fully an echo chamber anymore. It’s... an anomaly. And there are certain powers out there, like magickal cards, that can affect the anomaly and how it appears.” He looked back at Marvin. “I have a lot of practice messing with stuff like that.”

“Hm.” Marvin nodded slowly and took the cards. He fanned them out, checking that they were all there and undamaged. Which they were. His shoulders slumped in relief. “T’is spot bein’ an anomaly... is t’at why I can’ leave the yard righ’ now?”

“Basic’lly,” Whisper confirmed. “The second you leave behind the confines of the anomaly, where time and space overlaps and allows us to meet like this, you’ll be stuck in this spot... in this time. And that’ll cause a whole headache of problems that I’m very keen to avoid.”

“T’at makes sense,” Marvin agreed. “Alrigh’. So I do need my cards to get rid of Distorter, t’en? But... how? I-I know, time magick, but... not’ing we looked up seemed all t’at helpful.” He frowned. “Did you know we wouldn’ find anyt’ing? If you did, why tell us to do any of t’at research at all?”

“Because thanks to your research, you know the types of time magic out there. What they do... and consequences you should avoid.” Whisper looked grim. “Trust me, you needed that foundation. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to understand this at all.” He reached back into that same waistcoat pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. “Here.” He held it out to Marvin.

Marcin took it, of course, and unfolded it to look at the surface of the thin paper. It was a diagram, drawn on the paper in blue pen. The second Marvin saw it, he knew this was telling him the formation to put his cards in. The two time runes were in the center, and four curved lines of symbols radiated outwards from there. Each rune was crossed out, but Marvin knew that was just to keep this spell from activating on the paper. At the bottom, beneath the diagram, there were a few lines of notes:

Spell to Send A Mind Back in Time, and to Pull A Mind Into the Future. (Not necessarily the same mind)

Send a single mind back to their past body, or pull a past mind to their present body.

You’ll need Jems’s power to activate this, but after the initial blast the design will be self-sustaining until you disable it. Have Jems blast it from a distance to activate it while Distorter is nearby. Make sure you, Jems, Jackie, and Hen are out of the room. You’ll know the spell worked when you see Distorter collapse. Disable the design then by removing the cards. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE CARDS IN THE CENTER FIRST.

There were a few more technical details under that. Marvin scanned this writing, then looked back at the design. He nodded slowly. This was a complicated spell ritual; it would take nearly all his cards to accomplish. But Whisper was right. His mind was already racing, thinking of how to best implement this, and the possible consequences that could come of it. “Alrigh’... is t’ere any particular spell Jems shoul’ use to activate it?”

“Something powerful,” Whisper said. “The power is what matters for this.”

“Alrigh’...” Something powerful... but hopefully not too destructive. Marvin didn’t want to risk his cards being moved out of place—or worse, damaged. “And... you’re sure t’is will work?”

“It had better, or things will get real complicated for me,” Whisper chuckled.

“How will I know it’s workin’?” Marvin asked. He skimmed the design again. “T’is is powerful, but... I don’ know how it will help us. What’s it supposed to do?”

“Kill Distorter, of course,” Whisper said.

“But... how?? Are we sendin’ him back in time? Won’ t’at jus’ cause problems in the past?”

“Not if you choose the right moment,” Whisper said vaguely. “You know the story of what happened to the man Distorter became. There’s a split second where he’s in a lot of danger.” He pressed a hand to the side of his head. “You’ll probably get it, but if you don’t, the others will. Especially Anti.”

“Anti.” Marvin realized something, glancing back down at the writing. “You... you didn’ list him as... needing to get out of the way. You went out of your way t’ list ev’ry other one of my friends but him.”

“Because he needs to be there,” Whisper said gently. “Trust me, he knows what to do. And he’ll be safe. Once the spell activates, Distorter won’t be able to hurt him... I think. That’s what he’s said, but he could be lying to me.” He narrowed his eyes. “He’d better not be lyin’, t’at motherfucker.”

Marvin laughed, hearing Whisper’s accent thicken. “Okay... if you trust him, I’ll trust him. I’m... still...” His smile faded slowly as he thought about going back into that house. Wandering those hallways again. Feeling the heavy air press on his chest, press him to the ground.

“...it will be fine.” Whisper reached out, gently taking Marvin’s hands. “I know, it feels impossible now. It feels like there’s no end to your problems. Like they’re... insurmountable. But it will be fine. You will be fine. You can make it.”

“Hah... of course, I have to, if you’re here,” Marvin chuckled faintly.

“Well, yes, but that’s not why I’m saying this.” Whisper looked at him. Their identical blue eyes met. “You’re stronger than you think you are, Marvin. You’re not just getting out of this because it’s your destiny or your fate or anything like that. You’re going to get out of this because you can pull yourself out of it. It’s already in you. And I know, better than anyone, how tough it feels. But... I’m here. And when all’s said and done, you’ll be here, too. And you’ll be fine. The memories will stick with you, but... they’ll be distant.” Whisper’s eyes welled up. “And you’ll be fine. I promise.” His voice cracked on the very last word.

Marvin’s own vision was starting to blur, and he sniffed, glancing downwards. “...T’ank you. I... I needed t’hear t’at.”

“...I know.” Whisper smiled faintly. He gave his hands one last squeeze, but then let go. “Now. I know you have a million more questions about how that spell will work. But I really, really can’t keep you. Remember, the time you spend here will be equal to the time you’re missing from your own time period.”

“Righ’, righ’.” Marvin blinked wildly. Whisper took a handkerchief out of a pocket and passed it to him, which he used to wipe his eyes before handing it back. “Just—two more questions. One migh’ be a bit complicated. The house... somet’ing abou’ it twists time and space. Will t’at interfere wit’ the spell you gave me?”

Whisper thought about it. “Yyyes, but... in a good way. Or at least, a way that’ll be to your advantage.”

“Okay. And t’en...” Marvin hesitated. “The others... my friends. Are they...” He looked around. “Are they... here, too? Are they... fine?”

Whisper smiled. “They’re fine. Just like you. There have been ups and downs, good times and bad times... but they’re here.”

Marvin didn’t realize how much tension he was carrying until that drained away. He was still a bit worried... after all, if things didn’t go right in the present, this future would never exist, and that might cause a whole bunch of paradoxes or timeline nonsense to happen. Not to mention the implications of ‘things going wrong’ had for his friends. But... now he had a vision. Something to aim for. “Alrigh’. Well t’en. I shoul’... get goin’.”

“You should.” Whisper nodded. “Oh! Two more things, actually. One—you’ll need to destroy that paper with the spell when you’ve succeeded. I know, you’re probably tempted to keep it so you can pass it on when you’re in my position. But that is a paradox. And more than that, it means you won’t be motivated to learn.”

“Alrigh’...” Marvin said slowly. That made a sort of sense.

“And second.” Whisper leaned back, reaching behind the bit of wall he was sitting on. And he pulled out... a cane. He held it out to Marvin. “For you.”

“What? Is t’is... yours?” Marvin blinked. “If... if keepin’ the note to pass it on is a paradox, wouldn’... t’is also be a paradox?”

“No, because I bought this here, specifically to give to you,” Whisper said. “It’s not mine. It has an origin. Just remember, when you get in my position, you have to buy it. Does that make sense?”

“I... I s’pose.” Marvin took the cane, testing the grip a bit. Felt good. He pushed himself to his feet with it. Felt stable. He tucked the spell diagram and his cards into his pocket, patting it to make sure they were there. “So... t’is is goodbye, isn’ it? I remember you said we’d only see you one more time.”

“Well... the you of then will only see me one more time,” Whisper said thoughtfully. “But... yes. Basically.” He stood up as well. “Good luck, Marvin. Remember...” He trailed off, thinking. “Remember to live. Remember to learn and love. And remember to savor the time you have. Seal those good memories in your mind. You... you will be fine. I promise.”

Marvin began to tear up again, but he nodded. “T’ank you.” He took a shaky breath, then gave Whisper a shaky smile. “You’re a real inspiration. I—” He laughed. “I hope t’ be like you when I grow up.”

Whisper laughed. “Goodbye, Marvin.”

“Goodbye... Marvin.” Marvin gave a small bow. Then he turned and headed back to the archway standing in the middle of the unsupported wall. It seemed dark, shadows filling it despite the sun shining high. He paused for a moment, then turned back, and waved. The man was watching him go. He smiled, and waved back.

And with that, Marvin took a deep breath, and walked into the archway, leaving the man behind. He’d never forget this moment. A hope for the future was now bright in his chest.

But right now, the present demanded more of his attention. The future wouldn’t exist without action happening there, after all. Time to get to work.

[gay--dog]

i love seeing my friends interests mentioned somewhere. its like woaaah. thats My Friends interest. from My Friend. wow. epic friend reference

[molabuddy]

alexa. play cutie mew mew magic. loud enough to kill

[crystalninjaphoenix]

A Whisper From the Past

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

This one is long, but it was so fun to write. I struggled to get into the flow at first, but it turns out you just need the right background noise and then your brain just goes hfjskla I'm not even going to write too long of a description, I just want to get into it. We check on how Jackie and Schneep for a brief moment as they try to navigate the house. Then we cut to Marvin, who's trying to do the same thing as he trusts his cards to take him to safety. And they end up bringing him to see... someone :)c That's all I'll say! I hope you guys love this one! :D

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

Jackie and Schneep had gone in a few laps around the house, walking down the hallway, then back to the living room and through the kitchen and the dining room. At first, it all looked the same. But over time, little differences began to stack up. The doors were made of a darker wood, or the style of the chairs looked more modern. Everything seemed to have that same colorless effect, though.

After ten laps (they were keeping track), Jackie realized something. “Is it... darker than it was before?”

“Hm?” Schneep paused, glancing around. “It... looks the same to me.”

“No, I...” Jackie frowned. “I swear, it’s darker...” He stopped walking, looking around the hallway they were in. With everything so gray and dull in here, the only thing that really stood out to him were the shadows and the light. “The corners are... deeper.”

“Are they?” Schneep stopped as well—he had to, since they were still stuck together—and gave everything a more thorough look. “I... I cannot really tell.”

“Maybe once we get into another version of the house it’ll be clearer,” Jackie said. “C’mon.” He started walking again.

Now that he was paying attention, the lights in the living room also seemed dimmer than they were when they entered. There were bookshelves in the corner (he didn’t remember if they were there at the start, but they were definitely there the last couple times they were in here) and they were now harder to see.

“I... I don’t like this,” he said slowly. “Maybe we should... pause?”

Schneep hesitated, but nodded. “Very well. We can take a break.” The two of them made their way to the sofa, sitting there by instinct. But they both kept glancing around, uneasy. The front door was still missing. It had been missing this whole time. “Are you feeling... tired, Jackie?” Schneep asked slowly.

Jackie paused a moment, assessing things. “I... I think I’ve been feeling a little tired since setting foot in here,” he said slowly. “this place... it weighs on you. A-and that makes it hard to move. Makes it hard to put... any effort into anything. When I was trapped here before, the only time I felt anything was when I was... afraid for my life. Or in pain.” As he thought about it, those old feelings began to affect him again, his heart beating a little faster.

A moment passed. Schneep wrapped an arm around Jackie’s shoulders. “Things are different now,” he said quietly. “Even so... I am sorry you’re back here. You are very brave for agreeing to it, with all the bad memories you have from those nine months.”

“...thanks.” Jackie smiled a little, trying to hold onto the warm feeling of being here with Schneep. “I just... I know that if we didn’t do something, he’d be hunting us forever. A-and I wanted to help. If not for you guys... then for myself.”

“And that is the bravery I mean.” Schneep smiled back at him. “Not everyone would be able to overcome such a challenge.” He paused. “I know I-I felt the same way about IRIS... about being trapped there again. But I tell myself they are gone now. Thanks to our efforts. And soon, Distorter will be the same.”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah...” He let out a long breath. “I can’t wait for that day.”

They sat there in silence for a bit longer. “You know... it has occurred to me that people tell children to stay in the same place when they lose their parents,” Schneep said slowly. “Should we do the same thing?”

“Just wait here for the others?” Jackie asked, and Schneep nodded. He thought about it. “I mean... if the others are trapped somewhere, we can’t do anything by sitting around. There is a chance that if we wander around, we’ll keep missing each other, but... there’s also a chance that if we sit in one place, Distorter will find us. Literal sitting ducks.”

“Fair enough.” Schneep nodded. “So... we need to keep going, don’t we?”

Jackie sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I’m just... worried about why it’s getting dark still.”

“I am worried about why it doesn’t look dark to me...” Schneep said slowly. “But... I probably have IRIS to blame. But I swear things have been dark for me before?” He shook his head. “We can consider it as we walk.”

They got up again. They had to time it perfectly so they stood up in unison, as they couldn’t do it one at a time while still linked together. But that was easy enough. And soon they were on their way again. They walked through the dining room and kitchen, back out into the living room, up and down the hallway, and then back into the living room... and things had definitely gotten darker. The bookshelves in the corner were almost completely hidden in shadow. “...Schneep,” Jackie whispered.

“I can tell it is darker now,” Schneep whispered back.

Jackie reached into his pocket and took out his phone, trying to turn on the flashlight. But somehow, that didn’t pierce the gloom at all. “Um... at what point does the risk of staying in one place outweigh the risk of walking around? Because I’m pretty sure it’s just going to keep getting darker.”

Schneep nodded slowly. “Do we wait again, then?”

“I... don’t know...” Jackie said slowly. “Maybe... one more round?” As he said that, though, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner. His eyes locked onto it immediately, hoping it was just a trick of the mind. But... no. The shadows... in the corner, they seemed to be... writhing. Like staring into black mist. “...Schneep,” he whispered.

“Hmm?” Schneep followed his gaze. And went a bit pale. “Ah... one more round around the area, then?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Jackie nodded.

Back into the kitchen. Through to the dining room. Out into the living room again, which was suddenly much, much darker. The only source of illumination was the dim ceiling light, and at this point, it wasn’t doing much. The shadows in the corners were trembling, and as they stared, they seemed to slowly move closer into the light. “Keep going!” Schneep hissed.

They turned into the hallway, but that was darker still. And at the far end... the shadows continued to writhe and encroach. “Shit!” Jackie couldn’t hold back a surge of panic. “Turn around!”

He spun around and headed back, and Schneep moved with him—at first. As Jackie stepped over the threshold back into the living room again, Schneep stumbled and stopped, seeing something in the darkness that Jackie didn’t realize. “Jackie, the floor is—!”

But it was too late. Jackie stepped forward, and his foot fell through—into midair. He yelped, which turned into a scream as he tumbled forward into the darkness. Schneep cried out as he was dragged down along with him, and the two of them fell down, down, down.

———————

The first thing Marvin felt when he woke up was a sharp pain. He winced, reaching upwards. Part of his hair had some sort of sticky liquid mixed in among his roots. Fuck, he must’ve hit his head during that shaking, when everyone disappeared. He couldn’t remember it happening, though... which was probably a bad sign.

He opened his eyes, squinting at the room around him. He was still in the living room, but the furniture here was a mess. It looked like a tornado swept through the area. A tornado made of knives and hammers. The legs of the sofa and chairs were detached, flung across the room. The bookshelves had fallen over, the shelves cracked in half, their content spilled across the ground in pieces. The upholstery and pillows had been ripped, bits of fluff settled on top of this mess like a fresh coating of snow. Had the shaking done this? Or had he merely been sent to another version of the house, one where everything was wrecked?

“Guys?” Marvin called. “Hello?”

But of course, nobody answered his call. And he didn’t want to try again, just in case Distorter heard him. So, if the others weren’t going to answer him... he had to find him, didn’t he?

Marvin sighed, and pushed himself to a sitting position. He looked around the floor, searching for his cane. And for a full minute, that’s all he did, look for his cane. He even pushed aside some of the nearby debris, crawling across the ground to reach them better. “Shite,” he cursed. His cane was nowhere to be found. And yes, that could be coincidence. But part of him thought it was on purpose. He lost his last cane in this house too, and this one had a much better grip.

Wait, if he was losing his belongings, then what if—!

Fear shot through his heart as he patted his pockets looking for his cards. He found some of them in his jacket, and he took them out, looking at them. This was only half the deck. Of course it was. Because last he checked, the other half of the deck was spread out near the front door, ready to trap Distorter in a spell.

He scrambled over towards the door, but the cards weren’t there now, of course. He frantically dug through the debris, throwing stuff around, but couldn’t find anything! “Fuck fuck fuck no!” he cried, tears springing to his eyes. They were gone, weren’t they?! The jokers were in there—the ones with the time symbols, the ones this whole plan was built on! They were gone, because he hadn’t thought to grab them, he hadn’t thought that of course Distorter would retaliate—dumbass! The plan couldn’t work now, and it was all his fucking fault!

Marvin clutched his chest, feeling his breathing quicken. His racing thoughts echoed around his head, the same pattern repeating over and over. He could practically hear the others shouting at him for his screwup!

But in the mix of this oncoming wave of emotions, one thought managed to make its way to the surface. Jems would never yell at me... And though it was difficult, Marvin tried to latch onto that. “J-Jems w-w-woul’ ne-never yell a-at me,” he whispered, tripping over his voice. “Jems w-woul’ never y-yell at m-me. Jems woul’ n-never yell a-at me...” The more he said it, the more real it seemed. His thoughts were exaggerating. Jameson would never yell at him for this mistake, and neither would any of his friends. They’d be nice. They’d comfort him. Even Anti would. This wasn’t real. They wouldn’t say it was his fault.

Slowly, his hyperventilating calmed, though his eyes still welled with tears and his heart would take a moment longer to slow down to normal. He wasn’t freaking out anymore, though. Huh... he didn’t usually freak out at all. Why had he gone straight to panic? Was he that stressed?

Maybe, but... it was also this place, wasn’t it? It was... an echo chamber. All emotions and powers were enhanced in here, from how they bounced off each other like that. That was what drove him to catastrophe so quickly. That... and a few memories that were beginning to surface. This wasn’t the first time he’d panicked like that while trapped in here, was it?

Marvin wiped his eyes on his sleeve, not even caring about the damage the tears might do to the fabric. Then he used the wall to help him to his feet. He had to focus on action. If he was moving, he wasn’t feeling stuff, and that stuff wouldn’t be reflected back on him.

Okay... he could search this area until he found his cards or his cane, but he didn’t think they were in here. He had a feeling they were both left in the original version of the house. So... what else could he do?

Thinking, he took his cards out of his pocket again, looking at the runes on the back. Maybe he could figure out something with these. A way to navigate this house. After all, he just remembered powers were multiplied in here. Even a little spell would go a long way. He shuffled through the cards a bit, then picked out the four of clubs and the seven of hearts. The runes on their backs meant ‘search’ and ‘safety’ respectively. He put the rest of the cards away, then held these two in his hands, adjusting them and overlapping them slightly until the lines around the runes matched up, forming a solid gold streak.

And when he looked up, he saw a faint line on the ground that wasn’t there before.

He squinted. Maybe he was imagining it? After all, it was hard to describe what it looked like. It wasn’t a glowing yellow path or a series of arrows pointing where to go. It was more like... when you vacuumed the carpet, and could see faint lines, a slight coloration difference following the pattern the vacuum had left. But when he looked away, then looked back, it was definitely there. It led... into the dining room.

Marvin followed the path. There wasn’t much else he could do right now, and if it was caused by his magic, it would probably lead him to safety, right? That was what he was going for.

Like the living room, the furniture in the dining room was smashed and broken, the table and chairs reduced to splinters. But Marvin could see a path weaving around the remains. Like a sheen on the tile floor. He followed it as well, glad that his legs weren’t too tired... and hoping that fatigue wouldn’t hit him soon. It would be difficult without his cane.

As he thought that, he hesitated, looking again at the smashed bits of the dining set. His eyes managed to pick out a mostly-intact table leg, and he carefully bent over to grab it, then used it to help push himself upright again. It was... unwieldy, definitely more of a hinderance at this point in time. But if fatigue hit him suddenly, it was better than nothing. For now, he tucked it beneath his arm and continued to follow that faint path, which his eyes found right away even after looking away for so long.

The path looped around back into the living room... which was different now. The furniture was repaired, and more. When Marvin glanced towards the sofa, he saw... shadows. Faint shadows of people sitting there, facing the television. Like mannequins made of darkness. Quickly, he looked away again, glancing at the cards in his hands to make sure he still held them in place. He was. And the path looped back into the kitchen archway.

He hurried into there, finding the kitchen empty and plain as ever. One cabinet door was ajar. He glanced inside and saw piles of plastic bags, balled up and stuffed into each other. A bag of bags. For a split second, a memory flickered through his mind, his vision as seen through brown plastic. He shuddered and hurried forward.

Through the dining room, and back into the living room again. The shadows were gone, but now he could hear voices. Muffled, as if hearing them through the wall. Was it... singing?

His curiosity got the better of him, and he paused to listen. He thought he recognized this tune... didn’t he? Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear ▒▒▒▒! Happy Birthday to you!

The familiar melody caused his heart to twist. The singing gave way to cheering after that, cheering and clapping and shouting and crying and screaming and screaming and—

Marvin started as the sounds of joy seamlessly became sounds of anger and pain. He looked down at the floor again, picking out the path, and ran after it, following it into the hallway. And the second he walked through the entrance, the sounds disappeared. Leaving only the echo of them in the empty hallway.

He took a shaky breath, glancing around. The hallway seemed safe, so he could pause and think for a minute. The magick of the cards should be leading him to safety in the end, but there was no guarantee the path there would be safe. He had to be cautious, and on his guard. Well, in a pink, the table leg he picked up could work as a weapon. He stood in place for a bit to collect himself, then looked back down at the cards, making sure they were still in place, and then looked further down towards the path on the floor, following that.

The path led him into the bathroom here in the hallway, where the mirror didn’t show his reflection at all. Then back out into the hallway, where the far end disappeared into a gray fog. Then back into the living room, where faint firefly-like lights drifted through the air. Then into the dining room, where there was suddenly a glass sliding door in the wall, though through that, there was only darkness. It didn’t take him long to realize that the path kept ultimately leading him back to the living room... though admittedly, there were only so many places to go in this house. He still felt like it was doubling back a lot, though.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going deeper and deeper into the house, like going deeper and deeper into a cave system. Doubt tried to creep in. Was this spell really doing what he wanted it to? Was safety really deeper into this strange pocket dimension? But he tried to push those doubts away. If he dwelled on them, they would consume him.

Things started to get strange around him... if the shadows and disembodied voices weren’t already strange enough. They were, but now the environment itself was beginning to warp and change. He first realized it in the hallway. He walked over the threshold, and it extended before him... seeming to twist at the end. That was the first time the path urged him to go down the hall. The doubts clamored for his attention, then, but he just took another moment to steady himself and keep going. As he walked forward, the hallway straightened. Or maybe it just looked like it did, since gravity continued to pull him towards the floor. At the end of the hallway... was another living room. One with ceilings that stretched upwards to soaring heights, lined with shelves that extended towards the sky with the walls.

“Holy fuck...” Marvin muttered to himself. His head was starting to pound, a dizzy sensation creeping into the edge of his thoughts. The air felt heavier than ever... but he kept going, following the path.

Through the dining room, which were crowded full of chairs stacked on top of chairs. Back into the living room, where  the furniture seemed to have sank into the floors and walls. Into the hallway, where the walls and ceiling had disappeared altogether, leaving behind only a void that howled with the sound of wind, but the air remained still. He hurried through that one, going down this bridge over nothing and arriving back into a living room where everything was on the ceiling, including more shadows of people.

He was beginning to feel sick. The doubts were fighting for space in his mind with fear. Was someone watching him? Were there faces in the shadows? His eyes darted around as he twisted back and forth, but as far as he could tell, he was alone. Yet, he still felt like he was being watched. He glanced up to the shadows on the ceiling, but they remained in place.

The house creaked, and he jumped, spinning around worriedly. “Fuckin—stupid,” he mumbled. There was nothing to worry about, houses creaked all the time. He took a deep breath and looked back down at the floor for the path—

But he couldn’t find it.

His eyes scanned the floor, going wide as if that would help him take in more details. No path! What the hell?! But the cards were still... Wait a second. When he jumped in surprise, he’d pulled the cards away from each other as he flinched. Now he was holding one in each hand.

Again, the house creaked, and he couldn’t help but tense. He glanced around, including upwards... and saw the shadows on the ceiling had moved. Their heads had tilted upwards. Well, upwards for them. Which meant they were looking at the floor. They were looking... at him.

Marvin gasped and stumbled back. He grabbed the table leg he’d picked up earlier, holding it in front of him with both hands like that would stop an attack. He blinked. And the shadows were different. They were facing the walls, having moved a bit closer towards them. He could hear the faint sound of voices in the back of his hearing.

The cards! The protection! He looked down, fumbling with the cards and the table leg until the cards were back in position, now wrapped around the leg as well as he held them in place with one hand. When he looked up again, the shadows were clustered around the walls. Some of them were... crawling on the walls. On hands and knees, treating them like the floor. “Fuck!” Marvin hissed.

They were moving whenever he looked away, but he had to look for the path. He took a few shuffling steps away from the wall and towards the middle of the room, then glanced downwards. That faint path on the carpet was there, turning around and going back into the hallway.

While he was searching for it, a few more creaking sounds echoed through the room. His head snapped up again and he saw the shadows had moved again! Half of them were now standing on the floor.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Marvin whispered under his breath, slowly moving backwards towards the hallway entrance. Don’t look away from them! Don’t fucking look away from them! Whatever safe passage the spell had granted clearly wasn’t working on them anymore. He had to back away—

The back of his heel hit something on the ground and he stumbled. The instant his vision tilted away from the shadows, the creaking sped up. Marvin shrieked and turned around, running the rest of the way towards the hallway. He was close! The creaking sounds increased, and he heard the sound of voices grow louder as he rushed the last couple feet towards the hallway.

That all stopped the second he ran over the threshold, so he paused to take a breath, looking down at the ground to make sure the path was there. It was... and so was a small, round bouncy ball with a checkered blue-and-white pattern. That must have caused him to stumble. He probably kicked it accidentally in his hurry to get away.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked up again.

And his heart stopped.

Like the last hallway, this one had no walls nor ceiling, just a long stretch of colorless carpet with a few doors attached. Unlike the last hallway, eyes floated in the air here. The whites seemed to glow, standing out in the infinite darkness around. The colors of their irises varied, but it almost didn’t matter, because all their pupils were dilated wide, reducing the iris to a strip of color around a dark center.

The table leg was shaking. No, his hands were shaking. Panic tried to overtake him. He dug his fingernails into the soft wood of the leg and tried to take some deep breaths. The eyes weren’t looking at him—well, not all of them were. They were all staring blankly forward, which meant the ones to his sides seemed to be looking at him. But maybe they weren’t really seeing him. Nothing was happening, after all. No sound. No movement. Everything was okay. Just... disturbing.

The hallway extended forwards, longer than the last one. But at the end, he could see an arch: another threshold. The path was directing him down the hallway towards that arch.

Marvin couldn’t get his legs to move, though. He’d never seen anything this strange in the house. The thought of these eyes watching him... it paralyzed him. Maybe he should just... stay here. And wait for the others to find him. Surely one of them would eventually.

Or... Distorter would.

That thought crossed his mind and he surged forward, forcing himself to walk on. No time to think more about it! Just go! His legs felt heavy, dragged down by fear and fatigue and everything else about this place. But he just had to go! He just had to hurry!

The run down the hallway seemed to take ages. His eyes darted to the eyes in the blackness, meeting the blank gaze of one set for a second before looking towards another. They didn’t return his eye contact.

But behind him, he heard that creaking. He heard those voices in the back of his head.

A cry of alarm sprang from his throat, and he put on a burst of speed, running towards the archway at the end. Ten feet away—five—two—right in front of him—!

And then he stumbled through it. He stumbled through the shadows inside it like they were mere gauzy curtains. He stumbled into brightness.

He cried out in surprise and his legs finally gave way, dumping him onto the ground. The ground, not the floor. Hard packed dirt with tufts of grass poking through. Around him, long pieces of broken, old lumber and piles of brown-gray bricks decorated this space. To the left and the right were houses. Across the street were houses. But this lot he was in... all it had was rubble. He pushed himself to his hands and knees and glanced behind him. A single rickety archway stood in the middle of this mess, connected to a single undemolished wall and part of the ceiling. Up above, the sun shone watery light down through a haze of thin clouds.

A cough.

Marvin looked forward again, spotting movement. There was a man sitting on a bit of unbroken brick wall, off to the side. He hadn’t spotted him before... why was that? Either way, the man was there now. He waved at Marvin. Confused, Marvin just waved back.

“Stay right there,” the man said. “I’ll come to help.” An Irish accent tinged his voice, though not as strong as Marvin’s.

Slowly, Marvin nodded, leaning back onto his knees. He watched the man from a distance. This stranger had hair down to his shoulders, mostly silvery gray but with hints of a darker color. He had a beard as well, which remained dark. The man’s outfit was stylish... at least to Marvin. A forest green waistcoat covered a pale blue dress shirt, the top of a dark blue tie disappearing beneath it. The man grabbed something, pushing to his feet—oh! He was using a cane. Just like...

...

Oh.

Marvin’s thoughts ground to a halt, shocked from the realization. It couldn’t be... he had to be mistaken, right? But the proof was standing right there. Approaching him! And the closer the man got, the clearer it became. Marvin stared, gaping. Then he looked down, checking his wrist for the mental protection charm. Yep, it was still there. This wasn’t a trick. Not one by Distorter, at least.

The man stopped in front of him, holding out his hand. He whistled for attention. “Are you alright?"

Marvin looked up at him. He opened his mouth to say something... but he wasn’t sure what.

“I know, it’s shocking.” The man smiled gently. “I’ve been there, after all. But you can’t just sit on the ground like that. At least let me help you to a seat.”

His head was still spinning, but Marvin nodded slowly and took the man’s hand. The man pulled him upright, bracing his cane against the ground to do so, and Marvin saw there were a pair of strange devices on the man’s legs. Some metal rods and black things that wrapped around his thigh and shin, especially around the knee.

The man followed his gaze, glancing down. “Ah...” He winced. “Leg braces. I’m glad to have them, actually, because it’d be hard to get around otherwise. But, ah, these models aren’t technically designed to go over the trouser legs. I just hate the feeling of them on my skin, though.”

Marvin gave a small, strained laugh. He could see himself doing the same. God. He still felt so dizzy and heavy.

“You look about to collapse again, we’d better get you sat down.” The man nodded back towards the bit of wall he was sitting on. “Come on. That place’s the best.”

In a daze, Marvin let the man guide him back over to the wall. There were two bits, actually, and the man made sure Marvin sat on one before taking the other. The two of them were facing each other now. And with the man so close to him, Marvin knew for sure who he was. But still... “Are... are you...?” He stammered.

“Why don’t we call me Whisper?” The man smiled gently, and gave a little wink. “It’ll probably help you better in the short term. You can’t be having a breakdown here.”

Marvin laughed again. “I-I s’pose you’re righ’.” He looked down at his hands. He’d left the table leg by the archway, but his cards were still clutched in his hands. “The cards... they were leadin’ me... to you? To t’is place? Or...” He looked around again. “Where are we?”

“This is still the Aspen Street house... or, well. It’s where it was.” Whisper  folded his hands on top of his cane. “As you can see, it got knocked down years ago. There’s talks of building a new house here, but nobody really wants to do that. Not after the backlash they got from people for the demolition. A bunch of true crime fuckers made a stink about destroying it. But that’s beside the point. The point is... you’re in the same place.”

“Just... a diff’rent time...” Marvin swallowed a lump in his throat. He looked at Whisper. “How... old are you?”

“Oh, not as old as I look, I promise,” Whisper chuckled. “I went gray quick and decided to embrace it.”

“Went gray quick?!”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just genetics, nothing to be done about it.”

“Genetics?!” Marvin blinked wildly.

“Let’s move on,” Whisper said quickly. “I don’t fully remember how this talk went, but that’s probably for the best, so I don’t have to worry about contradicting my memory and causing a big paradox. But I remember the gist of it, and I know there are things I need to hit on. And sooner is better! When you return to the house, and your own time, the same amount of time you spent here will have passed. So I can’t keep you.”

“You... you’re here t’ help, aren’ you?” Marvin asked. “Wit’ Distorter.”

Whisper nodded. “You and your group... you’re very capable. If you were given more time, you would’ve found what I’m going to tell you, and you would’ve been able to put your plan into action. But unfortunately, you didn’t have time. Due to circumstances beyond your control.”

“You helped me in IRIS, too,” Marvin recalled. “For the same reason, I’m guessin’?”

Whisper shuddered. “Ugh, IRIS. Yes, that whole situation was out of your control, which is why it was so terrible and why I had to step in so directly.”

“I see...” Marvin nodded slowly. “So. What... what shoul’ we do?”

“I have what you’re looking for.” Whisper reached into his waistcoat, and took out a familiar deck of cards. “First, take this.”

“Huh? Wait—are t’ose yours?” Marvin asked, confused. “Wouldn’ it be a problem if I took them, in t’at case?”

“Hah, no, they’re yours.” Whisper grinned. “I went back and got them after you left them behind.”

“Oh... How?”

“Eh, it’s a long and complicated story. Like I said, I can’t keep you too long. But if you want a general guide...” Whisper looked around. “The whole lot here is still technically part of the echo chamber—which isn’t really fully an echo chamber anymore. It’s... an anomaly. And there are certain powers out there, like magickal cards, that can affect the anomaly and how it appears.” He looked back at Marvin. “I have a lot of practice messing with stuff like that.”

“Hm.” Marvin nodded slowly and took the cards. He fanned them out, checking that they were all there and undamaged. Which they were. His shoulders slumped in relief. “T’is spot bein’ an anomaly... is t’at why I can’ leave the yard righ’ now?”

“Basic’lly,” Whisper confirmed. “The second you leave behind the confines of the anomaly, where time and space overlaps and allows us to meet like this, you’ll be stuck in this spot... in this time. And that’ll cause a whole headache of problems that I’m very keen to avoid.”

“T’at makes sense,” Marvin agreed. “Alrigh’. So I do need my cards to get rid of Distorter, t’en? But... how? I-I know, time magick, but... not’ing we looked up seemed all t’at helpful.” He frowned. “Did you know we wouldn’ find anyt’ing? If you did, why tell us to do any of t’at research at all?”

“Because thanks to your research, you know the types of time magic out there. What they do... and consequences you should avoid.” Whisper looked grim. “Trust me, you needed that foundation. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to understand this at all.” He reached back into that same waistcoat pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. “Here.” He held it out to Marvin.

Marcin took it, of course, and unfolded it to look at the surface of the thin paper. It was a diagram, drawn on the paper in blue pen. The second Marvin saw it, he knew this was telling him the formation to put his cards in. The two time runes were in the center, and four curved lines of symbols radiated outwards from there. Each rune was crossed out, but Marvin knew that was just to keep this spell from activating on the paper. At the bottom, beneath the diagram, there were a few lines of notes:

Spell to Send A Mind Back in Time, and to Pull A Mind Into the Future. (Not necessarily the same mind)

Send a single mind back to their past body, or pull a past mind to their present body.

You’ll need Jems’s power to activate this, but after the initial blast the design will be self-sustaining until you disable it. Have Jems blast it from a distance to activate it while Distorter is nearby. Make sure you, Jems, Jackie, and Hen are out of the room. You’ll know the spell worked when you see Distorter collapse. Disable the design then by removing the cards. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE CARDS IN THE CENTER FIRST.

There were a few more technical details under that. Marvin scanned this writing, then looked back at the design. He nodded slowly. This was a complicated spell ritual; it would take nearly all his cards to accomplish. But Whisper was right. His mind was already racing, thinking of how to best implement this, and the possible consequences that could come of it. “Alrigh’... is t’ere any particular spell Jems shoul’ use to activate it?”

“Something powerful,” Whisper said. “The power is what matters for this.”

“Alrigh’...” Something powerful... but hopefully not too destructive. Marvin didn’t want to risk his cards being moved out of place—or worse, damaged. “And... you’re sure t’is will work?”

“It had better, or things will get real complicated for me,” Whisper chuckled.

“How will I know it’s workin’?” Marvin asked. He skimmed the design again. “T’is is powerful, but... I don’ know how it will help us. What’s it supposed to do?”

“Kill Distorter, of course,” Whisper said.

“But... how?? Are we sendin’ him back in time? Won’ t’at jus’ cause problems in the past?”

“Not if you choose the right moment,” Whisper said vaguely. “You know the story of what happened to the man Distorter became. There’s a split second where he’s in a lot of danger.” He pressed a hand to the side of his head. “You’ll probably get it, but if you don’t, the others will. Especially Anti.”

“Anti.” Marvin realized something, glancing back down at the writing. “You... you didn’ list him as... needing to get out of the way. You went out of your way t’ list ev’ry other one of my friends but him.”

“Because he needs to be there,” Whisper said gently. “Trust me, he knows what to do. And he’ll be safe. Once the spell activates, Distorter won’t be able to hurt him... I think. That’s what he’s said, but he could be lying to me.” He narrowed his eyes. “He’d better not be lyin’, t’at motherfucker.”

Marvin laughed, hearing Whisper’s accent thicken. “Okay... if you trust him, I’ll trust him. I’m... still...” His smile faded slowly as he thought about going back into that house. Wandering those hallways again. Feeling the heavy air press on his chest, press him to the ground.

“...it will be fine.” Whisper reached out, gently taking Marvin’s hands. “I know, it feels impossible now. It feels like there’s no end to your problems. Like they’re... insurmountable. But it will be fine. You will be fine. You can make it.”

“Hah... of course, I have to, if you’re here,” Marvin chuckled faintly.

“Well, yes, but that’s not why I’m saying this.” Whisper looked at him. Their identical blue eyes met. “You’re stronger than you think you are, Marvin. You’re not just getting out of this because it’s your destiny or your fate or anything like that. You’re going to get out of this because you can pull yourself out of it. It’s already in you. And I know, better than anyone, how tough it feels. But... I’m here. And when all’s said and done, you’ll be here, too. And you’ll be fine. The memories will stick with you, but... they’ll be distant.” Whisper’s eyes welled up. “And you’ll be fine. I promise.” His voice cracked on the very last word.

Marvin’s own vision was starting to blur, and he sniffed, glancing downwards. “...T’ank you. I... I needed t’hear t’at.”

“...I know.” Whisper smiled faintly. He gave his hands one last squeeze, but then let go. “Now. I know you have a million more questions about how that spell will work. But I really, really can’t keep you. Remember, the time you spend here will be equal to the time you’re missing from your own time period.”

“Righ’, righ’.” Marvin blinked wildly. Whisper took a handkerchief out of a pocket and passed it to him, which he used to wipe his eyes before handing it back. “Just—two more questions. One migh’ be a bit complicated. The house... somet’ing abou’ it twists time and space. Will t’at interfere wit’ the spell you gave me?”

Whisper thought about it. “Yyyes, but... in a good way. Or at least, a way that’ll be to your advantage.”

“Okay. And t’en...” Marvin hesitated. “The others... my friends. Are they...” He looked around. “Are they... here, too? Are they... fine?”

Whisper smiled. “They’re fine. Just like you. There have been ups and downs, good times and bad times... but they’re here.”

Marvin didn’t realize how much tension he was carrying until that drained away. He was still a bit worried... after all, if things didn’t go right in the present, this future would never exist, and that might cause a whole bunch of paradoxes or timeline nonsense to happen. Not to mention the implications of ‘things going wrong’ had for his friends. But... now he had a vision. Something to aim for. “Alrigh’. Well t’en. I shoul’... get goin’.”

“You should.” Whisper nodded. “Oh! Two more things, actually. One—you’ll need to destroy that paper with the spell when you’ve succeeded. I know, you’re probably tempted to keep it so you can pass it on when you’re in my position. But that is a paradox. And more than that, it means you won’t be motivated to learn.”

“Alrigh’...” Marvin said slowly. That made a sort of sense.

“And second.” Whisper leaned back, reaching behind the bit of wall he was sitting on. And he pulled out... a cane. He held it out to Marvin. “For you.”

“What? Is t’is... yours?” Marvin blinked. “If... if keepin’ the note to pass it on is a paradox, wouldn’... t’is also be a paradox?”

“No, because I bought this here, specifically to give to you,” Whisper said. “It’s not mine. It has an origin. Just remember, when you get in my position, you have to buy it. Does that make sense?”

“I... I s’pose.” Marvin took the cane, testing the grip a bit. Felt good. He pushed himself to his feet with it. Felt stable. He tucked the spell diagram and his cards into his pocket, patting it to make sure they were there. “So... t’is is goodbye, isn’ it? I remember you said we’d only see you one more time.”

“Well... the you of then will only see me one more time,” Whisper said thoughtfully. “But... yes. Basically.” He stood up as well. “Good luck, Marvin. Remember...” He trailed off, thinking. “Remember to live. Remember to learn and love. And remember to savor the time you have. Seal those good memories in your mind. You... you will be fine. I promise.”

Marvin began to tear up again, but he nodded. “T’ank you.” He took a shaky breath, then gave Whisper a shaky smile. “You’re a real inspiration. I—” He laughed. “I hope t’ be like you when I grow up.”

Whisper laughed. “Goodbye, Marvin.”

“Goodbye... Marvin.” Marvin gave a small bow. Then he turned and headed back to the archway standing in the middle of the unsupported wall. It seemed dark, shadows filling it despite the sun shining high. He paused for a moment, then turned back, and waved. The man was watching him go. He smiled, and waved back.

And with that, Marvin took a deep breath, and walked into the archway, leaving the man behind. He’d never forget this moment. A hope for the future was now bright in his chest.

But right now, the present demanded more of his attention. The future wouldn’t exist without action happening there, after all. Time to get to work.