below is a little scene where MC tells Sebastian how "taking away the pain" works on cursed people. All angst, 1.4k words. And it's Danny's birthday today, so 🥲 Happy Birthday boyo, I'm so sorry
Honourable mention: Diana by @pierrot-dokki
The Undercroft was freezing. That was probably why his hands wouldn't stop trembling. But his cloak lay on the floor beside him because of the heat that crawled up Dan's neck and face, all-consuming and suffocating.
Somehow it was even worse when he closed his eyes, so he tried to keep them open but kept seeing it anyway—the way the man's body had twisted, the horrible sounds he'd made just before...
He's alright, Danny. Don't stop.
No, of course, he was used to fighting. More than any sixth-year should be, really. Ashwinders, poachers, goblins... It was only today that he realised he'd never actually cared if any of them died afterwards.
But this was different. This wasn't combat. This was someone who'd trusted him with his life, who'd been suffering and was desperate enough to let a sixteen-year-old try experimental magic on him.
The door opened with its familiar metallic grinding.
"There you are. I got your owl. Not that it even—" Sebastian stopped a few feet from the entrance. "What's wrong?"
Dan stared at the floor. Couldn't meet Sebastian's eyes for this conversation. Not ever again, probably.
"I tried it. On a person."
"Tried what?"
"Taking away the pain," Dan spoke to the cracks in the stone near his foot. "Like Isidora did."
The silence was so absolute he could hear a group laughing in the corridor above. Must be nice, being there.
"Did it work?"
Sebastian's footsteps were already echoing through the room, closing the distance between them. The urgency in motion and in his voice made Dan look up before he realised it. Sebastian's face was right in front of him, those dark brown eyes already brightening with cautious hope. The very hope Dan was about to destroy.
Dad had told him not to share any hasty conclusions with anyone, and he didn't for a while. But today was just too much.
First, he told Sebastian about all the attempts with emotions, just like in those memories. How it left people different from how they were before, how it seemed to mess with their minds more as time went on. For the first time, he admitted aloud how strangely the process affected him too, filling his mind with so much that was foreign and painful. He hadn't even told Dad that part yet, but he would prefer never to try it again.
He also told how Dad had wanted to test the same approach with a curse ever since Dan mentioned Sebastian's theory, the one he'd never taken to the Keepers. How they'd prepared, or thought they had.
And then he told about the man. Cursed since this summer, suffering from something incurable that was rapidly consuming his body. He didn't mention why the man couldn't have gone to the healers, though. Not that it mattered anymore anyway.
Sebastian lit a few nearby candelabras, letting the faint heat spread from their flames, then lowered himself to sit on the floor as well. He seemed to stop breathing as he listened, turning his wand over and over in his hand.
"It felt so, so wrong from the start, but I—" he stopped, Dad's voice cutting through the panicked memory. Keep going. "I kept trying. And he got worse... I mean it, that was really fucking bad. I swear, I tried all I could." He turned to Sebastian, needing him to really hear this. Not that he had to—Sebastian was completely focused on him the entire time. "To remove it, and when he... I tried even harder to stop it, but that didn't work either."
"By didn't work..."
"He's dead."
He knew what Sebastian had been thinking all this time, ever since they'd seen that memory together. Could hear it in every asked and unasked question throughout many months. Could feel it in every look—the reminder that he'd promised to try.
He'd thought he hated making Sebastian wait, but what he really hated was taking all of that hope away now. Admitting to being not simply useless but dangerous.
But Sebastian didn't gasp or flinch at his horrible confession. He only frowned slightly—no more than he would have frowned at Dan falling asleep while Sebastian was working through complicated Arithmancy equations for their homework.
"You mean it's that different from—?"
"It's nothing like emotions and nothing like jinxes or hexes, even though you'd think it would be." Dan's voice rose despite himself. Didn't Sebastian understand? "It wasn't even just tangled or confusing. It was absolutely clear that it had blended into everything alive. Every time I tried harder, it was like... like breaking everything at once."
Sebastian reached out, his hand settling on Dan's shoulder. "Listen. This is advanced magic that no one's performed in centuries. It's not your fault you didn't figure it out at once."
"But it is." Dan pulled away as far as the pillar behind his back would let him, shaking his head. "Of course it bloody is."
"But you also said it seemed like it worked at the beginning. So what I think is—it did work, at least partially. You just didn't expect so many complications. That's understandable."
Everything always sounded so logical when Sebastian said it like that. Like they were discussing how to fix a failed transfiguration attempt in class.
Sebastian's fingers were now tapping against the floor. As if he wanted to reach for a quill to write something down.
Dan couldn't place why that bothered him at first, but then it clicked. That's what Dad had done. Writing things down while listening to him. While that man's body was still lying there on the floor, the flickering firelight made the shadows shift so it looked like the corpse was still twitching.
It happens in research, Danny. You need to rest.
"Do you really need to be reminded that people dying is not normal?" Dan's voice came out quiet and cold in the most unusual way for him.
"I didn't say it was normal." Sebastian continued, like the words didn't bother him at all. Not in this moment, at least. "Of course, you don't have to keep trying on people yet. We can come up with smaller steps. Maybe... Actually, do you think it might be removed in smaller parts?"
Dan suddenly felt helpless—like standing at the fragile edge of something dark he couldn't see the bottom of, realising the fall was just as inevitable as it was deadly.
"I need to—" His voice came out rough. "I should get some sleep."
He didn't let Sebastian stop him. Didn't even grab his cloak from where it still lay on the floor.
He usually didn't regret talking openly to his closest people. Today, he'd felt that regret twice, and he hadn't been ready for it either time.
//
By the time he reached the Gryffindor common room, he already hated himself for those thoughts and for leaving Sebastian like that.
Before he reached the stairs, Diana grabbed his arm, holding her broom already in her other hand. "Danny! Did you know the giant squid loves sandwiches?"
Any other night, he'd already be fetching his own broom and racing her to the lake. But all he could manage was some lame excuse before fleeing to his dormitory.
He was still awake when his owl returned from the night hunt through the enchanted window, landing on the perch with a soft ruffle of wings. He hadn't realised he'd been hoping until he saw that Atlas carried no letter.
There's still a chance this might work.
He didn't have to take that hope away from everyone just because he got scared after one failed attempt. An attempt no one could have predicted the outcome of.
We all knew the risks.
It's not your fault.
He ran both hands through his hair, pressing hard, as if trying to physically push the confusion out of his head.
Of course, they understood magic far better than he did. He'd only been studying it for the second year.
No, alright.
He was probably mistaken about it all. Not focused enough. Not ready for the complications.
To find out, he just had to stop being a coward and try again. Do better with whatever smaller steps Sebastian comes up with.
Not long finished Bloodline: Daughter of Blade by Danny Lore, and I enjoyed this. Really good introduction to Brielle and her world.
It was interesting to find out how her powers work and how she got to where she is when I first came across her in Cody Ziglar's Miles Morales run and then the Blood Hunt event by Jed Mackay.
I hope that at some point she gets another series, and hopefully an ongoing one as it would be really cool to see how she grows as a character.
This is a one off that is definitely worth checking out and is an interesting look into the supernatural side of the Marvel universe.
Spoiler stuff below
Beforehand, my only knowledge of Blade came from the movies in the 90s/00s along with the anime so it was nice to finally find out how Blade and Deacon Frost are connected to each other in the comics.
Given that Blade went to Strange to do a ritual to keep Bri safe, I wonder if that means that Clea potentially knows about her as well...
I don't know exactly who at DC came up with the idea of Zatanna and Wonder Woman being a duo but I will never forget the way it sent my mind buzzing and looking up every instance of these two characters interacting and looking at their past interactions in a new light.
The Warrior / Magician dynamic. The father's daughter and mother's daughter. The way the two admire and support each other. I could go on and on.
Source: Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #15 by Danny Lore and Maria Laura Sanapo.
Out this week: Godzilla’s 70th Anniversary (IDW, $29.99):
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the king of all monsters, IDW collects nine stories about Godzilla by Joëlle Jones, Michael Conrad, James Stokoe, Matt Frank, Adam Gorham, Danny Lore and more in a 200-page deluxe hardcover volume.
See what else is arriving at your local comic shop this week.
DC Pride 2022 by Nicole Maines, Devin Grayson, Alyssa Wong, Danny Lore, Brittney Williams and more. 1:25 variant cover by Jen Bartel. Out in June.
“DC’s 2022 celebration kicks off with more stories, more characters, and more pride than ever before! This anthology features 13 all-new stories spotlighting LGBTQIA+ fan-favorites new and old including Superman (Jon Kent), Nubia, Tim Drake, Kid Quick, Aquaman (Jackson Hyde), Green Lantern (Jo Mullein), Alysia Yeoh, the Ray, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Batwoman, and more! This special also includes:
• A Multiversity: Teen Justice kickoff story spotlighting Kid Quick and written by
the miniseries team, Danny Lore and Ivan Cohen!
• An introduction by activist, actress, and real-life superhero Nicole Maines that
will include a teaser for her upcoming Dreamer project!
• Pinups by P. Craig Russell, J.J. Kirby, and more!”
Marvel Comics Announces Halloween One-Shot “Crypt of Shadows #1″
Marvel Comics has announced a new giant-sized anthology one-shot for Halloween titled Crypt of Shadows #1. The issue will feature stories about Moon Knight, Wolverine, Elsa Bloodstone, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Morbius, Victoria Montesi, and Bloodline, the daughter of Blade who was introduced in Free Comic Book Bay: Avengers/X-Men #1.
Writers for Crypt of Shadows #1 include Chris Cooper, Al Ewing, Danny Lore, Rebecca Roanhorse, Adam Warren, Chris Condon, and more. Artists for the one-shot include Karen S. Darbow, Geoff Shaw, Adam Warren, Ibrahim Moustafa, and more.
Crypt of Shadows #1, featuring a cover by Leinil Francis Yu, goes on sale October 19, 2022.
(Image via Marvel Comics - Leinil Francis Yu’s Cover of Crypt of Shadows #1)
