Happy 10 Year Anniversary @transcendence-au ! It is with great pleasure that I present the culmination of about 2 months worth of work with this lil comic o mine ^-^
The full thing is below the read more, as safe to say, this got a little longer than I initially anticipated haha (also tumblr did what tumblr does best and destroyed the quality so please click the images for better quality :3)
Thank you so much for reading my comic, I worked really hard on this, pretty much since the competition was announced and I am so happy with how it turned out ^-^
I still can't believe the Transcendence AU is Ten years old, or that I've been a part of this wonderful community for eight of those years!
Some quick shout outs, while I had this idea before this was shared This post on the blog did influence the direction I went at the end, I just love the idea on Alcor and the Axolotl interacting, especially during the God-cor story arc (speaking of I place this comic as being near the beginning of this phase of his life).
I also heavily worked off of Dipper and Mabel and the Cure of the Time Pirates Treasure (A Select Your Own Choose-venture) as I felt that was a good starting point for these two getting to know each other (Also disclaimer I did initially trace the image of the shack before breaking it apart, feel like I should mention that).
Quick list of TAU characters featured (In order of appearance) we have:
Torako and a little Bentley by @skia-oura
Maria, Brad, Thomas (using This design by @justarestlessspirit), and Eddie, AKA the Demonology Gang by Dementor_ssc
Willow, Acacia, Hank and Henry by @seiya234
Maddie and Toby
Lucy-Ann
Al-V
and Miscellaneous members of The Flock (sorry not actually sure who to credit for these last few, please let me know if you know!)
Finally one last thank you to everyone who have made this AU what it it, thank you to the people who made the characters above, thank you to the people who wrote the most incredible stories I've ever ready, made the most amazing art I've ever been, and just thank you to everyone for making this such a wonderful little slice of the internet <3
And of course Thank you to @zillychu for sharing the original idea that started this all <3
“So what do we know,” Dipper said, clearing the whiteboard with a gesture. “A nineteen year old student of Oregon University and her parents, an elderly couple from the Circle, and an ageing Twin Souls fangirl. Fanwoman? That doesn’t sound right. Anyway! What do they have in common?”
He mindlessly chewed on the black marker, which immediately burst under his teeth and sprayed his face with ink.
Lolonja helpfully brought him another napkin. He cleaned his face and threw the marker on the pile next to the whiteboard, which already consisted of several others.
The Flock was spread around his thinking spot, keeping careful watch and dining on the grass-that-wasn’t-grass of his part of the Mindscape.
“Baaa,” Groknar the Destroyer offered. “Baaa-aaa.”
“Well yes, they’re all somehow related to me, I got that,” Dipper said, and willed a new marker into existence. “That doesn’t explain why they all had my summoning circle, but I got none of their summons. Someone else did. How? And who?”
“Baaa-aaaa,” said Cupcake, apparently wanting to be a part of things. Since she was the only completely ordinary sheep in the Flock, she couldn’t add anything to the conversation. Dipper ignored her, thinking hard.
Stealing another demon's summons was possible, technically. It was one of the big no-no's in demon culture, though. Obeying niceties wasn't in their nature, but if the demon whose summons you just stole was coming to take their revenge, you quickly learned to be more mindful of the rules. It still happened, of course. But who would be suicidal enough to steal from him?
No, it had to be a mistake with the circles themselves, or he would at least have gotten a call. Stealing a circle was tricky, you had to be quicker than the original recipient of the summons. He should have noticed something if it had happened - and not just once, but three times!
At least three times, he glumly corrected himself. Maybe more often... He didn't know.
If he had a sample of that circle, maybe he'd know more. Maybe he could cajole someone into performing it so he could just grab whoever showed up - wait, no, that wouldn't work, they wouldn't steal his summons if they knew he was waiting. And a decent chunk of higher-level demons weren't limited to the Mindscape, they could hang around in the real world intangibly and observe. Like he used to, back in the beginning.
Damn, was the whole world set on reminding him of his early days? First that portal and Adams, then that horrible guest speaker…
Dipper clenched his fist. The marker shattered. Ugh, again?
"I need to see those circles," he decided. He didn't have a picture of them, but he knew where to find it. And apparently he knew someone in the police department these days. "I'll be back, guys. Stay alert."
After Chavazikel's intrusion into his Mindscape he couldn't leave the Flock for long without worrying about them. Which was stupid, because they could take care of themselves, but - wait.
Chavazikel.
Could he be responsible? Dipper hadn't tracked the other dream demon down yet, busy with too many other things. He’d thought he had plenty of time for that. Chavazikel wouldn't be stupid enough to try something again, and it was more fun to let him stew in his terror while Dipper waited for him to resurface from whatever hole he was hiding in, right?
Unless... unless he was responsible, somehow. Could a little dream demon like Chavazikel actually steal a summons from him? Dipper had nothing else to go on, though… he really needed to track him down.
Postponing that for an hour or more wouldn't make a difference at this point, would it? Nah, Chavazikel could wait a little while longer. Right now it was early evening in Oregon, and Dipper had an old classmate to visit.
Aside from his regular friends and Adams, he didn't have a lot of interactions with the rest of his fellow graduates. Carver gave him the occasional summons, Watson had called him once. Brennan never had, but he was the police department's resident demon consultant, so he would have access to all crime scene pictures.
Dipper made sure his Tyrone disguise was as human-like as ever, and tessered away.
He appeared in an alley nearby the main police office. This was the largest building, Brennan should have an office somewhere inside. Now the main question was, how difficult were they going to be if he just barged in asking to speak to their demonologist? Hm.
Another flicker of power rippled over him and he shook his shoulders loose under the sensation. Invisible and intangible he moved through the doors.
A warding line surrounded the entrance, but hey, he was Alcor!
He investigated it for a moment. Tripping that sigil looked like it might set off an alarm... Oh, wait, was that an Eye of Truth interwoven with the edges? Ugh, those magitech cameras were going to pick him up, despite being invisible, weren’t they. Sheesh, paranoid much?
Whatever. He didn't have time to waste being careful, he was in a hurry here!
With a roll of his eyes, Dipper just pushed through the wards and into the building. An alarm started blaring immediately, but he ignored the confusion and rising fear as he moved past the cameras.
He spotted Brennan exiting an office, eyes wide and his hands already at his belt of demonology supplies. Dipper stopped him in his tracks with a bit of magic and pushed him back into the office. Had anyone seen it? Better lock the door behind him, to be sure.
Brennan didn't look the slightest bit relieved when Dipper released the invisibility on himself and greeted him as Tyrone, Normal Human Boy.
"It's you," Brennan whispered, backing away. He tripped over his own desk chair and fell to the floor.
"Hi, sorry about the fuss," Dipper said, with a vague gesture towards the other side of the door, where the alarm overwhelmed all other noise. The ringing was annoying, so with a thought he soundproofed this room. "I don't really have time to do this the subtle way. Didn't mean to start a panic, though. I need those pictures you've got."
Brennan didn't ask which pictures he meant. He shook his head, trembling on the ground. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You can destroy them, but by now everyone knows. They've already spread around."
"What? I'm not here to - to cover my tracks, or whatever you're thinking," Dipper sputtered. "I just want to see them. Because whatever summoning circle is on them, it can't be mine."
“You can’t trick me, you can’t trick me, you can’t trick me…”
“I’m not trying to,” Dipper interrupted his mutterings. “Listen, Brennan. It’s just me, okay? We had class together? You don’t need to be scared.”
At least that snapped him out of it, even if it wasn’t quite the reaction Dipper had hoped for.
“I know it’s you!” Brennan said. “I know you are the Dreambender, and I inspected those circles myself! They’re yours! It’s your symbol in the centre!”
“Then someone stole the summons from me, but I know I didn’t do this,” Dipper bit back. Sighed, and dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay, I don’t want to yell at you. Just let me see the pictures myself, Brennan, and I’ll leave you alone. Deal?”
“Alone? That’s an obvious loophole,” Brennan spat back, apparently having found his courage after the initial shock. “You’re going to kill everyone in this building except me, that’s what you mean?”
“How about you don’t immediately think the worst of me,” Dipper said. “I know it looks bad, okay? But I’m not asking much. I just want to figure out what is happening. Someone is trying to frame me.”
“And I’m just supposed to believe you.”
“Okay, fine,” Dipper said, now definitely annoyed. “How about this deal then? You show me the pictures I want to see, and I won’t tesser you to a random city on the other side of the world.”
Brennan gaped at him. “You can’t do that!”
“I’m a demon outside of a binding circle, I do what I want. Do we have a deal or are you feeling like practising your Swedish today?”
Hesitation. Brennan slowly got up from the floor, keeping the sturdy desk between them. “You only want to see the pictures?”
Finally! “Yes.”
“Alright. Deal,” Brennan said, with a wary look. He sat down behind his desk and tapped on the computer. “But you may not like what you see.”
Dipper didn’t.
He was no stranger to carnage. The blood and gore didn’t rattle him anymore. They blotted out most of the summoning circles, especially the edges where the broken binding would have been. But the centre, where the symbol of the summoned demon should be…
It was his. The one eyed, winged star. Those circles should have called him. But they hadn’t.
Had they?
No. No, he was not going down that road. He knew what set off the rampages that everyone was so afraid of, and this time there was no reason. He still had friends here, ties to humanity. Even rattled by the portal he had to dismantle and the memories that kept intruding lately – he wasn’t losing himself.
He was still Dipper, not just another demon.
-----
Long plane journeys still didn’t agree with her, but Elisabeth had to admit they were becoming easier. With all the excitement in the rest of her life, a few hours to relax and read were surprisingly welcome. Even the Alcor Virus had given in and promised not to bother her too much. It was still lounging on her phone screen, of course, but at least it had stopped hiding her reading app. Now she only had to get it to stop making comments about the story while she was reading it.
[The butler did it.]
Elisabeth rolled her eyes, typing her reply. [That makes no sense.]
[It’s always the butler. The one who has access to the house, and who is trusted. Do you know anything about detective stories?]
[I know there wouldn’t be much of a mystery if it was the butler each and every time] she replied.
The little chibi Alcor on her screen seemed to think it over, tapping a finger against its chin. [Maybe it was a secret evil twin then.]
[You’re being ridiculous.]
[It’s a classic story! Never seen Ducktective?]
She was so engrossed in her discussion with the Alcor Virus about which detective was best and no, a duck wasn’t even in the running, that she wasn’t paying much attention to the other passengers boarding the plane.
A burly man sat down in the seat next to her. Her nose crinkled. Hadn’t he ever heard of showers? This was going to be a long flight…
The man had a tattoo around his wrist, she noticed. One that looked vaguely familiar… oh, right, that was Freghnup’s symbol. She recognised it from the Safe Summons List. Huh, she didn’t even know little demons like them had worshippers.
Well, there was no rule against being stupid, unfortunately.
She returned her attention to her phone screen, which the Alcor Virus was currently filling with little shorts from some ancient cartoon series.
[I was reading, you know.]
[Yes, yes, I’ll let you get back to that, but first you’ve just got to watch the first episode!]
-----
His scent was long gone from Dipper’s part of the Mindscape. Still, he had to try.
Dipper kneeled down in the spot where Star had been attacked. He leaned towards the grass, breathing in deeply through his mouth. The grass, lush with his power. Traces of Star’s blood, her fear. The scent of the rest of the Flock, old and new.
There. That little tingle on his tongue. It didn’t taste like his own magic.
Just a spark, a thread, a hint. But maybe it was enough.
He concentrated on it, this little drop of another demon’s essence, and reached out, sniffing for more traces. Then he set off.
In the end he didn’t even need to tap into his semi-omniscience to find Chavazikel. The trail led him through several distant corners of the Mindscape – the outer edges, in a way, if something that was infinite could have something like edges. The parts of it that the smallest demons claimed, far away from the realms of the stronger ones.
The trail led through several of these little domains. If he hadn’t been so focused on his hunt, Dipper might have wondered about that.
Borders meant nothing to him, of course. He was Alcor. He ignored the few nightmares he encountered, which was easy because they fled at his approach. Chavazikel’s own piece of the Mindscape was still the smoking ruin Dipper had left it.
Ah, there.
It was a cave, of a sort, only the walls weren’t stone but carved from Missed Opportunities. They whispered as Dipper entered the darkness inside, and curled little tendrils at him, like fingers reaching out but always just shy of touching him.
… should have listened to her….
… should have taken that job…
… should have kept the money…
… should have tried…
… should have…
With a flex of power Dipper silenced the whispers. The Mindscape could be annoying like this – concepts floating around, taking shape. There was a large bubbling tar pit full of Toxic Family Visits near the Organ Duck’s realm, and Dipper had gone ice-skating once or twice on the frozen lake of Postponed Plans.
Chavazikel was in the back of the cave, easy to spot now the whispers had ceased. The small dream demon met his eyes as he approached.
He looked frightened, Dipper thought. Good.
But… he wasn’t trying to flee.
“We need to talk,” Dipper said, and closed off the escape route before Chavazikel could come to his senses. “You attacked my Flock. Why?”
Chavazikel took the appearance of a horse-headed figure with too many limbs, an ooze-like mane dripping around the edge of a yellow woolly hat. A furnace of black fire glowed inside his chest, visible through the many cracks in his skin. He bowed his head now, that same fire burning in his five eyes. “I don’t need to tell you anything, Dreambender.”
That was daring. That was almost as good as proof he was involved in all this recent trouble.
“Fine,” Dipper said, reaching out towards the other dream demon and sticking a hand straight in his chest. “Then I’ll just devour your soul and I’ll consider us even, shall I?”
The sticky charcoal of Chavazikel’s soul tingled between his fingers. He closed them, intent on pulling the whole thing out.
That idiot wasn’t even trying to fight him –
Huh?
He tried to close his fingers again, but couldn’t. Something was stopping him. He yanked his hand out, but it came back empty, the other demon’s soul still visible between the new crack in his stone chest.
“You can’t,” Chavazikel gasped. Straightened his back, and laughed. “You can’t harm me! It ac̝̭͖̪t͎̪͍ua̰̖ll̟͍̜̱̙y ͎̖͔̞̲̬̘wo̠͈r̠̫͚̣̣ḵ̜͍͉̟̺͚e͙̬̗̰͇d͚!”
“What worked?” Dipper snapped. What the hell was going on here?
“The great and mighty Dreambender,” that weak, little dream demon laughed. “Look at you now. All confused. We don’t need to tell you anything! And y̬̻o̰̙̫̜̹̮u͚ ̙̟̠͙c̬̗̞an’̰͎̬̗͈̼̲ṭ̩͈̩ ̯̜͖̱m̙̪̹a̩̺̣̯͈̺̩k̜̪̝͙e͇̥͔̪̟ ̼̼̫͓͍u͍̝̲s͓̟̦!̘̫̠͙”
“You know what, I don’t like this,” Dipper said. He reached out with his power, shaping the cave into a prison. “I think I’ll just put you in time-out for now.”
Chavazikel was still laughing when Dipper left.
… should have killed him… the walls whispered in his passing.
Dipper growled. “I know!”
-----
The pub was a long, narrow building wedged between a store selling suspiciously vague ‘herbal supplies’ and a hotel that had all its windows boarded up. A group of leprechauns in long leather coats were idling next to their parked motorbikes. They turned to give dark looks towards Brad as he passed their street corner.
“Hiya guys!” Maria greeted them, and one of them nodded back at her while the other two kept their glares aimed at Brad. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Don’t mind the O’Shiver boys. Come on, go inside.”
“I’d rather be murdered in a classier place,” Brad said, but against his better judgement he let Maria herd him and Eddy through the door of the pub.
The inside was slightly better than the outside. A narrow room, made cloudy by the sputtering fog machine near the ‘dance floor’ and the greasy smoke coming from the direction of the kitchen. The tables were sticky and when he sat down, he discovered the chair was as well.
There were only a few other patrons, a bunch of sallow-looking people hanging around the counter, who were quietly conversing with the bartender.
“Wow, it is dead in here,” Eddy said.
Maria shrugged. “It’s a weekday, what do you expect?”
“Isn’t this a preter bar?”
“Preternaturals have day jobs too, you know.”
“Don’t see many here,” Brad said, with a wary look around. The bartender gave him a hard stare. Brad quickly avoided his eyes again. He probably shouldn’t have worn his nice jacket to come here. The universe clearly didn’t like him to dress up and was giving hints. “So this is your new job, huh? This, uh, very cheery place.”
“Yep! I start tomorrow. But the boss invited me to have a drink here, tonight, for free. Get to know the place informally, and all that. Said I should bring my friends, so I guess that’s you two jokers.”
“It was very nice of you to invite us,” Brad said, trying to unstick his leg from where it seemed to have fused to the chair. “Too nice. Really. Next time, feel free to ask Thomas and Tyrone.”
“Thomas would rather mope around his apartment,” Maria said, with a roll of her eyes. “And with everything that’s happened I think Tyrone has other things on his plate right now. Did you hear?”
“Hear what?” Brad said. Sheesh, was he going to have to rip his pants if he wanted to get up? What exactly had spilled here?
“Bad things, dude,” Eddy said, subdued. “There’s been some grisly demon murders, and people are blaming Alcor.”
“Seriously?” He was a terrifyingly powerful demon, of course. But he was also Tyrone, who cried at old movies and cuddled whatever wasn’t fast enough to move away when he got into the Yggdrasil. “More cult activity?”
“No,” Eddy said. “That’s the problem. According to the investigations, these people were mostly, well... Kinda innocent.”
“It was on the afternoon news,” Maria added.
He did not like that sinking feeling in his stomach he suddenly got. “I had a meeting, didn’t watch the news. But it sounds… I don’t know. Do you think he’s going bad again?”
Maria punched his shoulder. “Don’t joke about that.”
“I’m not joking. And ouch.” At least that explained one thing. “Thomas must be really torn right now. I guess that’s why he is moping?”
“No, he sounded pretty convinced that Tyrone is being framed somehow. It’s being suspended that bothers him, obviously.”
Suspended! Brad frowned. “How come I’m always the last one to hear anything?”
“Well, I live in the building across from Thomas,” Eddy shrugged.
“And I’m naturally nosy,” Maria said. “You want to stay in the loop, make some effort to do so, dude.”
“If Alcor’s going bad, I want to stay far away from that loop,” Brad said. Had Tyrone been different lately? More distant, perhaps. But Brad had blown him off a lot too, so he couldn’t really blame his demon buddy. “Are we sure the people he murdered weren’t harbouring deep dark secrets, or something?”
“A student and her parents, an elderly couple of Alcor cultists, and a writer,” Maria said, with a raised brow. “Clearly they were all horrible people who kept children in their basements and kicked puppies.”
“Well, do you know why he would do it then?” Brad argued. “I mean, his own cultists. Makes no sense.”
“Lots of demons kill their own cultists first,” Eddy said. “Easiest prey, right? Er. Not that I think Tyrone did it. Just saying.”
“At least the writer makes sense,” Maria said, and added to Brad: “She wrote books about Alcorian myth in pop culture. Was a huge Twinner in her younger days.”
Eep. “That’s no reason to kill her!”
“Better watch your step, dude. Brad? Stars, Brad, that was a joke,” Maria sighed. “This is Tyrone we’re talking about. He gave you that magical protection thingy on your forehead and everything, he’s not going to kill you.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I do know that, because he’s our friend. We know him. Thomas thinks he’s being framed and I bet that’s exactly what’s happening here.” She made a vague gesture around them. “If he was going bad, it wouldn’t happen like this, right? He’s too clever to get caught so easily.”
“That’s a really weak argument,” Brad said. He looked at Eddy, who seemed conflicted. “What do you think?”
Eddy shook his head. “I don’t know. I trust Tyrone. But, dude… maybe this is how it happens. Maybe that’s why they say he has two faces. He might not even know he’s doing it.”
“Like a literal split personality thing?” Maria frowned. “Come on, you don’t believe that.”
“I don’t know.” Brad said. “Eddy could be on to something there.”
“Ugh, I need a drink,” Maria muttered. Twitched. “Guys? I’m stuck to my seat. I can’t get up.”
“Oh, I thought it was just me,” Brad said. “These chairs need cleaning –“
“No, doofus, I’m literally stuck!”
“Same,” Eddy said. “Hey, uh, dudes? This may not be the right moment to mention it, but, er… why are all those people wearing robes suddenly?”
They looked at the group by the bar counter.
One of those robed people moved towards the door and locked it, flipping the sign to ‘closed’ in a slow, deliberate movement. The bartender reached underneath the bar and took a long green hood, which he donned.
“Hey, Maria?”
“What is it, Brad?”
“Congratulations on your new job.”
“Ugh.”
-----
‘We,’ Chavazikel had said. ‘Us.’
He wasn’t working alone. But how was Dipper supposed to figure out who he was working with? And what the hell was going on?
He needed to talk to other demons. Well, fine. He knew a place.
Dipper wasn’t a regular patron of the Midway Bar. Some members of the Flock liked to go there, but he’d never really seen the appeal. Other demons were annoying, fearful little things. Hanging around in the real world was much better than this fake version of it.
He’d visited once or twice, though, mostly to make a point. Today his point would be bigger and sharper.
He threw open the door and stepped inside. The bar was nearly empty. Some assorted nightmares glanced up at his entrance and huddled over their drinks when they spotted the expression on his face. A few actual demons were present, of different ranks. A couple of them were playing a dice game of some sort.
“Right, listen up!” Dipper drew their attention. “I want to know who is working with Chavazikel!”
“And I want to have my Bloody Mary in peace,” the jackal-like demon sitting next to the door muttered. “You’re letting a draft in.”
Dipper planted both his hands on that demon’s table. “I ̘̩͎h̼̠̘e̘̭̱a͔̙̩̘̼͉̯r̤̙d͙̮͍̭̗͓͍ ̖͉̖̹̬̱t͍̭͕̜̱h͉a̼̗̻̜̰ͅt̹.”
The jackal demon slid his chair backwards, away from him. “Wait, wait, you’re not supposed to fight here!”
“I’m not looking for a fight, I’m looking for answers,” Dipper said. “But if I don’t get the latter I might just settle for the former.”
The Bartender cleared their throat. Met Dipper’s eyes, and meaningfully tapped the little metal plate on the wall next to the counter. The Rules.
Dipper strode up to him. Little was known about the Bartender and exactly what kind of demon they were, but they had managed to enforce the Rules for millennia. They had to be pretty high level.
Dipper could take them, though. He was sure of it.
“What can I get you, Dreambender?” the Bartender asked, idly polishing a glass. Like nothing was wrong. Like there weren’t demons stealing summons from Alcor and magically immune to his revenge and ruining his reputation in the real world –
“Information,” Dipper said. “About –“
The Bartender held up their hand, motioning him to quiet. “What will you pay for it?”
Dipper was not in the mood to haggle. “What’s it worth?”
“To you?” The Bartender held their head angled, as if they were thinking about it. “How about one favour, to be cashed in at a moment of my choosing.”
“Forget it,” Dipper said. “I’ll figure it out myself.”
“Suit yourself,” the Bartender said. “Anything else?”
Something gurgled next to Dipper’s elbow. He looked aside, to where the Organ Duck was oozing. “What is it, am I standing in your way?”
Brian didn’t reply to that provocation. It just oozed meaningfully and pointed one bloody limb in the direction of an empty table in the far back.
Dipper was ready to ignore that… until he realised that the table wasn’t empty. Someone was hiding underneath.
He nodded his thanks to the Organ Duck – Brian wasn’t so bad, for a demon – and approached the table. It was a sad attempt at hiding, really.
Dipper grabbed the cluster of bloody metal scissors that peaked out underneath the edge and dragged the rest of the demon from under the table. “Hello there, Itpolec. Long time no see. I was sure someone had eaten you by now.”
“I had nothing to do with it!” Itpolec gibbered, its wooden teeth clattering against each other as it trembled. “You gotta believe me, Normal Human Tyrone!”
“Yeah, not͝ ͜t́ód̕aỳ,” Dipper said, and deposited the other demon into a chair. “You know something. T́a͚͚l͏̞͎̜̦k̫̫̪.”
“I’m not involved! I told them, I told them we couldn’t!”
“Itpolec, buddy. Look where we are.” Dipper gestured to the rest of the bar, who were obviously eavesdropping with interest. “This is the Midway Bar. No fighting here, right? Gotta obey the rules. So you and I are just going to have a little talk, all friendly-like. Does that sound good to you?”
The lime green protrusions on Itpolec’s body curled, like wilting grass. It licked its lips. “Friendly?”
“Oh yeah, sure!” Dipper said. He threw an arm around Itpolec’s shoulders. “And buddy, if I think you’re lying or leaving something out? Well, I wouldn’t want old Bartender to give me a disapproving look, of course. So then we’ll take this outside, like gentlemen.”
Itpolec quivered.
It started talking.
----
Closing up duty took longer than usual today. Elisha sighed as the last of the clients finally left. Mrs Patrick’s colouring job had been such a mess, it had been tricky to solve. Elisha had politely reminded her that those drugstore bleach kits were perhaps not such a good idea, and she should leave the hair dyeing to the professionals if she wanted a professional result. Not with those words, of course. Mrs Patrick was difficult enough to work with on the best of days, and today she had been fuming.
The unexpected dye job had meant working overtime, but they could use the money, if Thomas’s suspension turned into a dismissal.
She had already cleaned up the chemicals while Mrs Patrick was sitting under the drying hood. Now she only had to close up the till, make sure her workspace was tidy. Her colleagues had left an hour ago and it was already dark out.
Sylvi had been avoiding her today. Normally that would suit Elisha just fine, but when the noon news burst came on and the radio host talked about what they now called the Alcor Murders… Sylvi had looked at her, and she had looked back, and she had felt awful, even if nothing about this was her fault.
Neither of them had said anything.
Elisha made quick work of her remaining tasks and closed up. The Car was parked in the back, out of view from the street after a few too many complaints about how a wreck didn’t fit in the street image. Even after it got a fresh coat of paint, honestly. People were so quick to judge a book by its cover!
She turned the corner of the building, towards the badly illuminated parking lot. A tingle ran over her back.
Was she being watched?
She subtly slid one hand inside her purse and found the mace hidden there. Sanctified mace, but it would still work just fine on ordinary human assailants.
The parking lot was so close now. She would be at The Car soon, and then –
Footsteps, right behind her. She turned around, in time to see the three robed figures grabbing for her. The closest one got an eyeful of mace before she turned back and started running.
Heels! She loved her heels, and she could walk all day on them without any issue, but running for her life was not the same!
The remaining two creeps were gaining on her. One did a little sprint and grabbed her arm, twisting her around –
An engine roared. The robed man let her go, because he and his friend were suddenly preoccupied by trying to outrun a raging vehicle. The Car chased them around the parking lot before stopping in front of Elisha, throwing open its doors and letting her crawl inside.
She pressed her back against the seat. Her arm was going to bruise, she knew.
Deep breaths now.
In the glow of the headlights, the robes of her assailants were chartreuse yellow and turning blotchy red from their injuries as they were hanging by their arms from the fire escape, screaming whenever the Car put its front wheels on the wall and tried to edge closer.
Her hands were shaking. She took her phone and dialled the emergency line.
With her other hand she patted the dashboard.
“Good Car.”
-----
Above, the sunset painted the world red.
“It’s time for the main event,” he said, and the fire behind him flared. “Timing will be essential. Achieve this, and you will all be rewarded.”
His worshippers were a sea of kneeling bodies in front of him. There had been mutterings about having to cooperate with lesser cults, but he’d put an end to that. Making an example of them had been amusing, but tonight?
Tonight was going to be the cherry on top.
“Yes, my Liege,” his high priest said, bowing to him. “We are at your service.”
“You are,” he agreed, and looked at the room full of bowed heads. He tapped a finger against his chin, musing about his next step. “Now, who shall I wear for this occasion?”
Chapter 4 – Another Day in the Life of Tyrone Evergreen
7:30 am
Dipper popped into the kitchen. “Good morning, Thomas and Elisha!”
“Thomas isn’t home,” Elisha said, stirring her coffee. “There was an emergency summoning around three a.m.”
An emergency summoning, and he hadn’t called for Dipper? “Is it still ongoing?”
“No, he sent this message.” Elisha showed him her phone screen. Looks like Thomas had decided to catch up on a little sleep in the lab. “He has a meeting with Hicks first thing in the morning, it made more sense for him to stay.”
Feeling a bit put out, Dipper slid into the empty chair across from Elisha and started making a sandwich. “Congrats on the engagement, by the way.”
“Thank you. You seem to be feeling better than yesterday.”
“I’m feeling great,” he said, and quickly changed the subject. “How’s the Car? Still jealous?”
At that moment he’d only felt that annoying itch to cause chaos, relieve boredom, do something. In hindsight the whole mall incident was kind of embarrassing. He’d been feeling out of sorts for a few days, actually.
(It felt like the tingle in the air before a storm. Something looming in the near future, big enough to echo backwards in time. You’d think his prescience would pick up on something like that, but whenever he turned it on it only gave him unconnected flashes.)
(Complicated machinery, a baby’s red pacifier, a gnome in pre-Transcendence clothing. All nonsense and not worth the headache that came with his prescience.)
(He could turn it up even more, of course, but then he’d be feeling off for weeks. All the knowledge of the universe was a lot to sift through. Really not worth it. Whatever fate threw at him, he could handle it, for sure.)
Elisha gave him a Look. Oh right, he’d asked something, didn’t he. “It’s moody, but improving. Thomas’ attempts at bribing it are starting to work.”
“Really?”
“It responds well to kindness.”
“Its original owners would disagree,” Dipper said, with a nostalgic pang in his chest.
Elisha’s expression made it clear what she thought about the Car’s ‘original owners’ and how they had treated it. “In either case, I’m glad you’re feeling more like yourself today. Try not to create any more living garments, please.”
“Don’t tell me how to live my life.”
Elisha rolled her eyes at him and finished her coffee.
She didn’t have time to chit-chat, needing to get ready for work. Soon Dipper was left alone in the empty kitchen.
He eyed the stash of potato chips hidden behind the vegetable preserves. The stash Thomas thought he didn’t know about.
Welp. There was no one to stop him.
--
9:36 am
“I just… need time, I guess.” Mizar didn’t look him in the eyes. She tapped her fingers on the table, caught herself doing that, and curled her hands together with an awkward glance.
“I understand,” Dipper said, just as softly. The table between them might as well have been a wall. Mizar’s hot chocolate stood untouched, the cup probably already cold.
What more could be said? Dipper had gone through this a hundred times, with a hundred different Mizars. Some of them were quick to accept the whole truth, others… weren’t.
(None of them were Mabel. Not really.)
(But that was an ugly thought, one he forced down, down and away.)
(It wasn’t true anyway.)
--
10:12 am
The morning coffee with Mizar had been depressing. Good thing she wasn’t the only reincarnation running around currently, and this particular one was always good at cheering him up.
“Heya Eddy!”
Eduardo looked up from his computer with a wide smile. Good old Soos. “Hi dude! What’s up?”
“Nothing much.”
Eduardo’s office was tiny, and what little of the walls could be seen through the large posters advertising Stormward Games was a murky beige colour. The computer with its many screens took up most of the desk, of course. What was left of the surface area was covered in papers, most of them coming from an overflowing handmade contraption that for some reason incorporated a rubber ducky and a vivid lime vintage cuckoo clock.
“Yeah, I made that myself,” Eduardo said, at Dipper’s puzzled stare. “I’m still working on an out tray. I’m thinking purple.”
“Right,” Dipper said. “So how’s the game going? You know I’m always up for some beta-testing, right?”
“It’s going pretty good, dude! We’ve got most of the way to Dread Fortress finished up. It’s just the boss battle chanting that still needs tweaking, for some reason we keep getting an odd error whenever the file plays. Here, look.”
He tapped at his keyboard. Some nonsense chanting blared from the soundsystem. As the voices started to repeat, the screen with the eldritch dungeon glitched out, suddenly displaying +++OUT OF CHEESE ERROR+++ in thick black lettering on a glaring yellow background.
“Do you want me to take a look?” Dipper offered. “I’m pretty good with computers. Despite what Thomas thinks.”
“I know, I met your little buddy,” Eduardo said. The music stopped, and a digital Alcor figure showed up on one of the other screens, giving Dipper a cheery wave.
[Don’t worry,] Alvie said. [I’ve got it covered. Just some interuniversal drift in the lyrics, we’ll figure it out in no time.]
“He’s been a big help,” Eduardo said, with a fond grin at the Alcor Virus.
[Yep. Much more and I’ll have to add myself to the payroll.] The chibi Alcor looked smug. [Make up a fancy job title to go with it. Do you think they would even notice?]
“Gotta hope not, little dude, because I’m sure everyone will freak out if they realise you’re bunking in our servers.” Eduardo turned back to Dipper, a bit apologetic now. “Speaking of… I kinda need to get back to work before anyone comes in. You know how it is.”
“Definitely. I might take you up on that beta-testing.”
“Tonight? I’ve got this thing with Brad but after nine I should be free.”
“Oof, sorry dude, I have to –“
“It’s okay, no need to explain,” Dipper interrupted, as the footsteps paused in front of the door. He gave Eduardo a smile and a nod. “See you later, Eddy. Bye, kid.”
He was gone before the door moved.
--
11:33 am
Standing in the aisle, Dipper was frowning at the different kinds of potato chips. He needed to replace the ones he ate this morning, or Thomas would give him that disappointed look again. Or worse, complain and argue about how Dipper wasn’t being a good roommate. They’d had that argument before, and Dipper would prefer to avoid a repeat if possible, thanks.
He was debating whether it was worth turning up his so-called ‘omniscience’ to remember which brand to buy – it was such a headache, literally, and demons weren’t even supposed to get headaches – when he got the faint feeling he was being watched.
He released a breath he didn’t need and, without turning around, reached out with his senses.
There.
Small and annoyingly vague, as if he was trying to catch fog. Hard to pin down. But clearly demonic in origin.
He turned around to stare hard at the source, which turned out to be a display of potted herbs where one of the mint plants wasn’t quite like the others.
A leaf twitched. The stem shivered.
Dipper frowned harder.
With a little ‘eep!’ the suspicious plant puffed away in a little cloud of green smoke.
Weird.
Shrugging off the odd encounter, Dipper turned back to the snack aisle. Whatever, he’d just take one of each. Thomas couldn’t complain about that, right?
--
12:05 pm midnight
The summoning dragged him to the other side of the world, in an open clearing under a full and glowing moon.
The grass under his symbol was dripping red.
When would they learn? Dipper wondered. Of all demons, Alcor was known to abhor innocent human sacrifice. Wasn’t he?
(Wasn’t he? Now, at least. When he was himself, and not lost inside his own mind. He didn’t like to think about the bad times.)
And no binding circle could hold him. No matter how much blood they poured into it. Yet someone always kept trying.
His summoner’s words droned around him. Dipper didn’t care, floating cross legged in the centre of this massacre. The smell was overwhelming, and made the demonic part of him salivate. The rest of him only felt a deep weariness at such a waste of life.
He was so tired of this.
Any other day he might have toyed with his summoner, played a game of twisting words and subverted deals. Or maybe he would have hunted them, made them suffer like they’d clearly made those poor broken sacrifices suffer, and let himself get lost in the thrill of the bloodlust, just for a moment.
Today he just waited until the hooded figure stopped talking. Then he broke the binding circle with a flick of his wrist.
He waited a second to see the fear and alarm bloom in their eyes, and struck.
--
13:51 pm
“It opened up again,” Lolonja said, nuzzling softly at the gash running through the dream’s side.
Star blinked at Dipper when he kneeled next to her in the soft grass of his Mindscape. “Let me see.”
The Flock was good at protecting the fragile dreams in their midst. Good, but not infallible. Dipper still wasn’t sure how exactly that damn Chavazikel had gotten through all their protections, but he was sure that the other demon was going to r̵ȩg͢ręt͘ this.
Star lacked the weapons and defences of the nightmares, but that didn’t stop her from taking risks. When she’d noticed the unfamiliar dream demon sneaking through Dipper’s Mindscape she’d called out, drawing attention to him – but also to herself. Sauron had been guarding her, but one lone nightmare was no match for an actual demon, even a low-level one.
The rest of the Flock had chased him away with strength in numbers, and they’d called for Dipper, who’d wanted nothing more than to hunt down Chavazikel and make him pay. But the Flock’s injuries had been more important.
It was still on his to-do list, though. He’d already made a visit to Chavazikel’s part of the Mindscape, and made his anger very clear. The coward was hiding somewhere, but Dipper would find him eventually.
Most of the Flock had healed nicely, drawing on Dipper’s power, but Star was having trouble. She’d been the worst off, and dreams were fragile creatures.
Dipper curled his fingers through the soft white wool and willed the injury to heal, again.
--
16:33 pm
“In conclusion, this quarter’s numbers suggest –“
Dipper waited. The room on the other side of the glass door was still full of people sitting around a long table. The table had a modern and rather impractical design, which probably meant it was expensive.
Had he gotten the hour wrong? It was easy to lose track of time when he was with the Flock.
Brad’s voice trailed off as he spotted Dipper. He was dressed up, like everyone in that room, and the smile on his face was professional and didn’t reach his eyes. “Excuse me for a moment.”
The bland smile slipped away as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He gestured Dipper to move away from the glass and frowned. “Is everything alright?”
“Uh, yeah?” Dipper said. He revealed the colourful tickets and waved them in front of Brad. “The Metalbuster live show, does that ring a bell? It starts at five.”
“Oh no, that was today?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot!”
Brad made a face. “I didn’t mean to.”
“You’re still coming, right? I can tesser us there in a snap.”
The conflicted look on his friend’s face didn’t bode well. Brad glanced at the room and its waiting occupants, and back at Dipper. “I really can’t miss this meeting. I honestly thought Metalbusters was next Friday. I’ll have to take a raincheck on this.”
“Come on,” Dipper tried. “Watching Jimmy Worker and Adao Sabeji explode things, you love that! It’s much more interesting than whatever boring thing this meeting is about.”
“I know, it is,” Brad sighed. “But I really can’t. Next time, promise! Now I really need to get back in there, can’t let those guys wait.”
He hurried back. Dipper frowned at the empty space where Brad should have been.
“Sure,” he said. “Just blow me off. It’s not like I am an important and powerful demon or anything.”
Aaaaand now he was muttering to himself.
He glared at the passing intern who was staring at him open-mouthed, and stomped away until he found a quiet corner where he could tesser without being seen.
--
16:49 pm
“Not now, Tyrone!”
“Wow,” Dipper said, still standing where he had appeared, tickets in his hand. “I feel so welcome.”
Maria shot him a look, huddled behind the crates in the alley, before reaching out to drag him behind the crates as well.
This was weird, even for Maria. “What are you doing?”
“Job interview.”
“Here in a dusty alley? For what job?”
“Bartender in a preter bar.” She grinned. “And it’s not exactly a job interview, more… eliminating the competition. Hush now, it’s showtime.”
A gnome entered the alley, wearing sunglasses and a trenchcoat. He looked around furtively, his expression brightening when Maria stepped away from the crates and approached him.
“You got the stuff?”
“Maybe,” Maria said. “What’s it to you?”
“We agreed on a price.”
“We did. You got the money with you?”
Dipper watched in befuddlement as Maria seemed to conduct a very stilted drug deal. When the sirens started blaring and Maria grinned, uniformed gnomes popping up from everywhere in the alleyway and arresting the trenchcoat wearing gnome, he decided he’d seen enough.
Clearly Maria was too busy as well.
--
19:12 pm
Dipper felt the summons tug at him. It felt familiar – oh, this was a good one!
He made an effort to appear cheerful, rubbing his hands in anticipation as he appeared in Adams’s apartment.
"Hey Adams! What are we hunting today?” Their previous adventures were always entertaining. He could use some fun right about now! “Some more plague sprites? Maybe a school of Kappas or something?"
He should have known better. Had he been jinxed or something? Of course today Adams was even more difficult than usual, growing more suspicious by the second, no matter how friendly he was being.
She asked him for information about some demon he’d never heard of and seemed almost alarmed by his offer to spare her a long plane flight. That’s not something he’d do for just anyone, especially not for free!
Adams almost sent him away without a deal, which was bad summoning etiquette. She had called him, not the other way around.
Not that the deal she eventually did offer was any better.
"I'll give you one pint of ice cream from my demon freezer, if you'll just leave me right now and don't come back until I explicitly summon you."
She seemed so tense he really couldn’t do anything but accept, even though, ouch. No one wanted him around today, apparently.
Well, let no one tell him he couldn’t take a hint.
He should probably ask Alvie to keep an eye on Adams, though. Just to be safe. That Xuerus demon was a complete unknown after all.
--
21:58 pm
“Pasta is in the fridge,” Elisha called from the living room, where she was watching some boring romantic movie.
“Thanks,” Dipper said, moodily pulling open his fridge. “Thomas not home yet?”
“He came for dinner, but had to go back. Something that couldn’t wait, he said.”
“Of course he did,” Dipper muttered. The pasta looked unappealing. He slapped it on a plate and fished in Elisha’s fridge for the bottle of chocolate syrup.
He took his dinner to the living room, so he’d at least have some company, but Elisha’s taste in movies was. the. worst.
He was debating if he’d rather gouge out his eyes or keep watching, when the shiver of a summoning ran through him.
Huh. That felt like Thomas. Was he in trouble? But… it somehow didn’t feel hurried, like it would if he was being threatened by a murderous demon or something.
Dipper left his plate behind and followed the pull, all the way to the university’s demonology lab.
The first thing he noticed were the candles, and the stark, precise lines of the summoning circle. Then he saw the solemn, almost nervous expression on Thomas' face, and he knew this day, against all odds, still could get worse.
Elisha had realised pretty quickly that spending time with Thomas also meant spending time with his friends. They were very clearly a package deal.
There were the occasional movie-and-game nights, of course. Eddy lived in the building across so he was a regular visitor, and Tyrone was pretty much Thomas' unofficial roommate, showing up whenever he felt like it and often claiming half the couch to watch cartoon reruns. She’d once caught him crying during an emotional episode of Mizar the Magnificent, which had been amusing, and his acid tears had utterly ruined her second favourite purse, which hadn’t been.
Elisha minded less than she had first expected. It could have been suffocating, having his friends over so often, but for some reason it wasn't. Maybe because they could take a hint and leave Thomas and her enough time just for the two of them. And she did enjoy their company, even though their interests were so different from hers. While they tried to include her in everything, she just couldn't muster up the same enthusiasm for science fiction movies or board games or strange demonology jokes as they did.
It would be nice to have more friends as a couple. Brad’s flavour of the month rarely got to the stage where they could do double dates. Both Maria and Eddy were single to her knowledge. Tyrone… was Tyrone.
She didn’t really have her own friend group, not like they did. There were her colleagues, of course. She got on well with most of them, and they went out sometimes. Double dates with them had been difficult. Thomas did his best, but once out of his comfort zone he could be so awkward and quiet. It didn’t help that Sylvi told the entire salon about every demon-related horror she read about in the news.
Elisha did get along with Elisabeth Adams, who she met through an event at Thomas’ university. It had been nice to commiserate with someone else about how impossible Tyrone could be. They’d kept in touch since, mostly through online chats since Elisabeth was apparently always on the move.
All in all she didn’t have many real friends outside of Thomas’ group. Was that unhealthy? Most magazines claimed so. But she was happy anyway.
With a wedding to plan and bridesmaids to select, her lack of good female friends was painfully obvious, though. Maybe it was time to make an effort. That's why she invited Maria to go shopping. Just a girls' day out at the mall, browsing the stores. Getting to know each other better without the distractions the men usually supplied.
She took The Car, of course.
Sentient cars tended to worry most people. Even Thomas admitted he didn't like to approach The Car if Elisha wasn't around.
"’Lish, your car is the coolest," Maria said, sliding into the passenger seat. "Don't let Thomas or Tyrone know I said this, but this is what a monster car is supposed to look like. Not all that glitter stuff."
"Thank you," Elisha said. She gave the dashboard a fond pat and the engine became a fraction louder. The sound drew some startled looks from a couple of pedestrians but Elisha didn't care. She put The Car into gear and set course for the shopping mall.
It was different with only Maria for company. They didn't know each other that well, but she wouldn't be a hairdresser if she hadn't mastered the fine art of smalltalk.
“Anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“I could do with new shoes. Something dressy. Speaking of… congrats with the engagement! Did you set a date yet?”
“Thank you,” Elisha said. She weaved through the traffic, The Car narrowly avoiding a collision with an impatient jaywalker. The growl of the engine seemed faintly disappointed. “And no, not yet. Maybe sometime in the summer months.”
“Good, good,” Maria said. “That gives me plenty of time to plan the hen night.”
A dark sense of foreboding tingled in Elisha’s spine. “I don’t know if that’s necessary. We’re thinking of keeping the whole wedding small.”
She only had her uncle she really wanted there after all.
“So you’re not going to invite the entire Strange family? Probably smart. Did Thomas tell you about the last family wedding he attended?”
“I heard something, yes. There was an argument about the food?”
“A full-blown fight, you mean. Something about one branch of the family revealing grandmama’s secret coffee croissant recipe to an unvetted girlfriend and another branch claiming grandmama stole the recipe from an old magazine in the first place? It was a whole thing. They’re all a tad weird about their bread.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Elisha smiled. She’d met most of Thomas’s close relatives and they had all been nice. If, like Maria mentioned, very involved with either their bakery (Thomas’s parents) or the demon worshipping cult they were part of (his aunt and uncle).
“But that’s a no on the hen night, then?”
“I don’t know yet,” Elisha said. She had to brake for a red light. A biker pulled up next to her, his motorbike gleaming chrome with painted skulls and flames. He flipped up the visor of his helmet and gave them a lecherous grin, motioning her to pull down her window. When she didn't oblige, he shrugged, put his visor back down and revved his engine. Challenging.
Elisha narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the wheel.
"Well, in case you decide to have one, just let me know who you want invited and I’ll - whoa!"
The light flipped to green and Maria's sentence was cut off as The Car jumped forward with a monstrous roar, leaving behind a cloud of soot and one dust-covered biker.
“Ha!” Elisha knew guys like that - she'd dated guys like that. They always underestimated her.
She became aware of Maria's stare.
"Sorry," she said, a bit embarrassed at her outburst. "Guys like that just bother me."
"Hey, don't apologise. You just earned like, ten Cool Points. That puts you ahead of Eddy this month. And Brad, of course, but since he turned into a corporate drone he doesn’t get to be in the running anymore.”
“We haven’t seen him much lately. I heard he’s doing well?”
“Yeah, in his father’s company. He’s not screwing it up as much as expected,” Maria said, with a fond smile. “I suppose all those lessons on demon deals have been good practice for proofreading lawyerese, or whatever it is he does there.”
“Speaking of jobs, how is the interviewing going?”
“Okay-ish. I may have something lined up for tomorrow…”
Elisha nodded while Maria talked about the most confusing job interview ever, but she had to focus on finding a parking spot. The mall was packed.
There!
A small minivan raced from the other side of the car park and slid into the open spot before she got there. The wheel shivered under her hands. She patted the dashboard. “We’ll find another spot.”
“I think I see one,” Maria called out, gesturing to the other side of the car park. “Between those two minivans. But it might be too narrow. Oh, wait, nevermind, someone else is going for it.”
Elisha smiled, and eyed the stone stairs that could work nicely as a ramp. “Not if we get there first.”
The Car barreled up the ramp, its momentum sending it flying over one row of parked cars to drop right in front of the open spot.
The other driver screamed.
The spot was too narrow, unfortunately. The Car opened its doors and waited with barely restrained impatience until both Elisha and the hysterically laughing Maria got out. Then it slammed its doors shut and very sloooowly eased into the parking spot, leaving barely an inch of room.
“Good Car,” Elisha praised it. It hadn’t scratched the cars on either side. “Well done.”
“Those people will need to be very limber to get into their own driver’s seats,” Maria mused, grinning at the cars on each side.
“Maybe this will teach them to park properly next time, instead of leaving such a narrow spot in between.” Elisha arranged her scarf and nodded at the mall entrance. “Shall we?”
--------------------
Shopping with Maria was surprisingly relaxing. This trip had been a good idea.
Right now Maria was trying on some new jeans and Elisha was browsing the rack of blazers near the fitting rooms when a familiar voice called out.
"Elisha?"
Was that -? Oh no...
She turned around and put a smile on her face. "Hi, Sylvi."
Her colleague made her way through the crowded shop to greet her with a kiss on each cheek.
"I didn't expect to see you here!" Sylvi said. "Are you shopping all by yourself?"
She had been avoiding Sylvi outside of work. It was annoying enough to hear all those pointed comments during work hours. Not to mention the oh-so-subtle pamphlets for the abuse hotline and the preternatural police that mysteriously found their way into Elisha's purse every day.
Sylvi meant well. She really did. That was also the only reason Elisha hadn't yet crammed all those pamphlets where the sun didn't shine.
"No, I'm here with Maria," she said, deliberately leaving out who Maria was. Should she lie? She really didn't want a scene... She'd been looking forward to a relaxing shopping trip. Maybe she could get away with just being vague. "She's a friend. Have you seen the sale on these blazers? And those skirts are just to die for."
"There's a sale on these?"
Distraction succeeded. Elisha pulled out her phone as soon as Sylvi turned to the rack.
[sylvis here :s hates demons pls dont mention them?] she typed quickly and hit send. She thought for a moment and followed it up with [srry :s]
Two dings came from the nearest dressing stall as she put her phone away.
"Look how cute these are," Sylvi said, holding up a skirt edged with pastel blue lace.
"Those fit your style so well," Elisha agreed. Her phone vibrated in her purse. She glanced down at the screen.
The message consisted of a string of smileys, including a thumbs up and a wink.
"Don’t they?" Sylvi said. "I'm going to try it on. I must say it's good to see you here - we haven't gone out much together since you got that boyfriend. I was starting to worry he locked you up outside working hours."
Her tone was light and teasing, but her expression told a different story. Elisha bit back a sigh. Play nice. Stay calm. You don't want to make a scene today.
"I've been busy, that's all," she said, deliberately ignoring the part about Thomas. It was nonsense anyway. She’d only been avoiding the get-togethers where Sylvi was present, not the others. What was keeping Maria so long? Come on, she wanted to leave. Hopefully Sylvi wouldn't follow them to the next store...
"You simply must come to the next Girls' Night," Sylvi said. "We're all really worried about you, you know."
Not making a scene, not making a scene...
"A Girls' Night? Sounds great!" Maria butted in, finally finished with the dressing stall. "What kind of Girls' Night is it? Boys and toys talk - wink wink - or romance movies? I'm more a fan of the former than the latter, but hey, with a good drink in hand I'll watch pretty much anything. Nice to meet you by the way, I'm Maria."
Sylvia seemed a bit dazed at the sudden introduction, but she rallied admirably. "Nice to meet you. My name is Sylvi, I'm one of Elisha's friends. We work together."
"Right, I think she mentioned you once or twice," Maria said.
"Only in a positive light, I hope." Sylvi glanced at Elisha. "You never mentioned a friend named Maria. Do you two know each other from before you came to the city?"
That was the other thing Sylvi liked almost as much as insinuating awful things about Thomas – prying into Elisha’s past.
"Not really," she said. "Excuse us, we really should move on, we still need to find heels for Maria before the stores close."
"You're looking for heels? There's a sale at the other side of the mall.” Sylvi blatantly ignored the hint. “I'll show you where exactly, let me just try on this skirt first.”
She ambled away in the direction of the dressing stall. Maria looked at Elisha. “Time to run?”
Elisha sighed. “That would be rude.”
“Yes, we don’t want to be rude.”
“Also, she would find us again. The mall isn’t that large.”
“True enough. Alright, how do you want to do this?” Maria glanced at her phone. “This is that one colleague that Thomas likes so much, I take it?”
“Sylvi, yes. I don’t want a scene, we still need to work together.” At least until she had enough saved up to take the plunge and start her own salon. Another reason she and Thomas had agreed to keep the actual wedding on the smaller side. She didn’t want to put one dream on hold for the other. “And she’s… sort of a friend. Mostly. Don’t mention anything related to demons or Thomas, and I’ll try to get rid of her without ruffling any feathers.”
“Alright,” Maria agreed. She nodded at the jeans in her arms. “Let me just go and pay for these, then.”
Elisha idly browsed through the racks of skirts while she waited for both Maria and Sylvi to return. Maria and Sylvi. Brash, joking Maria and opinionated, pushy Sylvi.
Maybe Thomas’ pessimism was rubbing off on her, because she could not see how this could get any worse -
"I'm bored," a voice sighed in her ear.
Elisha jumped and had the can of mace out of her purse and in her hands before she even turned around.
"You," she said. Tyrone grinned innocently at her, from way too close. "Do the words 'personal bubble' mean something to you?"
"Man, you too? You sound like Thomas," he said, rolling his eyes. "'Stop breathing down my neck, Tyrone'. 'Don't tie my shoelaces together, Tyrone.' 'Don't set my hair on fire what the hell, Tyrone.' Nag nag nag. All morning. It was just a few stray sparks, sheesh. I'm so b͈̱̤o͎̖o͔͚͎̤̞o̖̫̳̦̩͈o͉͓̬͍o͎͔͉͇̪̼o͙r͚̟e̥̹͎̯̙̭ͅd."
He draped his arms over her shoulders, hanging off her like a particularly large scarf. She shook him off, backing away slightly.
Thomas had warned her about Tyrone's 'moods'.
"Can you act normal, please?" she said. "People are starting to stare."
Maria, Sylvi and Tyrone. Perhaps Maria’s suggestion to run hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.
“I could,” Tyrone said, and gave her a wolfish smile. “What’s it worth to you?”
She’d seen Thomas perform plenty of demon deals to know what Tyrone was after. Was it wise, though? She wasn’t trained for this. But then again, it was Tyrone. “Would you just leave?”
“That’s a no.” Tyrone patted her shoulder rather condescendingly and glanced around. “Hey, is that Maria?”
“Yes, and one of my colleagues is also here. Please avoid every mention of demons or other weirdness.”
He ignored her, choosing instead to wave wildly at Maria, who did a double-take before waving back with a grin.
She was the first to return, and greeted Tyrone with an amused: “You’re crashing our girls’ day out, dude.”
“What, you’re going to exclude me too?”
“Aw, don’t give me the long face. Fine, you can stay. After all, every shopping trip needs a designated pack mule.”
Elisha took her aside.
“This is a bad idea,” she hissed, as Tyrone idled towards a rack of dress pants, which morphed into a many-legged abomination under his touch. “Why is he doing this?”
“Who knows?” Maria shrugged. “Is this your first time around Tyrone when he’s acting up? Aside from that one poker night, I mean. You sure got a big dose of Tyrone-brand weirdness then! Don’t worry, I’m a certified demon wrangler. Literally. You wrangle your colleague, alright?”
“I wouldn’t care as much, if Sylvi wasn’t here,” Elisha said, and eyed Tyrone as he left the faintly twitching Multi-Pants and started fiddling with the leather belt display.
Speak of the devil. She spotted Sylvi leaving the dressing stalls to go to the cashier.
Elisha turned to Tyrone. “Please be on your best behaviour.”
“I’m always on my best behaviour,” the demon huffed. The tangle of belts in front of him hissed. “I’m just extremely bored. Hey, there’s a bowling arcade in the mall, right? How about we go there?”
“Maybe later, buddy,” Maria said. “We’re shopping for clothes now.”
“That sounds painfully dull.”
“I’m sure we can find a way to liven things up.”
Squeak squeak squeak.
They eyed the rack with Multi-Pants wheeling past them, the legs waving through the air like cloth tentacles.
“… or maybe you’ve already got that covered,” Maria grinned, as another shopper screamed and the chaos burst loose.
----
“I don’t understand,” Sylvi repeated, staring at the blocked entrance of the mall. “How did that even happen?”
“It’s a real mystery for the ages, right, Tyrone?” Maria said. She met Elisha’s eyes with a sheepish smile. “I think our shopping trip is cut short, though. They’re not opening up again until the whole building has been cleared of suspicious magic.”
Elisha glowered at Tyrone. “At least no one got hurt.”
“As far as we know!” Sylvi cried out. She fanned herself. “It’s a good thing the mall security came so quickly. When that giant snake started roaming around I was terrified!”
“Those were belts.”
“What do you think caused this?” Sylvi said. She lowered her voice. “Do you think it could have been a demon?”
“I doubt a demon would be childish enough to transfigure clothing into monsters,” Elisha said, glaring at Tyrone. He only shrugged and grinned.
“You never know,” Sylvi said. “Those things are unpredictable. Maybe –“
“Excuse me for a second, I recognise that guy and I’m going to be nosy,” Maria interjected, and went off towards the mall entrance, where a gaggle of police just left in the company of a man with a silly little moustache. Maria intercepted him.
Elisha sighed, and glanced around to find The Car. It wasn’t in its parking spot anymore. It wouldn’t run off without her – not like Rainbow Basher occasionally did to Thomas – so it had to be somewhere.
Tyrone's grin had frozen on his face, and his eyes were blanking over while he listened to Sylvi’s increasingly outlandish theories.
“Yeah, no,” he cut her off, before Elisha could stop him. “I’m sure it was just a little prank, you’re all so uptight, sheesh.”
“Excuse me? Who are you even, sir? Elisha, you know this man?”
“He’s a friend of Maria’s,” she answered. Definitely not one of hers. Not when he was being a pest like today. “I’m sorry, Sylvi, I’m going to head home. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“So, funny story,” Maria returned, with a pensive look. “Turns out there actually was a demon there. Brennan banished it. You remember Brennan, right, Tyrone? He works with the police now.”
“That’s Brennan? From our class? Almost didn’t recognise him with that moustache,” Tyrone said. His frown deepened. “Which one was it?”
“He didn’t know. It was possessing one of the shoppers, but he got it out.”
“Very low-level then, if the possession was so easy to break. Huh. I should have noticed.”
“Wait,” Sylvi said, looking from Maria to Tyrone. “Are you –“
“Do you need a ride home, Sylvi?” Elisha interjected, with a friendly tug on Sylvi’s arm to guide her in the direction she’d spotted The Car. It had parked next to something that could best be described as rust on wheels. Next to that wreck, its new coat of paint seemed extra smooth and glossy. “I can give you a ride. This whole experience has been so troubling, I’m sure you feel as rattled as I do.”
“Yes, yes I do,” Sylvi said, with a backwards glance at Tyrone and Maria. “But you heard them, Elisha. Demons, here at the mall! I’m never shopping here again – oh, oh no, I’ll take my own car, thank you.”
------
The television played some kind of documentary about ancient folklore. Elisha leaned her head on Thomas’ shoulder and browsed the internet on her phone. Thomas seemed distracted as well. Odd, because usually he loved documentaries like these.
“Busy day?” she asked, during the commercial break.
“You could say that,” Thomas said, vaguely. He smiled down on her. "How was your shopping trip?"
She took a moment to find the right word and finally settled on, "Eventful."
"Oh boy."
"We ran across Sylvi."
“She was delightful as ever, I suppose?”
Elisha turned her head to frown at him. “She means well, Thomas.”
He made a face. “Sorry. You’re right. I’ll try to be nicer next time I see her.”
“It’s okay. She could be nicer to you as well.” She leaned back to rest against his arm again. "Tyrone showed up too."
"Really? Ouch. He's been a pain all morning."
She ran a hand through his hair, finding a few strands that seemed shorter and more singed than usual. "I noticed."
"Sorry,” Thomas said, cringing a bit. “I told him to go bother someone else, I didn't think he'd go to you."
"It's okay. Maria seemed to know how to handle him. More or less. Does this happen often?"
"Occasionally. He usually snaps out of it pretty quickly. But well... he's still a demon. Some weirdness is inevitable. The important thing is to stay calm and don't show any fear. Confidence is key."
She raised one eyebrow at him. "Is that a demonologist thing?"
Thomas laughed a bit. "Well, we do know Tyrone well, and how to deal with his less humany behaviour. But it's good advice for all demons."
“I’ll keep that in mind. You’re the expert.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not entirely an expert on how to handle Tyrone,” he said, his smile fading.
“Oh? What’s wrong?
“I need to have a difficult conversation with him and I don’t know how to do it without hurting his feelings.”
“All those lessons about dealing with demons,” Elisha softly teased. “And they neglect to teach you that.”
“Yeah, okay, laugh it up,” he said, with a wry smile. “But if you have any advice, it’d be welcome. You’re good with people. A lot better than I am, for sure.”
“Hm. If your previous issues with Tyrone have taught me anything,” she said, with a glance towards the kitchen where a second fridge was taking up valuable apartment space, “it’s that you need to be direct and to the point. Hints are too easy to ignore. He’s old enough to handle some criticism. What is it about?”
“He scared off all other demons. I can’t get any new ones to sign up for the Safe Summons List, and just forget about any higher-level ones for research. They’re all too terrified of him.” Thomas rubbed his face with a tired sigh. “He means well. I know. He just wants to protect me. But I can’t do my job with him hovering around the lab all the time. I might get fired if this keeps up, Hicks said, so… we need a solution. What can I even do if I get fired? It’s not like I have any other skills except for handling demons.”
“You could always start a cult,” she teased, but the joke fell flat underneath his worried stare. She slid an arm around his chest and leaned her head against his. “Thomas. Just talk to him.”
“With the weird mood he’s been in since that whole Chavazikel incident I’m not sure talking would solve anything. I need a deal. One that won’t turn around to bite me in the ass afterwards. It’s just…” He moved a hand through his hair, ruffling it. “I’m nervous.”
“Of how Tyrone might react?”
“Well, yes, but no. I mean… if he takes that deal, and leaves the lab. I’ve gotten so used to having him in my corner, you know? Even during summonings where he wasn’t present. I always knew that, should things go horribly wrong, I could count on his help.” He took a deep breath. “If he stays out of the lab, I’m on my own. What if I’m not as good a demonologist as I think I am? Or worse, what if this deal goes sour, and he decides to completely leave? I’d lose my friend as well.”
“You need to have more faith, Thomas,” she said, softly. “In yourself and in Tyrone.”
He smiled at her. “Maybe. Thanks.”
They shared a soft, warm silence, until she heard the evening news begin.
