Fictober, Prompt 23 - “You can’t give more than yourself.”, Original Fiction
Warnings: implied violent deaths? Nothing onscreen. Fantasy, rural fantasy if that’s a thing. Not quite midwest gothic, but leaning that direction.
Abby paced, agitated and upset, and I could only watch, sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of hot cider to warm my hands. Hers sat abandoned across from me.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said again, stopping only to stare out the window at the rapidly darkening corn fields. “And I’ve got to decide soon, the ritual is in three hours.”
I frowned down at my mug, lips pressed together. I didn’t like the group she was part of, especially the man leading it, but just because she was my sister didn’t mean I could interfere. She had to make her own decisions.
“I’ve learned so much already,” she said, back to pacing. I nodded, still frowning at my mug. That much was true; Abby had been able to harness her strange powers much better, with better control, than she had before, and that was certainly a boon for all of us. It wasn’t that I thought the group was all bad, but something about this ‘ritual’ of theirs made me uneasy. It was supposed to be some cross between a final exam and a party, the leader had told her several weeks ago, a chance to use their new skills and boost their power, and then celebrate.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do,” I told her, my first words in quite some time. She stopped pacing, sighed, and came back to the table at last, reaching out a tentative hand to cover mine where they still clutched at my mug.
“I know you don’t like any of it,” she said.
I shrugged. “You’ve learned a lot, like you said. I don’t like the sound of this ritual, but what I don’t like even more is that you’re not sure about it. That’s the thing you should pay attention to, not what I think.”
Abby blew out a breath and sat back. “I guess you’re right. It’s probably all your fault that I’m feeling weird about it anyway.”
I shrugged again.
“But…I don’t know. Something about it, about the way Master Barrett talks about it sounds a little, well, strange,” she admitted. “Like the sequence of events sounds fine, and it’s fine when the rest of us talk about it, but when he does, it’s just…”
“Which words he uses?” I guessed.
“Yeah,” she said, frowning at me now. Not angry, more thoughtful. “Yeah, something like that.”
I grimaced again, but held my tongue. That was one of the things that had sparked my intense dislike of ‘Master Barrett’ shortly after he’d wandered into town several months ago. He’d soon set up camp in the Dirksen’s pole barn and offered to teach those who needed teaching in magical things, and soon enough everyone was chattering about him as though he were the best thing since sliced bread. But whenever I listened to him speak, I couldn’t help but hear double-meanings in his words, and I didn’t like it.
We both sat in silence for long moments, listening to the clock ticking on the wall. I forced myself to drink some of my cider, gone lukewarm but still richly flavored.
“What is it you’re supposed to be doing?” I asked at last, when she seemed too lost in thought.
“He said it’s a ritual to call up powers from the earth,” she told me. “He wants to do something that’s big enough for us to all participate in.”
“What kind of powers are you calling up?”
“I… Well, just the usual earth power we’ve all been learning to use, I guess. He’ll be taking care of the advanced parts, the special runes and circles and things. We’ll all make another circle around the outside. He told us a circle of ‘blood and flesh’ was powerful and important. I guess it symbolizes that we’re all working together and pooling our strength.”
“Sounds an awful lot like a summoning,” I said.
She frowned again, then shrugged. “We’re summoning power, I guess?”
“What is going to happen with all of this power? Are you going to cast a big spell together?”
“Yeah, we—” She stopped, and then slowly raised her eyes to mine. “We’ve all talked about casting a spell with it, working together to give all our fields a good boost for the next year or two. But I guess I haven’t heard Master Barrett say anything about it.”
I was trying to keep my growing unease off my face. “Did you ask him anything else about it?”
“I did tell him I was nervous the other day,” she admitted, looking back down at her own mug. “He said that was normal and to not feel badly about it. I told him I wasn’t sure I’d be strong enough, since I’m not as good as some of the others. He told me ‘You can’t give more than yourself,’ and that my being there would be enough, whatever I could or couldn’t do.”
I sat bolt upright in my chair, eyes wide. “He said that?”
Abby jolted back too, alarmed. “Said what?”
“That bit about giving yourself.”
“‘You can’t give more than yourself’?”
“Is there meant to be any danger to this ritual?” I demanded.
“I- I don’t think so. I mean, he said there was some risk, there always is with any big magical undertaking, and we should come ready to give it our all so that it would succeed.”
“Abby,” I told my sister, eyes still wide. “I don’t want to you to go. I don’t think this ritual is going to be what you think it is.”
She looked troubled, but did not say anything.
“The only people who ask you to ‘give yourself,’ your whole self,” I continued sharply, “are those who want more than they can get by themselves and mean to use other people to do it.”
“I don’t— I don’t think Master Barrett is like that,” she protested, though her face was still troubled. “He’s been so kind to us, so generous with his time…”
“And he’s barely asked any payment at all, isn’t that right? Just out of the goodness of his heart, taking only room and board?”
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“If everything else lined up, then no, but something about him has smelled rotten from the get-go.”
“You’ve just never liked him,” she said, grimacing. “You don’t believe he’s kind anyway, so what do you know?”
“I know that it’s an awful lot like the time that preacher came through when we were little and tried to—”
“That’s a wicked thing to compare him to!” She said, aghast. “That man was no preacher, he was pretending in order to—”
A pounding on our door cut off my next words, which would undoubtedly have been a shout.
Abby’s eyes flew to the clock, but it was still an hour and a half until the time of the ritual. Still, she shoved her mug aside and rose to go answer the door. I pushed my own mug away and followed.
A young black man was leaning in the doorway, gasping for breath. He looked haggard and thin, and his dark eyes were haunted.
“I was told,” he said, trying to straighten, “that there was a student of the man calling himself Barrett who lives here?”
“That’s me,” my sister said. “Won’t you come in? You look worn out!”
A brief smile flickered over his dark features and then was gone. “I appreciate the offer, but there’s no time. Is there a ritual planned, for yourself and the other students?”
“There is,” I confirmed when it seemed Abby might hesitate. “Tonight, in just a bit over an hour.”
Shock and fear and relief mixed strangely on his face, and he swayed where he stood, even with one hand on the doorframe.
“Here,” I said, reaching out a hand, “you really need to come sit down.”
“Just for a moment,” he said, but then something in him seemed to strengthen, and he followed us in, joining us at the table and accepting my offer of cider.
“I’m very sorry you’ve got mixed up in this,” he told my sister. “I know this will be a blow to hear, but please, please do not go to the ritual tonight. In fact, I would ask your aid in stopping it altogether, if you would. Barrett is not who he claims, and he has done this before. I’ve been tracking him for years, ever since I lost my sister, and this is the first time I’ve made it before—” his voice quavered and gave out, and he covered his eyes with one hand.
My sister was staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers, palm over her mouth.
Tentatively, I rested my hand on his shoulder as I set his mug of cider down, and he nodded in acceptance and thanks. After a moment, he pulled in a deep breath and let his hand fall. There were tears in his eyes still, but he was in control.
“I can tell you more as we go, but please believe me that his true intent is to summon something that should not be summoned, and that it will be hungry.”
I met my sister’s eyes, which were still as wide as I had ever seen them. Slowly, she nodded, and I felt part of the fear gripping my stomach loosen.
“Sounds like there’s not much time then,” I told him. “Drink that cider quick, I didn’t make it too hot. You have a coat?” He shook his head. “It’s a chilly night and getting colder. I’ll go find you something, then we’ll get going.”
“We?” he echoed, looking up at me in surprise and hope.
“We,” I repeated firmly, and smiled, patting his shoulder one more time. “You tell my sister, Abby, a little bit more of what she needs to know until I get back.”
They both seemed steadier when I returned, an old coat of our dad’s in hand. What I was going to do at a magical battle, I wasn’t sure, but I grabbed the pistol and a shotgun out of the closet, strapped them on, and made sure I had extra ammunition in my own coat pocket.
Because the one thing I was sure of was that I wasn’t going to let my sister, or our timely informant, do this alone.
Announced it everywhere else so I figure I should let tumblr know too. I was GM of the Black team aka The Nights Watch aka The Mamba Watch aka The Evil Icelandic Hockey Team From the Mighty Ducks 2 aka Iceland (we had a lot of names haha) won Midwest Fantasy this past weekend!!! I am so proud of and thankful for all of my teammates. I couldn't have drafted a better group of people. That puts my fantasy playing career at 3 finals appearances and 2 victories in 3 total tournaments. And in 1 for 1 as a GM. It was a great weekend!!
We are moving along at a crazy pace with this draft, already with 4 rounds in the books since commencing the draft on Monday! Here is a recap of each GM's draft picks in the 3rd and 4th rounds!
Luke Changet: Luke Changet came out in the 3rd round with a defensive intent, drafting beater Andrew Derry of CMU. Without a doubt, Derry's chemistry with David Prueter will assist his team. In the 4th round, Luke added another Quaffle weapon in MSU's Kevin Fennell, giving Prueter a reliable weapon to dish to on offense.
Roster so far: Keir Rudolph, David Prueter, Andrew Derry, Kevin Fennell
The Third Wall (Samy Mousa): Samy decided to beef up the female portion of his roster in the third and fourth rounds, drafting Melinda Staup of Ball State and Stephanie Raudenbush of Miami, respectively. Raudenbush is a good, smart beater, who will be pairing with Melinda Staup, to defend her team's hoops, something that they have both proven they can do at the highest level of the sport. Having the two of them will only aid seeker Sam Roitblat during SWIM situations.
Roster so far: Sam Roitblat, Hai Nguyen, Melinda Staup, Stephanie Raudenbush
Ryan Sparks: In the third and fourth round, I added two more Quaffle carriers to fill out my starting line. First, I drafted Devon McCoy of Ball State. McCoy is one of the most passionate Quidditch players I've ever seen, and that shows every time he steps foot on the pitch. He's also one of the top defensive chasers in the Midwest, which is going to make my beaters' jobs much easier. Following that, I drafted Meyessa Mansour of MSU to give Dan Daugherty a real threat to dish to by the hoops for quick scores.
Roster so far: Ashley Calhoun, Dan Daugherty, Devon McCoy, Meyessa Mansour
Alex Scheer: Alex Scheer continued strengthening his Quaffle game by picking up David Hoops of Ohio State and Katie Milligan of BGSU. Hoops is a great defender, as well as someone who has some of the most crisp passing I've ever seen. Katie Milligan, on the other hand, is one of the most brilliant game managers playing today. She's the perfect player to unite Scheer's Quaffle carriers into a dominant force.
Roster so far: Andrew Axtell, Sam Elgin, David Hoops, Katie Milligan
Dan Daugherty: Daugherty took a few more top tier Quaffle carriers in the third and fourth rounds, taking Sara Makey of Ball State and Adam Heald of Kansas. I didn't get to see much of these players this year, but from what I have seen, that these two players will definitely be aiding Daugherty's team. Heald brings a dominant defensive force to help swat away potential goals, while Sara Makey gives Heald a target downfield to score on a quick catch-and-release.
Roster so far: Trevor Campbell, Meredith Taylor, Sara Makey, Adam Heald
Matt Eveland: Matt Eveland added a strong defensive presence in the third round, nabbing David Wilber of CMU, who I've seen lay out plenty of Quaffle carriers this season. If he gets his hands on you, you're going down. That's the kind of defender that impacts games. Following this, he grabbed former OSU teammate, and fellow GM, Luke Changet to beat alongside Julie Fritz. The chemistry between the two of them is a formidable duo, which will anchor Eveland's defense.
Roster so far: Jeremy Boettner, Julie Fritz, David Wilber, Luke Changet
Eric Wasser: Eric Wasser started out by drafting the man who drafted before him, nabbing Matt Eveland, giving Lavelanet a very capable beating partner, as well as giving Wasser's team a second player that can seek well. In the fourth round, Wasser went back to his Michigan teammates drafting Evan Batzer, a strong Quaffle carrier who plays in that strong Michigan style. Evan Batzer and Brandon Booth on the same offense is a deadly duo, giving the perfect blend of power and athleticism.
Roster so far: Brandon Booth, Lisa Lavelanet, Matt Eveland, Evan Batzer
Ian Hoopingarner: Ian picked up two big scoring threats in the third and fourth round, taking Colby Soden of Kansas, and his teammate from MSU, Sara Delongchamp. Soden is a great athlete, and somebody who is dangerous, even with a defender on him. Delongchamp, on the other hand, gives Ian's team a huge scoring threat behind the hoops for Jacob Heppe and Colby Soden to pass to.
Roster so far: Jacob Heppe, Chad Brown, Colby Soden, Sara Delongchamp
Hey guys! If you're in the area this summer and didn't get a chance to play in Midwest Fantasy then here's your opportunity to play in Midwest Battle Royale!
https://www.facebook.com/events/609903465695748/
I'm excited for MWF and I'm not expecting my team to win anything lol! While we have some really awesome players on our team, we also have quite a few people who have never played quidditch before so this is going to pretty much be a learning experience for them! But this does mean that I wont be super tired driving home that night!
On their sign-up google document, there are 3 tabs for "speed", "aggression", and "endurance" that are rated 1-10, 10 being the best. The idea is you're supposed to give the GM's a picture of your type of athleticism so they can make an informed draft choice when the time comes.
And I'm looking at how some people self-rated themselves. Not to say any names, but...
Yeah some people have no idea of their own athletic skills.
It's worst in the speed category. Quite a lot of 9's and 10's up there. And If I was a GM who drafted a player who was rated as a 9 in speed and 10 in aggression, I'm expecting a player who is a complete and total game-changer on both sides of the ball. I would be rather upset to see this player show up and not be good enough to crack a starting lineup where only 15 players are on each team. And I can already see it might happen if some GM's who don't know these players trust the ratings.
So... can we maybe not self-rate here? Maybe get each player's coach/captain/opposing players rate the entrants so we get a much better idea of each player's athleticism and skill level?
It was a great tournament, with some incredible surprises and moments of brilliance from every team. One of the most evenly matched tournaments I've ever been a part of. I guess I'll start with a score recap in chronological order:
Red vs Green: 190* - 50
Purple vs Blue: 80* - 50* (OT)
Red vs Blue: 80* - 20
Purple vs Green: 90* - 40
Purple vs Red: 100* - 90
Blue vs Green: 100* - 40
after round robin, seeding: 1) Purple 3-0 2) Red 2-1 3) Blue 1-2 4) Green 0-3
1st semi-final: Purple vs Green: 100 - 160*
2nd semi-final: Red vs Blue: 30-50*
Finals: Blue vs Green: 70* - 50
I wasn't able to really watch and analyze a lot, because in every game I wasn't playing, I was reffing or snitching. I really need to stop doing that so that I can actually watch some games/not cramp up when I'm snitching the finals. Anyway...
The first game, you may have noticed, was the only game totally out of snitch range. The problem was Green team was starting two beaters who didn't really have any chemistry, and who didn't have very strong arms. Later in the game, they switched beaters out for two more solid players (ones that I couldn't brush off with little to no effort), and green team solidified after that. Unfortunately, it was too late in the first game for them to be able to do any real damage.
Other key games:
Purple vs Blue, I was head ref. Hard fought game, with blue answering every time they really needed it. They were down 30 when Moyer caught the first snitch off-pitch to give us OT. In OT, purple owned the beater play and Moyer wasn't able to get near the snitch for any significant amount of time. Purple ended up getting the snatch about 3 minutes into OT with no goals scored.
Purple vs Red, this game would determine the #1 seed, though I don't know that either team knew that going in. This game was the perfect example of how bludger control changes games. Initially, red team and I were able to dominate bludger control, and built up a 50-10 lead. At this point I subbed out to get some water, we lost bludger control, and purple built up a comeback to tie the game at 50. When I came back in, we regained bludger control after a little bit, and built up our lead again to 80-60 before the snitch's return. At this point, I split off to guard the snitch, but ended up losing my bludger when the snitch ended up at the purple goals, and was unable to regain a bludger before purple made the snatch to win by 10. So, to summarize, we had bludger control, dominated, we lost it, got dominated, regained it, dominated, lost it, lost the game. And people never thank their beaters... :)
1st semi final, green vs purple. I was snitching, so I missed a lot of this game, but from what I heard, green was pounding purple for much of the game before purple started to rally. When I came back to the pitch, the score was 100-60, green leading. For a while, the purple seeker and beaters were guarding me, so I mostly just stood at midfield until green figured out they needed to send a beater to help. Sadly though for Green team, their seeker was Geoff, who I've snitched against in practice countless times, and I hope he doesn't mind when I say that I own him. (love you buddy!) So, this game lasted a while. Eventually, Green subbed in Isaac Mitchell at seeker (oh, I think Kyra seeked against me for a while, but she's in the same boat as Geoff when I'm snitching, except she's way smaller), the second tallest player at the tournament. Around this time though, purple pulled within snitch range, so both seekers were attacking. The snatch ended up going to Isaac on a weird situation; he was pushed from behind by purple's seeker, which sent Isaac into me, pinning my left arm to my body. Isaac was then able to reach around rather easily to make the grab.
Finals, Green vs Blue: All I have to say about this game is that David Moyer is an incredible seeker, and anyone playing Miami (FL) next year better watch their asses. I was originally snitching, but had to sub out due to severe cramps in both legs about 15 seconds after I got back to the pitch. Dan Daugherty took over, and I ended up on the sidelines with a perfect angle on one of the best snatches I've ever seen. Moyer leaped over Dan while Dan was attempting to, I think, do some kind of wrestling takedown. The momentum sent Dan falling backwards, with Moyer basically on his back on the way to the ground. Just before they both hit the ground, Moyer got his hand on the snitch and made the pull right before he faceplanted. Still don't know exactly how it happened, but it was awesome to watch.
MVP: David Moyer. It had to be. Against red team in the semis, he caught the snitch off pitch which was just about necessary, as I had him on lockdown in our first game so he couldn't even get close to the snitch. Also, it didn't give our chasers a lot of time to build up a lead, which they did in every game. In the finals, he made a spectacle of a snatch to seal the victory in a tight game. Overall, he had a great day, and I can't wait to see the things he does in the FQC and on the world scene. Look for Miami to be serious contenders next year.
