You're My Idiot (Blitzstone)

5. Blitz Talks Back to a Priest

Blitz POV

Mimir's cover-up business wasn't far from Copley Square. The entire walk there I kept pointing out how Alex or Alicia or whatever her name had totally been flirting with Hearth, which he kept denying.

"I'll just have to teach you what flirting is, then," I told him, signing and speaking simultaneously.

Aren't you right now?

"See, you're already catching on!"

We had to shape up once we got to the park, though. There was a lot going on.

Signs were posted outside of Trinity Church for a silent auction that was taking place. Silence. No problem, Hearth noted. I smirked at his comment.

"Let's stay together, at least for now, shall we?"

Hearth nodded in agreement.

Inside, the main hall was filled with people gathered around tables of items. I had never been to a silent auction before, but people were writing on sheets of paper, which I guessed was how the bidding was taking place. We milled about the room for a bit, but found nothing relating to Magnus Chase.

He would be looking for either food or money, probably, Hearth pointed out. We looked in the kitchen next, but were quickly kicked out.

We went back outside and were about to reenter from a side entrance when the double wooden doors of the church itself burst open, with a man in dark clothing chasing a skinny kid out onto the open courtyard.

The kid tripped and fell, sending flakes of frost and soil into the air. The man managed to grab the kid by the wrist, wrenching his arm at a painful angle. He dug his knee into the kid's back. Hearth winced in sympathy.

"Hearth," I said, signing H for his name sign, "that's him."

Now that he was still, it was clear that we were looking at Magnus Chase. I instantly ran up to the priest and the boy.

"Stop!" I cried. "What are you doing to my nephew?" Maybe this was a bit impulsive, but I couldn't just let this man beat up a literal kid.

The man in the dark clothes looked up. The kid was on the ground, clutching his backpack like it was his lifeline.

"Your nephew," the man spat. "Just stole money from our donation boxes!" He had unpleasant features: a thin, upturned nose, small beady eyes, and a receding hairline worse than Jojo Siwa's.

"Look, he's thirteen." I spat out this age even though I knew Magnus was fourteen, for my own sake, so the kid wouldn't be too creeped out. Plus, he was barely over five feet tall and had the complexion of an anemic person. No one in their right mind would think he was a teenager. Claiming that he was thirteen was stretching it.

I continued. "At this age he's bound to be doing all sorts of rebellious things. Does that make them excusable? No. But you've got to cut him some slack. How does this make you look, a priest beating up a kid?" I was guessing a bit at this last part, but didn't priests have those white collar thingies?

The priest relaxed a bit but was still practically foaming at the mouth. "I want him to return the money and then get out of here immediately. And if I ever see him lurking around my church again, I'll call the cops."

Hearth had stayed away, close to the church, which I knew was smart. Less questions that way.

The priest stood up and brushed his slacks off, seeming rather embarrassed. "Well, kid? Is this really your uncle?" He seemed skeptical, but also clearly cared more about the state of his "donation" boxes (I was willing to bet they're used for more selfish purposes) rather than the well being of a random kid.

Magnus, still on the ground clutching his backpack, slowly nodded. The priest thrust out a hand. "Fine. Now, the money."

Magnus reluctantly handed back wads of dollar bills. It didn't escape my gaze that he kept a handful of the bills, though. The priest seized the money and stalked back into the church. It appeared that the silent auction had ended, as people were milling around in the lawn. They chatted amongst themselves and kept cutting glances to where Magnus and I stood.

I offered a hand to Magnus, but he pushed himself up again and clutched his backpack protectively. His gray eyes were wide, frightened. His hair was greasy and he had shadows under his eyes, but he looked just like any other kid. He wore a dark winter coat and jeans paired with hiking boots. He bit his lip and turned to go.

"Wait, please," I said. I reached out, but retracted my hand, deciding it would not be wise to touch him. "You saved me this morning," I ventured. "Was that you? At that other church? With the water?"

Magnus averted his eyes. "Damn pigs," he said softly.

I chuckled. "Well, I really got to thank you for that. Now we're even, I guess."

Magnus just nodded. He pointed to where Hearth was standing, near the entrance of the church. "Is that your friend?"

I didn't see the point in lying. "Yeah. I'm gonna walk back over there." I left the option of him following me up to him, and started walking.

Magnus seemed to be weighing his options. Then he began to walk beside me, towards Hearth and the throng of people outside.

I turned to Magnus as we approached Hearth, but he was already gone, having melted into the crowd, which had calmed down at this point.

I cursed softly under my breath.

He's okay? Hearth asked.

"Yeah, I think. Wish we had not lost sight of him, though."

Hearth gazed off into the crowd of people still mulling about. It will take time. This is a start to gaining trust.

I knew he was right. I had always been the impatient one.

What's with all the eventful things happening to us at churches today? Hearth suddenly asked.

"Maybe God has a sense of humor," I replied dryly.

We're literally pagans, Hearth reminded me.

"Precisely."

Hearth scrunched his nose ever so slightly and gave the ghost of a smirk. Part of getting to know Hearth was to discover that he didn't express much through his facial features. There was a valid reason for that. This didn't mean he was expressionless or didn't have feelings, of course. I'd come to recognize Hearth as being one of the most heartfelt people I know.

I remembered the police encounter we'd had this morning, and how one small, aimless teen had saved us. I realized that it would be easy to look at Magnus and only see the side of him that stole from churches. But if you looked a little deeper, you'd find that the problem wasn't with Magnus, it was with the church itself (speaking somewhat metaphorically).

I wondered, briefly, what Hearth and I had gotten ourselves into. But I realized then that I wouldn't want anyone else to be doing this. Some people saw the boy as the thief. I saw him as the boy who had been stolen from.

A/N: No hate to Trinity church lol. I looked up Copley Square on google maps and that is the name of the church there. For the sake of the story I had to make the priest a bad guy, but I know that's not the case at all. Sorry this chapter took so long! I have no valid reason for that. Take care of yourselves! <3