Man, this book is so fun to write. I mean, it takes me ages (mostly because I write out of order), but it's definitely fun.
Also, my dudes! I recently started a blog - it mostly revolves around LGBT+ things, sprinkled with funny stories from my job and perhaps even some excerpts from upcoming chapters of my books. Feel free to check it out if you want, it's queerhaven dot com!
Anyways! Ennnn-juh-hoy, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!
Scapegoat
Nine: Purple (and) Rain
"Bam," Dale says, crossing his arms. "Back exit."
"Fantastic," Payten breathes, and we can barely hear them over the chaos happening inside the Dark Mage base. "Everyone get close, Brice and I will cast Swiftness spells on us all." In less than a minute, everyone is ready - except for Dale.
"Oh, no," he says, stepping back and putting his hands up as Payten stares at him. "I can't go with you."
"Why not," Payten deadpans.
"Go big or go home, right?" I ask. Even if I am majorly jealous of the guy, I could never just leave him behind.
"Always," Dale replies. "But leaving now would make everyone suspicious of me. I would never be able to join a new base."
"Here's an idea: don't join a new base!" Danielle huffs. "Just come with us, you muppet!"
Dale laughs. "Thanks, that's sweet. But I'm a Dark Mage; that's just what I am."
"You're lucky Seto wasn't awake enough to hear that," Brice grumbles, still trying to get Seto to respond to him.
"Come with us," Payten insists, holding out a hand. "You don't have to be a certain way just to be accepted."
"I..." Dale glances down at his arm, at the glistening silver numbers waiting there. "Not now. But I'll think about it, okay?"
Payten hesitates for a second before nodding and retracting their hand. "Okay. Thanks for your help, Dale."
"Any time," he responds, smiling mischievously. "Later!"
Payten looks on for a few seconds more before nodding again and turning away, grabbing my hand as they sprint away from the base. I reflexively grab Danielle's, and she reflexively grabs Brice's, and Brice and Seto are practically attached at the hip anyways.
When I glance back, Dale is gone.
☼☼☼
Our moods quickly descend into dangerous territory after that.
Brice has, unfortunately, reached the conclusion that Seto is basically brain dead. Kind of. He still walks and stuff. He just doesn't... act like Seto. He doesn't act at all - doesn't do anything except tag along after Brice.
Obviously, this is taking a bit of a toll on us all. Brice keeps randomly stopping, turning around to ask Seto just one more time if he's okay. Seto never responds. Meanwhile, Danielle can't stop glaring at Brice, and Payten refuses to fill the silence.
Oh. And it's raining.
Yeah.
Brice still has one hand latched onto Seto's arm as he drags the seemingly brain-dead sorcerer through the wet grass. He groans as his gravity-defying hair gets weighed down by rainwater. "You know," he huffs, tugging Seto along a little faster, "it'd be nice if we weren't being rained on at the worst possible time."
The rain stops.
"Nice timing, world," Brice whispers in awe, but Danielle huffs and shakes her head.
"Look up, you muppet," Danielle snaps. Payten, Brice, and I do just that only to realize that there seems to be a shimmering, almost transparent boundary above our heads that moves with us as we walk. Whenever we move, harmless purple sparks jitter around the boundary.
"Magic," I whisper. It never fails to be cool.
"Wait, who cast it?" Brice asks in confusion. Payten throws up their hands in defense, and Danielle crosses her arms.
"He did," she says bitterly, nudging towards Seto. "Guess he's exactly what you wanted from him now."
"What?" Brice asks, furrowing his eyebrows in mass confusion, and Danielle very nearly growls at him. Geez.
"You've got his magic," she says, "without the hassle of him."
My mind flashes back to the far-away battle during which a Dark Mage walked around talking about how the only reason Brice would want Seto is for his power. Afterward, I have a clear view of Seto's hurt expression as Brice fails to deny it.
When my vision is back to normal, I look around and notice that everyone but Danielle seems to have gotten the surprise flashback - she must have magicked it into our minds. Payten is frowning, looking almost disapproving; of whom, I'm not entirely sure. Brice, on the other hand, looks like he's about to cry, with rapidly blinking eyes and a hand that won't stop clenching and unclenching around the fabric of his shirt.
"I didn't want this," he chokes out, looking at Seto with massive regret.
"Really? Because you basically told Seto this is all you wanted," Danielle snarls, and I've never known her to hold a grudge for so long but she's definitely holding a grudge now.
Vaguely, I think to myself that this is definitely not how brain-dead-ness works.
Brice lurches towards Seto and throws his arms around him; of course, Seto doesn't respond, but Brice cries into his shoulder anyways. "Please come back, please," Brice sobs, and Danielle has the decency to look a little guilty as her eyes flit down to the ground.
"We need to keep moving," Payten says softly.
"Wh-" Brice lets out another sob and shakes his head sharply. "Where are we even going? What's the point?"
"We're going to find Lizza and the other kids," Payten says firmly. "Before we went after Seto, we... we were close. We're going to save those kids and go home."
Brice sniffles and buries his face in the crook of Seto's neck, letting out one more sob when Seto doesn't respond. "Seto, why won't you hold me like you used to?" he whimpers despite the fact that he knows it's useless.
Almost mechanically, Seto wraps his arms around Brice, who just cries harder.
"I want you," he sniffs. "The real you, the you that rolls your eyes at me when I'm stupid and acts all cocky even though you're still insecure, and the you that manages to be sarcastic and loving at the same time, and the you who looks bad guys in the eye and says some crazy cool one-liner even when you know you're going to lose the battle, and- and-" He squeezes Seto more tightly. "I want you back!"
Danielle is far past simply looking guilty at this point. She sighs as she walks over to Brice and awkwardly reaches up to pat his back. "It's okay, Brice. I'm sorry for what I said - this really isn't your fault," she says quietly.
"We'll fix him," I promise even though I have no right to be promising such a thing.
"If you say so," Brice whispers, and we all take a few more moments to let him mourn.
But then Payten gets impatient. "We aren't going to fix him by standing around all day," they huff. "We have to keep moving."
Brice sighs and tries to pull away, but Seto doesn't move. "Seto- Seto, let go," Brice says, and Seto's arms fall back limply against his sides.
Payten takes a deep breath. "The coordinates that Seto wrote on my hand, I- I memorized them, so- We'll just run there, I guess. We can't possibly teleport that far."
"Okay," Brice sniffles. "Come on, Seto. Let's go."
☼☼☼
"We're nearing that facility thing," Payten announces.
"Ew, don't call it a facility," I mumble, and Payten shrugs.
"Do we have a plan?" Danielle asks, slowing as we approach the gigantic front gates.
"Here's one: Don't get seen by security cameras," Payten groans, pointing up at the one that has already recorded our approach.
"Is there a way to delete stuff that's already been recorded?" Brice asks, tugging Seto to a stop.
"Uh, I don't think so?" Danielle replies. "I don't know, we never talked about that in our lessons."
As much as I know Danielle will hate it, I speak up. "Just tell Seto to do it," I say. "If he can't, then he can't. But if he can... Well, then he can."
Brice flinches, and whether it's because of Danielle's bitter expression or simply because of the idea of using Seto for his magic, I'm not sure. But, eventually, he sighs and turns to face the sorcerer. "Seto, delete the footage on the cameras," he says, and Seto signs some spell. The camera breaks. "And, uh, knock out anyone who saw us on the cameras," Brice adds.
Seto smiles mechanically like he's having a robotic field day, and for a moment we have a bit of hope. There are several shouts from inside the facility, and then Seto drops both his hand and his smile. How subtle.
"Of course, Seto gets a kick out of mass-murder even when he's brain dead," Payten mumbles, and Brice and Danielle glare at them. They shrug and put up two placating hands. "No judgment."
I tap on the gates of the facility several times. When that doesn't do anything, Payten punches the gates, but of course all that does is startle Brice. "Hold me," he whispers to Seto. "They're scary."
Seto complies.
"Hey, could you tell him to unlock the gates for us..?" I ask tentatively.
"Seto, unlock the gates," Brice orders. Seto's eyes roll up in his head for a split second, and then the gates swing open.
"Sweet," Payten mutters.
"I hate you," replies Danielle.
Brice grabs Seto's hand and pulls him through the gates with us. "So, are we just gonna storm the place?" he asks.
I shrug. "I mean, why not?"
"Because we might die?" huffs Danielle, who is still bitter.
"Nah," replies Payten, who holds pettier grudges than Danielle.
I take a moment to look up at the tall building before us. It's got walls that I swear stretch half way to the moon, and they're so shiny that I can see my reflection in them. The pathway beneath my worn shoes is made of smooth marble, which is a nice contrast to the bumpy grasslands we were walking on before. The roof of the place is flat, making it look like a skyscraper, and, overall? It looks pretty nice.
"Let's storm it!" I decide before I can let myself be influenced by the giant, intimidatingly blood red "Dark Mages" logo on the side of the building.
Seto unlocks the doors for us, and we burst right in. The walls of the place look exactly the same on the inside as they do on the outside - hauntingly reflecting with a superior shine. To be honest, it's a little unnerving, but do you know what's even more unnerving?
When a facility that you expected to be completely war-filled turns out to be scarily quiet.
"... Maybe they're still getting ready?" I suggest, nervously twirling my hair.
"Maybe," Payten shrugs, striding off down the hallway, and I groan and run after them with Brice, Seto, and Danielle trailing behind.
There must be half a million doors, but Payten doesn't go for any of them. They scan each silvery-gray door for approximately half a second before moving on, and they don't break that pattern until we've walked up two entire flights of shiny steps. "We're getting closer," Danielle says giddily, her bitterness overcome by the excitement of the mission. "I can feel it, with my magic!"
This is where Payten pauses, on the third floor of the building, right in front of the steps. "You feel it, too? Fantastic." They close their eyes for a moment. "I think they're on this floor. You think so?"
Danielle nods eagerly, glancing around at all the doors at our disposal. "Which one do we try first?"
Payten shrugs. "The first one, I guess."
We all file into the first room on the right while Payten keeps watch to make sure no one sneaks up on us. The room seems to be empty of actual people, but there are dummies of every kind positioned helter-skelter all over the floor. Some are made of hay, some of cloth, some of actual stone. They all look like they've been beaten up and deserted, no longer used.
We back out of that room and try the next.
It doesn't have any dummies, which is a good start, I think. There are mage staffs scattered around the room, though, each with a different gem half-way absorbed into the top of it. One of them has a sticky note on it which reads simply, "secret human highest magic?" in messy scribe. Otherwise, the room is empty, so we leave that room alone, too.
"Third time's a charm?" I laugh nervously, placing my hand on the door handle. Slowly, slowly, I push it open-
Almost immediately, my friends and I find ourselves trapped in a large green bubble.
Save for Seto, that is.
Brice couldn't keep contact with him when he was sucked up into the air to be a part of this bubble-fest, so Seto just... didn't follow. And now he's all alone down there to face the forty or so Dark Mages in this terrifyingly large room. Also, he's basically brain-dead.
"Seto, knock them out!" Brice shouts, but apparently Seto can't hear him through the bubble. Seto just stands stock still as his eyes flit over us in our trapped state, and Brice groans and throws his head back. "We're doomed."
"Yes, you are," confirms a detached voice, and the only person outside our bubble that's moving her lips is the metaphorically four-eyed Dark Mage below us. "Unless, of course, you respect our demands."
"No, thanks," I huff, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Payten is slowly signing something to Brice.
"Put your left hand up, and slide your index finger against it like you're knifing someone," they whisper quietly, and Brice sloppily copies their motions.
"You haven't even heard them yet," the Dark Mage scoffs, and I turn my attention back to her. "All we ask is that you locate a rogue Mage of ours. She has some precious... materials that we need, but she knows what we look like. She won't let us near her."
"And you can't overpower her?" Danielle laughs. The woman bristles.
"She is currently more able-bodied than us because of... reasons I cannot disclose. Retrieve the materials, and we will free you and give you... what you seek."
"The children?" I ask.
She blinks. "Yes."
"Then put up your index finger... make a fist with your thumb on the outside... put up your middle and index finger and cross them... put up your middle and index finger and stick your thumb in between them..," Payten mutters to Brice.
"How will we know which materials are the ones we need?" I ask.
"You will know because she will guard them with her life," the Mage replies. "She will try to dissuade you; do not let her. The lives of your children are in our hands."
"Put your thumb underneath all your fingers except for your pinky... make the fist again with your thumb to the side..," Payten continues while Brice carefully mimics them. "Stick your index finger out to the side... rest all of your finger nails on top of your thumb... make a fist with your thumb in front of the rest of your fingers."
"In fact... This is the Dark Sorcerer, is it not?" the Mage asks, striding forward to get close to Seto. Seto actually flinches and shrinks in on himself when the Mage cups his cheeks with her hands, and Brice goes dangerously stiff. "Beautiful. I've heard the stories of his magic, but I never knew he was so handsome," she purrs, dragging a finger down his cheek. Seto shudders, which is more of a reaction than we've gotten out of him since the Miss May incident. He takes a mechanical step back, but the Dark Mage follows him, throwing her arms around his neck. She leans in so close that we can see his breath fogging up her glasses, and Seto lets out a pitiful whimper. Brice yanks away from Payten to focus his eyes completely on Seto, who doesn't even notice him.
"Maybe I'll keep you here, too," the Mage snickers, "just to give your friends more reason to come back. They must want you, after all. Who wouldn't want you?" Her fingers crawl up and weave themselves into Seto's hair, and he shakes his head oh-so-subtly and tries to step back, only to find that she's got him pressed against the wall.
"Give me some sugar," the Mage laughs cruelly, leaning forward just a little too much. Seto's eyebrows shoot up in a panic, and he glances silently up at Brice for help.
Brice takes the opportunity, signing the things Payten taught him sloppily but not sloppily enough to keep Seto from understanding, and Seto snarls and shoves the Dark Mage away before throwing up his hands and high-speed signing at least ten spells. Every Mage in the room drops to the floor, unconscious or maybe even dead, and my friends and I fall out of our bubble and onto a squishy purple mattress that immediately dematerializes once we stand up.
Brice breathes a sigh of relief and darts toward Seto, who relaxes into Brice's arms the moment he can. "Oh, Jeb, thank you," Brice breathes before pulling away to hold Seto at arm's length. "Are you okay?"
Seto doesn't respond, which, I guess, was to be expected. Brice just hugs him again before turning to the door.
"Hi," deadpans one of the dozens of Dark Mages that have gathered in the hallway. Before Brice can say anything at all, five Mages step forward with their arms outstretched.
Brice, Payten, and I step out of the way in time, but Danielle is too slow, and of course Seto doesn't move. Seto cries out and crumples to the ground the moment the Dark Mage touches him, but for Danielle, the opposite happens. Instead of her falling to the ground, she stands strong and unaffected as the Dark Mage yells and falls down.
"Seto!" Brice shouts, splaying out a hand as though in reflex. The first half-moon of Mages surrounding the door jitter and fidget as a murky yellow magic courses through them, and then they fall to the ground, incapacitated for the moment. While Danielle, who seemingly gives zero craps about the fact that she almost got scapegoated, goes to help Seto up, Brice stares at his hands in horror.
"Brice?" I ask in concern as Payten holds off the now very angry Mages.
"I couldn't think of a spell fast enough," Brice breathes, looking dazed in the worst way.
"Well, apparently you did," Payten snaps as they usher us farther back into the room.
"No," Brice whispers. "It was Dark."
I don't exactly have time to worry about this new information because I am too busy realizing that the Dark Mages have managed to push us all the way to the back of the room - we're cornered. Brice is still freaking out, too horrified to do any good; Seto is leaned unsteadily against the wall, unable to help in the least; I am incapable of performing magic, and therefore not able to do anything other than punch people (which I have never been good at in the first place); and Payten and Danielle, while talented for their ages, stand no chance against this many Dark sorcerers.
"Okay!" I squeak on behalf of my team. "We'll find your materials for you."
"Yeah, you will," hisses one of the Mages. "And if you don't, we'll be waiting, ready to kill those children of yours."
"And take that defenseless sorcerer of yours, too," another Mage says, smirking as he looks over at Seto with greedy eyes.
"Not fair that Travis got to crash into him and I didn't," one of the Mages grumbles.
"Bet he got to get rid of his entire crash," a second Mage whispers, staring at Seto with envious, hooded eyes.
The rest of the Dark Mages begin murmuring, louder and louder, and-
Brice, having seemingly been snapped out of his trance by Seto's plight, wraps his arms around Seto protectively and glares at the crowd of Dark Mages. "No, you can't have him," Brice growls. "He has to come with us to get the materials, or else we just won't get them."
"We can crash before you go," a Mage says threateningly.
"No, you can't, because then he won't be able to walk," Brice huffs at them.
Apparently these "materials" they want are worth giving up a chance to crash into Seto, because the Mages grumble and make a way for us to walk through them to the door. Brice grabs Seto's hand and holds it a little too tightly as we walk, and Payten follows suit with me while I follow suit with Danielle.
"Ow," say the vast majority of us, and only Seto remains silent as Brice drags us all past the Mages and and down the stairs and right out the front door. The Mages mockingly wave us goodbye, and I wince as they slam the door behind us.
"This will end badly," I nervously spout.
"But at least it will end," Brice whispers.