Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 18
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Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"
Chapter 2- "The big game II."
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The war begun long before anyone made the first move. It had started before the first gun was fired .
The truth was that the war had begun when the idea was first conceived; when a nation or two agreed it was a good idea to fight against each other. Both of them making the lives of their citizens a living hell.
However it was obvious which party was stronger. The war only begun because someone stood to gain something from it. The real question is..who? ~ Anon.
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30 April, 1886.
Quill.
Spirit world.
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The two Mages were sitting in the Sanctuary's version of Jordan's bedroom. It looked almost exactly the same as the real one. The only exception was the lack of bird sounds outside, or the noise of people in the bakery.
'And the presence of Lancaster here, kinda ruins the spell that makes it look like my house. Lancaster has never been in my room before.'
Quill was sitting on his bed, while Crow/Bird was on an armchair to the right of the bed.
"Jordan, I'll go first. There's a motive behind needing your Power every day. I have a problem. It isn't nearly as bad as yours but I don't exactly have a clear Title anymore."
"What does that mean?"
"It means if I don't do something about it, I might die."
'He said it as if he was talking about the weather. How is he so calm?'
Jordan rested his head on his pillow, lying down on the bed.
"I don't really get it. But I don't have to. You really don't have to say all this, man."
"Don't call me 'man'. My name is Lancaster. The Title I had before was known as Bird. But I tried to change to Crow and now I'm in deep shit. The truth is; the Title of Crow should've been my Title from the start."
"But you chose Bird?"
"Yes, I did. After looking through the Knowledge properly, I now realise how much of an idiot I was back then. The Title of Crow is my soul's original position in the spirit world. Moving your Sanctuary is straight-up impossible...."
"Aren't you so good at this 'explaining' thing?"
"You're learning how to be sassy. Good. However, next time, don't interrupt me." Lancaster stared at Jordan. There was no real emotion behind that stare.
Jordan swallowed.
'Geez. It was only a joke.What the heck did I do to deserve a glare like that? This is why I hate people.'
"Yes sir." Quill replied respectfully.
"...You should've understood by now that The Spirit world overlaps the material world. One of the Links between the two worlds are the Mages as they are capable of summoning spirits. However certain spirits are also capable of crossing over whenever they want to. But that's not what I'm talking about. Quill, even before someone becomes a Mage, they already have a location in the spirit world that signifies who they are. My location was Crow, and so I should have chosen Crow. But I didn't."
He paused. Jordan was looking right into his eyes, completely focused. He looked as though he wanted him to continue.
Lancaster sighed.
"Changing locations in the spirit world is the same as making a change in the fundamental aspects of one's being. It's a change in what something is. Transmogrification. Trying to do that, usually results in someone screwing themselves up. It results in death...but Mr.demon is okay with me dying, and did not say a word about this. Note that by 'Changing locations' I really mean 'Changing the location of the Sanctuary.'. Me being in your Sanctuary now isn't a change in who I am."
"I didn't know about that before."
"Which means you haven't been studying. Anyways, my choice was only made possible because of demon's override. Desire gets what he want done. Even though he's chained up, he's still capable of using some of his powers. That's the only reason why staying in Bird was an option. But when I took the Sanctuary to Crow, I discovered that there was a maelstrom of negative spirits hovering about it. Demon called it 'The Darkness.' That darkness is preventing me fron landing my Sanctuary and completing the transition back to my actual location."
"Ok."
'I still don't get it. But, who cares? He doesn't have to know that!'
"I'm assuming that you understand me up to this point. Because it's going to get more difficult. I need your undivided attention... Whenever I enter the spirit world, my spirit is anchored to Bird, so I land on bird. I can't anchor myself to Crow until my Sanctuary completely lands on Crow. That can't happen until I defeat the Darkness. The spirits holding my Sanctuary up require lots of Power once in a while. That's why I need Power."
"Ok. But why don't you just land the Sanctuary any where?"
"That isn't possible. It'll be destroyed, and I'll have to either drastically change who and what I am , or I die. Either option is the same as dying to me. The only safe place to land on is Crow."
"How about Bird? You won't have to change or die because of demon's ability right?"
"Not quite. The Sanctuary cannot land on the same location twice. My anchor to Bird is already fading. It's not possible to turn back now, either I destroy the darkness or I bite the dust. Oh and did I tell you that the Crown gave me seven days to become Crow. If I don't do it, I die."
"So that's what you need me for. I can help you with Power for your spirits and I can try to find a way to beat the Darkness."
"Yes. The thing is, there are some advantages of my current position as a Mage without a rooted Sanctuary. I get half the abilities of both Titles. That is why I am already capable of using curse magic- you didn't see me do it earlier, but I used it on Vlad. Also, I think this is the right time to tell you that I'm cursed."
"We already know that. You've explained it enough."
"No. It's a side effect of hovering over Crow. I am unable to control it. The more I am around people the worse their luck becomes. It's working on you as well. My luck is sometimes affected as well. It's very annoying... But enough of that. Your problems are much more pronounced than that. You challenged the gods, right? I hope you live through it. I really want to know; what are you going to do next?"
Jordan stared at the ceiling, thinking.
'Well, there's only one thing to do. '
"I want to kill Hunter."
"Why?" Lancaster raised an eyebrow.
"I only have seven days to kill people too, our Queen put me up to it."
'It looks like both of us had a rough start because of the Crown. But It seems he's much smarter than I am. He didn't sacrifice his name, at least.'
"Why Hunter? Is it because if Lisa?" Lancaster questioned.
'He knows. How does he know?'
"You know...Then we must be on the same page. That monster killed my sister, so I want to kill him if I'm killing anyone."
"... Hunter didn't kill her. He said that he was responsible for her death."
"Isn't it the same thing? The world is better off without people like him. That is why I want him dead." Jordan yelled.
There was an awkward silence between them.
"Sorry about that. I shouldn't have yelled at you for no reason."
"It's not a problem, little brother. If you want it so bad, I'll kill him for you." Lancaster got up and began stretching his back.
'Talking about murder like it's nothing...And he was planning on killing me before. He's not even bothered by Lisa's death. It's like he doesn't even care!'
"You..you have killed someone before, right?"
Lancaster's eyes widened for a moment. It was an expression of shock that Jordan had never seen on his cousin's face.
'Why is he so disturbed by that?'
But his expression only lasted for a brief moment, and he was back to being aloof and expressionless.
"Yes. I have. More than once. Killing people isn't a problem for me, rest assured."
'Maybe he had a bad experience..'
"I'm the one who wants revenge. I will kill him, I just need you as backup."
"No. You are a fool for underestimating him. Do not underestimate any Mage, alright. They have had the privilege to learn magic long before we do. And with experience comes strength.."
"I get it. You yap too much nowadays.." Jordan covered his mouth after he said that. To his surprise, Lancaster didn't seem to care.
"We have to be careful. This is going to be our first official battle against a Mage as partners. Hunter didn't look weak to me, and I can tell if someone is powerful. I believe he's also trying to kill us as well. He may attack at any time. It might be tomorrow, or even today."
Jordan nodded his head.
"It's settled then. I'll come visit your house, and we'll talk strategy there.."
'I have to ask him. I just can't wait till later.'
"Why.. don't you seem affected by Lisa's death?"
"That's because I didn't care about her."
'What? What kind of nonsense is he saying? Lancaster had always been stranger than me, but now he's on a new level. He loved Lisa. Why is he saying that now..'
"It's the truth, Jordan. I hardly know her. Really. Lisa was family, yes. But aside from that, she was almost a stranger to me. Would you care so much if a random person died?"
"...but she's your cousin. You played hide and seek with her 4 years ago. You were all grown up by then, but you still played with her. She was very happy, I remember that day so well...Why? Why would you call her a stranger?"
There was yet another moment of silence. Quill was still panting from shouting so much. Lancaster looked amused.
'What is funny about this? What is wrong with you?'
"Are you joking, Jordan?"
"Do I look like someone that will joke about his dead sister? I'm ready to kill someone to avenge her; of course I'm not joking!"
The pianist straightened his expression.
"Four years ago, I didn't know her. You must've had a screw loose upstairs." The man said, pointing to his head. He started towards the door.
"Jordan, get your head checked. Also, fix your wall when you can. Some spirits are stupid. Expect me by evening today, some time around four or five."
Quill was speechless. His mouth was still open when Lancaster walked through the door, and took his leave.
The door slammed shut and the sudden loud noise seemed to wake Jordan up from his discombobulation.
"What the actual f*ck?"
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