Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 19
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Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"
Chapter 3- "Leaving for the battlefield."
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It was sunset.
I stood out within the crowd for many reasons. One of them was my stature. Many of the Paladins were tall and muscular - even the women.
The most important reason being that I wasn't a paladin.
"Where are you?"
I searched for him, within the crowd of warriors getting ready to leave.
"I'm right here, May." A voice from behind her whispered.
Of course, I turned to meet him.
"Arthur, I told you that wasn't my name."
"I know that."
The full-armoured knight walked towards me.
"I have to go."
"I know.." I frowned.
"I will return. Don't worry about me." He said softly.
But his words turned out to be lies.
He didn't come back. ~ Marianne Oersted's diary. 1744.
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30th April, 1886.
Weidson,
Pridon.
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17:02
"Jordan!"
The first face he saw when he opened his eyes was that of his father who looked beyond worried.
Then as he turned his head to the side, he saw his step-mother Risa, and an unknown lady.
'Maybe a physician.'
Then the boy turned to the right. The face that stared back at him made him wake up completely from his lazy sleepiness.
'Why is she here? Veronica ..'
Journal. My heart is beating like crazy all of a sudden. I can't take my eyes off her.. She's so stunningly beautiful. Maybe not as much as that succubus, but...damn.
Her green eyes look like gems.
That silver hair... it's just too perfect..
I am a normal respectable young man, Journal. Don't give me that look. I'm just appreciating her beauty.
Yes, yes. I do that all the time. There was that time when I spent hours and hours writing about her on you, and then Lisa just burnt it all.
Thinking about Lisa brought a frown to his smiling face.
'I don't have time to fawn over her. I have to make arrangements to kill Hunter as soon as possible."
"You're alive. I was so worried about you." Risa said.
"I'm glad you're not dead, kid."
Veronica was silent. But her expression said it all.
'She was also worried about me...'
Journal, does she like me? Yes, I know I'm jumping into conclusions here. We're friends, kinda. Of course she'll be affected if I almost die...I really want her to think I'm cool. Where the hell did that come from. I'm just Writing every stray thought right now, aren't I?
"It's a miracle. There is no other explanation. His heart suddenly stopped beating. He wasn't even breathing for a while. His finger.."
"I think we shouldn't scare him, after all he's been through. You should know that more than I, doctor."
"He's a man, Risa. He can take it. No son of mine is a wuss. Doctor, tell him everything."
'What is wrong with you, dad? What if I am a wuss?'
Jordan got up easily, prompting shocked looks from all and sundry.
"How...."
The moment his feet touched the cold floor, Jordan's eyes focused on the door. He arched his back, and then started to sprint with a determined look on his face.
"Jordan!!" Lloyd screamed.
"Don't worry Mr.Middlesworth. I'll catch him." Veronica assured before she ran after Jordan.
The young Mage ran as fast as he could and burst open the door. He continued on with the same momentum. Some nurses, and other people in the hospital who saw him were either surprised or annoyed as he ran past them.
'This is stupid. I know this is stupid. But I'm still doing it anyways. Why? Is it because I don't want to explain anything? I don't have to, really. I could just say it was all a wierd illness, and they'll probably believe me. Running right now means I know something I'm not telling them, and that's just going to make them more worried.'
'But what can I do? I can't think straight. I don't have what it takes to juggle everything I have on my plate right now- the spirit gods, the war of the Mages, Hunter, whatever demon's up to... There's just too many things to keep track of. And then Veronica just shows up all of a sudden. I have to go home, and lock my door. Hide from all of this...'
At this point, only a few moments were left till Jordan got out of the hospital.
But it was at that moment that a certain girl's footsteps started to catch up with his. Veronica and Jordan were running in the same direction, leading to the exit.
"Jordan! What the heck are you doing?"
'Damn. I forgot that she was faster than me. To think I wouldn't get better at running after spending an afternoon trying to escape from crazy spirits inside of my head... I even have f*cking magic and I still can't beat her.'
The young lady ended up right behind Jordan, who suddenly lost his footing as her hands brushed against his back.
'Jordan. You fought a succubus. You resisted her charms. You can do this. Don't make a complete fool of yourself, dammit!'
As he tumbled to the floor, his legs caught her gown, and they both started to fall together.
Jordan fell head first into the hospital floor, with Veronica on top of him.
'And you did it again.'
"Umm.. could you get up?"
'Weird, Jordan. You made it wierd.'
Veronica got up almost immediately.
'My head hurts...Is it from the fall, or all the overthinking?'
"Come on. You just can't keep lying there."
'Oh yeah, I'm supposed to get up too. Kinda just thought the floor is a nice cool place to be. It'll be even better if it just opened up and swallowed me.'
'Why not, Journal? My hair must look like an old dead rat, my clothes are pretty damn sweaty - must smell bad and my fidgety behaviour is probably killing her. I'm hopeless.'
Jordan got up, dusting his clothes furiously. When he looked at her he saw her smile. Her pitying smile.
"It's nice to...umm..see you. After so long.." Jordan said, scratching his hair.
"Likewise. Although, the whole hospital thing scared me. Are you alright?"
'Of course not!'
"Yeah... I'm okay."
"Well. If you're alright..." She raised her voice steadily.
"Do you mind telling me why you just started running all of a sudden?"
"Umm..."
"Hey. Looks like your way isn't working out, missy. I'll handle the interrogation here." A voice from behind Veronica spoke out.
"Yes, Mr. Middlesworth." She stepped out of his way.
'Oh no.'
"You must've gone and become a champion sprinter, Jordan. Am I right?"
"Umm. No."
"If you weren't practicing for the Olympics what were you doing?"
"Umm. I'm sorry."
"I didn't hear you."
"I said I'm sorry!"
Lloyd paused. He stared at his son with an unreadable expression.
"You know, don't you. It wasn't just some kind of coincidence. You're not nearly as surprised about this as you're supposed to be...Those words you were chanting.. everything is connected, right?"
'How did he figure that out? Yeah, I know I was careless amd stupid about things, but I learnt how to be careless and stupid from him. My dad of all people should be the last person to figure that out.'
Jordan swallowed hard.
"Answer me!"
Lloyd pushed Jordan's weak body against the wall.
"Mr.Middlesworth, maybe that's.."
"..not enough. I have to beat some sense into him. I haven't even started yet."
'Damn this man is annoying. If I say a word about Magic, I might introduce them to the world of spirits and magic- and they'll be in danger. I'm not going to let you get involved in this.... I'll win this fight on my own if I need to.'
".."
"You opened your mouth just now, do you want to say something or do you want me to gag you? You can't possibly understand how worried we all were about you. And you want to go off on your own and keep everything to yourself?"
'Yeah. Lisa did the same thing, didn't she? I get why you're so mad. But, I won't say anything..'
Risa had caught up. From the corner of his eyes, Jordan could see her tears.
'Mom...'
"From the moment you fell unconscious, we have been right beside you. We took you to the hospital, Jordan. And that quack told me you were dead. I couldn't believe it, ofcourse. I fought them to check you myself. I saw it with my own two eyes, Jordan. Your heart had stopped. You didn't have a pulse. You weren't breathing anymore. All clear signs that you've died."
He paused to catch his breath, then he continued.
"I thought it was all over. Somehow, my only children were robbed from me.. but then you started shaking like crazy..and I thought that it was just my imagination." His voice was cracking. Tears went down his eyes as well.
"...it wasn't. It wasn't my imagination. It wasn't a hallucination. You were alive, somehow...and then I just held out hope that you'll wake up, and we'll all make sense if things.. and you did wake up.."
"Lloyd, It's enough." The woman stated.
".. Your f*cking finger simply disappeared, damnit. Blood poured out of the open wound. I saw you die, Jordan. And them I saw you come back in less than a minute. Then I thought I was seeing you die again."
"Lloyd!" Risa shouted.
"Why? Why won't you say anything? I can see it in your stupid eyes! You know something you're not telling me. You think it's alright to just throw away your life?"
Don't say anything quill. If you do, you will put them in harm's way. You don't want them hurt, right? Then meet me outside. Leave the hospital as soon as possible. We need to discuss strategy..
Oh and know that till the end of this battle, this might be the last time you see them. Make sure to say your goodbyes.
'Lancaster'
Yes?
'Shut the f*ck up.'
What was that for?
"Dad, I'm sorry."
'Not telling them is worse than lying to him. And he'll see right through my lies... The only thing I can do is run. And doing that would hurt them even more.'
'Is'nt there a spell for lying? A spell to make everything alright? A spell to stop me from making these stupid mistakes over and over again?'
'No. There probably isn't.'
"I can't tell you anything. And...I just want you to know that.."
'Force hammer without incantation. It's completely possible. I'll use my blood as ink. Come on!'
The blue spiritual energy had been summoned into the material plane via the magic circle drawn on Jordan's palm. The small magic circle gathered as many 'force' spirits as possible on that brief instance, and then released it. The force spirits forged a magical item which appeared on Jordan's right hand.
Jordan swung his hand as though he was holding an invisible hammer. The force slammed into his father, sending him flying.
"..I'll be right back!"
'I'm not stupid enough to say goodbye, jerk. This isn't a goodbye. I'm just handling some busines, that's all. I'm taking care of the homicidal maniac that might've killed Lisa....And I won't rest until he's dead..
After I'm done with this little errand, I'll be back home again.'
Yeah. I just smashed my dear dad across the room with an invisible magic hammer. Of course I did. We kinda love hitting each other.. Although he does most of the hitting most of the time.
Jordan smiled and got into a stance, poised for running.
"Lloyd! Jordan!"
Those where the most embarrassing moments of my life.
Now, Journal. I think it's about time we get on with the action.
After I've handled Hunter, I need to fix the situation with my family.
But I doubt the spirit gods will let me take a breather.
That won't stop me, though.
I'll come back home, no matter what.
Journal, I'm just Writing one awkward sentence after the other.
But I mean it.
Yours Sincerely, Jordan Elyas Middlesworth.
Jordan then ran out the open door. He wasn't looking back.
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