Chapter Text
He would understand. He had to. Maybe not today-- maybe not even for a long while. But he would have to come around eventually.
From the phone in his hand came a voice accented with Spanish. "You will have my eternal gratitude if you are right about this. What did you say your name was, again?"
"Endellion," he said softly, though his grip on the phone tightened. A shadow of doubt crept across him, instilling a cold dread within his insides. Somehow, despite the rumors he had heard about Estrellas del Dia, this man-- Ricardo, Dude's father-- didn't seem nearly as threatening as Kordelle had first imagined. "Our coven is very small and sheltered in the north, so I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard of Loch Domhainn."
"Ohh, no, no, of course I know of your coven!" Ricardo said in a chipper voice. "Fan Liu is still the leader, right? I haven't spoken with her in some time, but we've known one another for many years."
"Well, yes, she is still the coven leader. Should I pass on a message to her for you?"
A soft shuffling sound filtered through the phone's speaker. Was Ricardo pushing papers around on a desk, perhaps? "No, thank you, I will contact her on my own. But, tell me, how did an Australian boy like yourself end up in Loch Domhainn? Seems that you're pretty far from home."
A ball settled in Kordelle's throat then, obstructing his breathing and forcing him to blink tears back before they could properly well up in his boulder opal eyes. "... So is your son. Oh, speak of the devil."
Thank goodness, Dude had finally found the calling card and responded. He walked with purpose down the sidewalk, his head held high and his shoulders squared back. Kordelle's hiding place behind a faintly glowing tree offered him a view of Dude's expression: firm, unwavering, and a bit on the irritated side. "I know you're there, Kord. I can sense your presence like it's nothing."
Dude's voice was reined in just enough to keep it from carrying too far. After all, even as the roads outside of the competition venue were quiet-- most of the attendants had yet to think of leaving for the night-- there could be ears listening from anywhere and everywhere. Kordelle lowered the phone from his ear, concealing the device in the sleeve of his black jacket as he stepped into plain sight.
"Dude, you used magic in your routine," Kordelle said after a long, tense moment of silence. Until he spoke, only the wind and distant sounds of cars echoed across the sidewalk. 'Wow, what a way to break the ice. Great start, Endellion.'
"We weren't caught--" he started to protest, which was when Endellion slid the outdated phone out of his sleeve and held it up for the other boy to see. It was open, its small, square screen alight.
"Never mind that. Listen, I've been doing some thinking, and after what I saw in your performance, I'm sure of it now.
"That ghost has its hooks far deeper in you than I could have ever predicted.
"I need you to trust me on this.
"If you won't believe me, then believe someone who definitely knows what he's talking about."
Dude took the phone when Kordelle offered it to him. The pause he took before he actually held it up to the side of his head said more than a thousand words ever could on what he thought about trusting Kordelle, but that was what Kordelle expected. If their friendship was shot to hell this badly already, the best thing to do was strip it all away like an infection. Only then could any new friendship grow back on top of it.
The phone-- a burner, nothing that Endellion was attached to in any way-- made an impressively loud sound when Dude's burning fist spiked it into the unyielding concrete between their feet. Slivers of circuitry and black plastic fanned out in a wide array, and the scuffed battery bounced its way into the grass. "NO!"
It almost looked like he would fall over-- he swayed uncertainly on his feet and took a step back to keep his balance. A limp hand reached up to his forehead, ghosting over the sweat-slickened skin for all of a second before it curled into a fist. Then it was at his side in a forceful gesture, matching its twin. He whirled on Kordelle, his black opal eyes positively feral. "You-- what the fuck did you just do?"
"You'll thank me for this later, Dude." Even to his own ears, Kordelle's confidence sounded tinny and disposable. "He's not really as bad as I thought he was." Maybe the assurance would help the older boy with making his inevitable transition from normal human to witch-in-training.
Still, that fire in Dude's eyes-- hadn't Kordelle seen it in someone else once before?-- was a dangerous one, and Kordelle had enough self-preservation to know that it was time to go. He had done what he had gone there to do. His ponytail charm jingling softly, Kordelle took a step back and to his right, letting the shadows swallow him whole. All too suddenly, the floor-length mirror in Fan Liu's basement study was under his fingertips, its cool glass sending shivers of frosty energy up though his veins.
Endellion stepped back and drew his lower lip in between his teeth, worrying the tender skin. He should have stayed, should have said more, should have explained things better before springing that life-changing surprise on his friend.
One day, Dude would understand, though.
He had to.