Chapter Text
The wind gently rocked his sky blue tassels back and forth as Zanka walked through the alleys of Canvas town. Lovely Assistaff was securely strapped to his back, shining proudly at the awe-filled eyes of onlookers.
Not that he could blame them. After all, Zanka was a witch apprentice.
Having taken on and passed the first three trials, his master Enjin had begun allowing Zanka to start helping some townspeople with mundane tasks if able and discreet enough.
This was despite Zanka still technically not being allowed but Enjin seemed able to get away with anything.
In a few months the young witch would undergo the final trial regardless, achieving his independence. Then he could finally begin to truly make a difference in the lives of humanity.
“Mister Witch! Help me with my cart!” An aged man’s voice called out. Zanka’s head turned towards a cart slumped on the floor.
The ink on the spell sigil has probably been smudged. He guessed before walking over.
Making a show of looking over the cart’s surface then peaking underneath to actually evaluate the severity of the damage, he identified the issue.
A dirt stain on the surface of the plate used to levitate the cart above the ground had caused the spell circle to break.
He turned back to the impatient townsman who had started tapping his foot on the floor. Keep your cool Zanka.
“I’ll be happy to help, please allow me some privacy to fix it.” Zanka requested, putting on his best smile as practiced before taking the cart into an enclosed room.
Lovely Assistaff was carefully loosened from her straps; her smooth, cold metal bringing a smile to Zanka’s face before he raised his head to look for any gaps or cracks in the walls that could expose his spell casting.
Once deeming the room secure enough, he connected the circles again by expertly dragging the base of Lovely Assistaff’s along the surface, the ink secreted connecting the circle once again, causing it to glow as a result.
Replacing the now fixed metal on the underside of the cart, it began to lift off the ground, hovering evenly as it should, hence allowing Zanka to bring it back outside and return it to its owner.
The man nodded in gratitude, quickly lifting his belongings onto the now mostly weightless cart and dragging it away by its handle.
Zanka sighed. Whatever, it was a job well done. Now no more distractions.
The truth was that he had headed out to Canvas town in order to purchase more ink for his Lovely Assistaff in Kalhn, hidden from the eyes of regular folk.
It was also the location of the witch Gob, a craftsman talented enough to have his own renowned shop alongside his apprentice, a girl named Remlin that Rudo had befriended in his first few weeks under Enjin’s care.
Finally passing through the barrier, he headed through the well paved path to the shop entrance.
A small bell rang to announce his arrival upon pushing the door open and Remlin instantly appeared, running down the stairs with her signature enthusiastic grin.
“Zanka! How are you? Do you need more ink or help with your staff?” She quickly shot out.
Zanka shook his head. “No, Lovely Assistaff is fine thank you, however I do need an ink restock. The most recent type please, it glides so smoothly out of her.”
He watched as the redhead dashed up the stairs, probably to either get Gob or the supplies that he needed themselves.
Now left alone, he couldn’t help but gaze at the Silverwood the shop had been built around.
Lovely Assistaff had once been part of a Silverwood tree’s branches after all.
He thought back to their first meeting, a row of unique shapes and sizes of pens spread along a table with a stick mistakenly placed at the very edge.
It had stood out so much that none of the other Hellguard candidates had dared to touch it, but Zanka had naively thought it a secret test set up by his siblings.
Instead he made a fool of himself in front of everyone then was publicly reprimanded and ripped away from any connection to his family name.
Zanka had thought that day was the end of everything. After all, an apprentice without a master was as good as dead.
But a late arrival appeared three hours later, a blonde man covered in the type of tattoos only offered by the regular side of the world.
He was a man Zanka had heard his sister cuss out regularly at the dinner table, so he took his chance and approached him.
Even months after his idiocy had been revealed to his saviour who had happily taken him in, he hadn’t cast him away.
Instead Enjin began encouraging his interests further and later arranged with Gob to alter his stick for ink cartridges to be installed so that Zanka could spellcast the way he truly wanted to.
He owed Enjin everything and Zanka would never forget that.
The witch apprentice’s hands tightened around Assistaff before his attention was torn away by Remlin announcing her return.
He quickly paid for the supplies and left, wanting to return before nightfall to avoid the party Riyo would undoubtedly throw, probably using Rudo’s recent test passing as an excuse if he knew his sister apprentice well enough.
Breaching the barrier into the regular side of Canvas town, Zanka began heading towards the nearest windowway that led him back to the Akuta atelier before a flash of purple caused his head to snap to the side.
The owner of the eye-catching fuchsia startled as well, blinking innocently at him as he met Zanka’s scrutinising gaze.
“What’s up? Somethin’ on my face?” The guy asked after an awkwardly silent beat.
Something was itching at the back of Zanka’s mind. He couldn’t put his finger on the reason why, but those eyes seemed so familiar.
“Yoohoo? Hellooo?” The voice drawled out with a teasing undertone due to Zanka having just remained silent and narrowing his eyes instead of answering him.
Zanka mentally kicked himself and couldn’t help the scowl forming on his face at the guy’s increasingly smug expression.
The man’s face changed into an animated laugh, his hypnotising- what?- locs bouncing from where they were tied into a high ponytail.
“You got a name Mr Bad Attitude?” The stranger asked him, leaning to one side with that grin Zanka was beginning to believe was permanently etched onto his face.
It somehow pissed him off to no end.
“First of all, fuck you.” He bit out before he could stop himself. “And it's Zanka.”
The guy’s eyes widened in interest- what was wrong with him?- before nodding, acknowledging the information Zanka definitely should not be giving out so casually to strangers.
“Well nice to meet ya Zanka, names’ Jabber Wonger. Wanna get somethin’ to eat?”
Something about the way the man tilted his head, the wind carrying his words towards Zanka’s ears with such lazy ease made him want to forget his evening plans and follow him wherever he wanted.
However this was for only a brief moment.
“As much as I would like to,” he began politely, “I have duties to finish up at my atelier.”
More like partying lunatics to hide from. He grumbled internally.
Jabber hummed before reaching over to flick the blue tassel dangling from a short ribbon attached to the tip of his pointed hat.
“Just take the uniform off, no one will care. Besides I’m not gonna snitch on ya.” His purple eyes looked up to him and shone into Zanka’s soul.
“Pinky promise.”
Zanka opened his mouth to refuse again but hesitated. It was already late into the afternoon. By the time he arrived Riyo would have already got the party started and would no doubt drag him in.
If he arrived once they were all mostly wasted however…
“Fine.” He relented, ignoring the bright smile emanating from the other as Zanka immediately began regretting his choices.
The blonde carefully pressed out any potential creases, folding the uniform as elegantly as possible before tucking it into his bag alongside his hat.
He kept Lovely Assistaff strapped to his back however, refusing to part with her even for a moment.
Jabber looked a bit confused at his arrival. “Not gonna put your staff away?”
He responded with a firm shake of his head. “Wherever I go, she goes.” He answered, leaving no room for argument with an unshakable glare. Not that Jabber cared much.
“Yeah no that's cool man don’t worry.” He dismissed him easily with a lazy wave of his hand before gesturing for Zanka to follow him.
Jabber led him through areas bustling with people either closing up their stalls for the night or rushing through like they were. It felt out of the ordinary to not have the public form a path for Zanka to try and reach wherever he was headed faster.
The unfamiliarity clearly showed on his face, as Jabber tugged on his loose sleeve from where it pooled around his wrist, having the pair pass mostly undetected behind the buildings until the boy sped up upon laying eyes on a lit up restaurant.
It seemed more like a hole in a wall rather than a building, reminding Zanka once again of how different this whole experience was despite only just walking through the door.
As the waiter brought them their flimsy plastic menus, Jabber quickly snatched the second away before the other could even skim read the choices.
He smiled again at Zanka’s responding glare. “I’ll pick somethin’ and then you’ll tell me if you like it or not, ‘kay?”
Whatever. If it’s shit I can just pretend to like it. He thought.
Twenty minutes later some type of fried dish arrived and was placed in front of Zanka.
He had personally always preferred more soupy textures- or with any kind of broth really- so he mentally prepared himself to need to force the whole dish down.
However upon biting into it, choosing to ignore Jabber’s watchful eye, his mouth was flooded with a rich crispy flavour, flooding into his mouth with a type of meat he wasn’t familiar with.
Was it pork? No, the texture was completely different. He thought, looking down at the half eaten leg. Chicken? No, chicken’s flavour is too mild for this.
A loud slurp interrupted his chain of thought as Jabber looked at him expectantly while devouring a plate of noodles drenched in spice. Zanka immediately started chewing on the meat again.
It was delicious, okay? Sue him.
Once both plates were finished, Zanka waited for the waiter to bring the bill after taking the plates away. However Jabber just waved the guy off and only received a polite nod in return.
“What was that about? Don’t we need to pay?” He hissed as Jabber practically dragged him out of the restaurant. “Also what did you give me back there? I’ve never eaten it before!”
The man shrugged casually. “I know the owner and we’re chill so it’s on the house. And what you ate today my friend…” He trailed off, trying to create suspense despite Zanka’s unimpressed expression.
“...was a squirrel!”
Zanka blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that. “It’s got a really rich flavour, I wouldn’t mind having it again. Thank you.”
Jabber cackled in response. “Loosen up a bit dude! Come on, I've got a great icebreaker!” He leaned in before peering over Zanka’s shoulder to the item strapped to his back.
“So how does this lady work? Does the ink get replaced regularly…” Zanka’s blood went cold as Jabber’s knowing gaze met his own. “... or is it made in a way so that the ink doesn’t clump?”
The reason why Zanka was hesitant on spending too much time by himself in town wasn’t because of being asked to cast a thousand spells per second by the townspeople.
It was because he was afraid of his own inexperience accidentally exposing the big secret kept for hundreds of years.
The secret that their spells were drawn, not cast. In fact there was no specific requirement to be a witch other than a pen and paper.
Anyone who had either found out accidentally or exposed the secret was immediately victim to a complete memory erasure in order to protect their society.
Which meant Zanka needed to deal with this quickly.
He automatically reached for his palm quire but then upon touching air he remembered. He had taken his uniform off, leaving all of his pre-drawn spells inside the inner pocket.
Jabber was still waiting for an answer, blinking at him owlishly.
Shit. What do I do? There’s too many people around, I can’t just redraw the spell openly. He thought.
“C’mon man don’t be shy, I thought we were getting to know each other here.” Jabber muttered out, a playful glint in his eyes which gave Zanka an idea.
A crazy insane idea that would definitely subject him to months of teasing if anyone saw him, but he had no other choice.
He reached out and brushed his carefully manicured yet calloused fingertips over the edge of Jabber’s collar.
“We can get to know each other if you want?” Zanka answered, looking up through his eyelashes.
For the first time since they bumped into each other, Jabber seemed caught off guard.
Good. He thought. I just need to lead him away, then I can erase his memory and pretend this never happened.
Tilting his head to expose the blue tassel threaded into the dark hair around his neck, Zanka gestured with a quick glance towards a more secluded alleyway.
“We’re not really supposed to tell people,” He began, speaking in a lower voice trying to emulate how his master flirted with girls when trying to entertain himself for a night.
“But I can give you a private show if you want?”
A beat passed before Jabber broke out of his stupor and cackled loudly, letting himself be easily led away from the crowds and any prying eyes.
The second the pair were out of sight however, Zanka dropped his bag and began rummaging through it.
“Sorry about this- I appreciate the dinner, but no one can know.” He carefully explained, picking up a spare pen he always carried just in case.
Zanka had always hated pens, they didn’t fit right in his grip no matter what he did, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The nib ran smoothly over the small circular paper in his quire, drawing the sigil every witch had memorised to the point of being able to draw it in their sleep.
Because the most important thing about their abilities was to keep their society secret.
Right as he was about to connect the last circle, Jabber’s hand knocked him off course, forming a jagged line instead of activating the spell. The childish action felt like something he might have seen during his days in the Hellguard.
He was about to either flick to a new page or forgo subtlety all together and use his Assistaff, when Jabber wiggled a similar pen between his own fingers.
“Relax, Mr. Bad Attitude, I’m off duty right now.” He explained in between spouts of giggling. “I ran into ya while heading back to my own atelier.”
Now Zanka just looked like a naive idiot that had jumped the gun too fast.
“Better to be safe than sorry.” He spat back, maintaining a firm scowl, tucking his stationary back where it was safely hidden underneath layers of fabric.
Jabber tutted quietly. “Yeah I guess so, I don’t really hang ‘round these places often so maybe I should’ve specified.”
His gaze trained onto Zanka again with a mischievous undertone. “Especially with so many goody two shoes around.”
Zanka sighed, tired of the other witch apprentice’s- was he an apprentice? Maybe he should ask- antics for a night.
Before he could however, a cold gust of wind surged through the space making him shiver without his robes.
When had it gotten so late?
“Who’s your master- you’re an apprentice right?” Zanka blurted out. “We can meet again and share our skills with each other in the future.”
An unimpressed hum rang through the air. Jabber shrugged. “Not my style, besides runnin’ into each other randomly is much more fun if you ask me.”
Zanka slapped his arm. “You just said you don’t come around here often dipshit!” When did he become so vulgar? If Kyouka could see him now…
An entertained grin cracked open on Jabber’s face again, “But I’ll be here in two days after dark! We can meet up then?”
Any words left Zanka’s throat as he hesitated to respond. After dark, he could always sneak out if necessary but…
“I’ll think about it, how about that?” He responded curtly before tilting an intrigued head at Jabber.
The other witch had begun fiddling with a bracelet filled with charms around his wrist- one of many items of jewellery Zanka noted- before plucking out a small purple bead and stretching a hand towards him.
“Here ya go! Now we can switch, just gimme one of the blue ones I saw you wearin’ earlier.” He demanded.
Zanka didn’t know why he didn’t argue, exchanging the small items before fastening the new colour on the ribbon attached to his hat. The deep magenta caused a visible contrast compared to the sky blue Zanka usually preferred, but he couldn’t say it looked out of place either.
A ghost of a smile pushed at his cheeks as Zanka flew back to the Akuta atelier, his new bead flying around in the wind up until the moment he landed in front of the brightly lit building despite the time.
Right on the money. He grumbled internally, pushing open the door and being blasted with the stench of alcohol and the blaring sound of music.
Attempting to immediately retreat upstairs before Enjin- or worse Riyo- spotted him, Zanka had barely made it to the base of the stairs when a strong hand clasped his shoulder.
He raised his head and made eye contact with the watchful eye of the atelier, Gris Rubion, and nodded respectfully in greeting. The blond, kind eyes as ever, dismissed him.
“Working quite late tonight it seems Zanka.” Gris let out a hearty chuckle. “Good job as always, but don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Zanka flushed instinctively. Working hard yeah sure. He thought to himself as the taste of squirrel still lingered in his mouth. Working soooo incredibly hard.
Biting his tongue to avoid revealing any hints of his lack of focus that evening, Gris’ eyes widened and he stepped back, allowing Zanka to brace himself for the weight of his best friend on his shoulders.
“Zankaaaa! You’re so late man!” Riyo whined, making him grimace and try to move his ear away from the irritating voice. She responded by just tugging on his arm and trying to yank him towards the table covered in all sorts of diabetes inducing food.
Upon feeling his firm resistance however, she eventually gave up, going back to ogling his clothes again. “Oooo, your blue’s got some purple now…” She froze, trailing off.
Zanka wanted to bury himself.
Her hands tightly grabbed his shoulders and her eyes darted from the embarrassed expression on his face to the purple bead, to his expression again before squealing at the top of her lungs.
“ZANKA! YOU SWITCHED BEADS WITH SOMEONE!?”
The entire atelier instantly went so silent you could have heard a pin drop.
Zanka slowly took off his hat and pointlessly hid it behind his back, hesitating briefly before running past Riyo and up to his room.
Across the room, Rudo turned from where his cheeks were stuffed with candy to where his mentor was sitting next to him.
“Enjin what’s that big deal? It’s just a bead, right?” He asked with a muffled voice and a deepened scowl.
His master sighed before taking another drag of his cigarette, making everyone in the vicinity cough and move away. “It’s an old tradition but most are still aware of it.”
He hummed in thought before snapping his fingers. “Like gifting roses while asking out a girl!” Rudo somehow scowled even harder and curled into himself at the comparison.
Yeesh rough topic okay. Enjin reminded himself, grimacing.
“Anyways… switching hat ornaments is something lovers, at least at the start of some good old fashioned courtship, used to do.”
The apprentice froze before whipping his head to the grinning man with wide eyes. “Wait. But if Zanka- then that means-”
“Yup.” Enjin finished off, trying to choke down laughter to keep his face straight. “Our ZanZan has someone special keeping him out late at night.”
“...” Rudo didn’t know what to say. His master began giggling immaturely at his newest apprentice’s reaction. A pause.
“But Zanka?” He muttered. “Really?”
Enjin choked on his food.
The older teen in question had retired early to bed but hadn’t managed to tear his gaze away from the reflection of the full moon on the deep shade of magenta.
Memorising the texture of the bead's smooth surface, Zanka rolled it through his fingers and felt a smile tug at his lips before shooting upright and slapping himself in the face.
Get your act together. You’ve known him for less than a few hours.
Zanka didn’t know what he was doing.
After catching himself carefully ironing his cloak for the third time that day, he knew that sneaking out to meet Jabber that night would be inevitable.
He hadn’t ever snuck out- especially not in the middle of the night, and especially not to meet up with another boy.
Nevertheless, he double checked Riyo was still sleeping like the dead and tightened his cloak around his shoulders before silently stepping out of the window.
The cold, harsh wind surged against his pale skin as his body plummeted with the force of gravity and Zanka could only imagine the way Jabber’s bead was flying around alongside him.
Pressing his soles together, he seamlessly shot up into the sky with nothing but a small green glowing trail as evidence, leaving the atelier behind and heading into town.
Gliding through the pitch black alleyways, Zanka kept his blue eyes scanning the shadows for any sign of the other, before a small tap on his shoulder startled him.
“Yoohoo, nice to see ya Mr Bad Attitude.” Jabber greeted. His hands were comfortably tucked into a loose fitting purple hoodie which complimented the baggy jeans that pooled around his ankles.
Suddenly Zanka felt very self conscious about still being in uniform.
Before he could comment on it however, Jabber’s ringed hands grabbed him and began leading him away.
Similarly to last time, the blond chose not to ask, but instead spoke up once Jabber started slowing down their brisk pace.
“If you had told me you’d be wearing this, I would have dressed differently, you know.” He grumbled, not enjoying how his cape kept snagging on loose branches protruding from nearby bushes.
Jabber snorted in response, looking back to relish in Zanka’s venomous glare. “It’s fine don’t worry, I hate those pointy hats anyways, don’t sweat it.”
Now that was out of place.
As the pair began settling down on the top of a hill just on the outskirts of civilisation, he frowned at the other. “Our pointed hats represent who we are. They’re a symbol of our dedication to help people.”
He was responded by Jabber kissing his teeth, unimpressed. “You quote that from a textbook?”
Zanka felt like he was going to lose it. “What’s wrong with you? Why even be a witch if you don’t want to help people?”
Their silence spread and mixed with the night, shining down on them with millions of stars that seemed to suck Jabber’s attention away from Zanka’s concerns.
Eventually he sighed with a hint of disinterest. “Is that really all what witchcraft is for?” He turned his head and met the confused, blinking, blue eyes of his companion.
Jabber raised his hand, flourishing the golden rings adorning his fingers before tilting them towards the sky and pressing his thumbs together.
It was an uncommon- but not unheard of- trick to use jewellery as a quick way to spell cast, but Zanka couldn’t help but look in awe at how the circle connected and began to glow.
The sigil seemed to emerge from the ring itself, glowing and transforming into the messy shape of a scorpion before blasting into the sky in an explosive light show.
Bright pink sparks rained down on them and Zanka continued to gape at the remnants of light dissipating into the midnight. His mouth was partially parted and his hands tightly gripped the grass beneath him.
“Pretty right?” Jabber suddenly interrupted, snapping Zanka out of his entranced daze to see the other staring at him attentively. “I call her Mankira.”
He shrugged against the dirt to get more comfortable before speaking again.
“Isn’t this enough? Why’s there gotta be some higher reason?” Jabber muttered bitterly.
Zanka looked upwards to where the only light remaining was that of the moon, and stood up.
He removed Lovely Assistaff from her holder, tapped his fingers on her smooth surface with furrowed brows for a beat then began drawing in the dirt at their feet. He briefly looked up at Jabber’s curiously watchful eyes and paused before completing the circle.
Bright blue light immediately began glowing and a shaky outline of a hare jumped around them before exploding above their heads in a slightly smaller, yet similar fashion to Jabber’s scorpion.
Once again, the light spitting down on them left the blond breathless, causing him to unconsciously grip tighter on his beloved staff.
As it finally faded away, Zanka sat back down, although now closer, to the other teen.
The silence was quickly cleared with an awkward clearing of his throat. “I think if it brings you happiness then it’s fine. You are human too after all.”
Jabber blinked before barking out a laugh, chest shaking as a wide grin stretched on his face. It was quickly cut off by a harsh jab to his stomach.
“Don’t get me excited here, Zanka~.” He giggled back, “I might get hard.”
Zanka blinked before narrowing his eyes in a glare once again. “Don’t get ahead of yourself just yet.” He muttered, slapping the back of his head.
“Hah!” Jabber let his body weight fall on the other with an exaggerated whine. “Do it again!”
“No.”
Despite his scoff, Zanka couldn’t help but smile at Jabber’s laughter echoing into the night.
The moment seemed to last an eternity, resulting in Zanka hastily attempting to scurry away once the moon began to set despite Jabber grabbing onto his sleeve while eagerly digging his hand in his pocket.
“Jabber, I need to go. My master might not be an early riser, but my roommate is!” He pleaded despite the easy smile still remaining on his face.
Jabber raised a finger, asking him to wait a second, and finally let out a cheerful “aha!” as an identical bead was held out, and his eyebrows were raised with nothing but expectance.
And so as Zanka scaled the wall of the Akuta atelier, he paused to gaze at the second purple bead gently knocking against the first from where it was fastened on his hat’s ribbon. It was this distraction that meant that as he stumbled into his room, an unlit lamp was launched at his head, narrowly missing his face.
Raising his hands to defend himself if necessary, Zanka made eye contact with a freshly woken up and incredibly startled Rudo, holding the toilet plunger as a makeshift weapon.
“Shit wrong floor.” Zanka muttered, pushing past the younger to head upstairs before coming back to level a death stare at the sleepy teen.
“Tell anyone about this and I’ll snitch on your candy stash.” He hissed.
Rudo scoffed in annoyance. “Like I care about what you do…” he trailed off and Zanka followed his gaze to the newest addition to his hat ornaments. The older apprentice flicked the side of his head. “I mean it Rudo. Not. A. Word.”
Luckily as Zanka woke up four hours later in order to head down for breakfast, no one seemed aware of why he was especially groggy and tired that morning.
He slowly made his way down the stairs while running a hand through his grey locks to try and force it to behave and spotted Rudo already sitting down and eating. They made brief eye contact before Rudo scowled and silently went back to eating.
Good. Zanka thought, putting on his pointed cap before reaching over the table to grab a slice of bread by his mentor’s elbow. “Mornin’ Enjin, mornin’ Gris, morning Rudo.” He muttered.
“Morning Zank-” Enjin was cut off by a harsh choking noise. Zanka raised his head to see Gris gently patting the back of the blond now gaping at his apprentice’s hat.
For a brief moment, Zanka regretted ever agreeing to exchange beads in the first place.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the scraping of a chair as a now recovered Enjin very faux casually moved to sit closer.
“So… what’s her name…?” Enjin began.
Tightening the grip on his spoon, Zanka took a moment to think before quietly answering. “Uh it’s a he… actually.”
Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw his master happily nodding before gesturing for him to continue. “You wouldn’t know him, I haven’t even seen him outside of town before.”
“Really?” Gris asked from the opposite side of the table, surprise evident. “You’re quite well connected. Any idea on who his master is then?”
“Um… we don’t really talk about that.” Zanka tried not to sound too embarrassed. “I don’t know where he’s from but he’s not from around here.”
He remained silent, hoping the others would take the hint and change the subject. Luckily Enjin nodded and turned to the other three. “Anyways you have a request to help find a lady’s missing puppy.”
He turned to Rudo. “Zanka can show you how to use the tracers properly, the woman said she has some of the animal’s fur on site.”
Rudo nodded before looking over at the man in question. Upon feeling the stare however, Zanka levelled him a short glare before tutting quietly and continuing to eat.
Follo met up with them just under an hour later, and under the supervision of Gris, they headed through the appropriate windowway.
The client lived in a colder area of the Ground, making Rudo shiver slightly and pull his cape tighter around his shoulders as the four of them headed towards the town where she said she would meet them.
The town itself seemed deserted weirdly enough, making Follo look at Gris with a hint of confusion. “This place seems nice to live in, why would people stay away?”
The watchful eye shrugged. “Sometimes we just don’t get the full picture, I’m sure they have their reasons. Come on, we have a job to do.” Turning around to see where Zanka and Rudo had ended up, he found them speaking with a young woman.
“-Yes and he just vanished! You’ll help me right? Here’s the fur!” She pleaded, practically shoving the hair into Rudo’s gloved hands which Zanka quickly took off him.
He smiled reassuringly at the woman. “Don’t worry, your boy will be home in no time.” The witch turned to the white head of hair at his side.
“Watch.” He instructed once the lady had wandered away out of earshot. “You put the sample inside like this.” He inserted the fur as slowly as possible so Rudo wouldn’t miss anything. “And now it will point us to the dog.”
He handed the tracer to the younger apprentice and stood back with Follo and Gris. “Lead us, go on.”
Following the needle, Rudo slowly led them through the town and into a tunnel, making Zanka stop them and check if Rudo was using it correctly. “It’s pointing underground… that’s weird, I thought dogs enjoyed the sun more than anything.” He muttered before letting the other continue.
Eventually they came across a large heap of fur in the corner of a room. Rudo’s eyes lit up in recognition and started to make his way over before Zanka stopped him, blocking his path with Lovely Assistaff.
“Something doesn’t feel right, I’ll check it out.” He ordered. “It might be sick or injured.”
As he got closer however, he realised the pile of fur wasn’t even moving but instead glowing and managed to jump out of the way before it exploded.
“Zanka! You okay?” Gris called out, rushing to his side. The apprentice waved him off before tensing up and glaring at the other side of the room.
Two purple lanterns lit up, revealing two witches with wide brims adorning their hats.
“Yeah… always trust my gut. Got it.” He muttered, stepping back to where Rudo was watching with wide eyes. The woman who had hired them was now standing before them with a lantern attached to her hip.
“So what’s this about then?” Zanka called out. “Nice trap by the way, classic puppy rescue.”
“We’re here for the spherite. Now hand him over.” The woman snarled at him, brandishing her pen at the pointed hats.
Gris turned to the apprentice in question, now scowling at the pair. “Come on Rudo, we have a protocol for this. You, me and Follo head up to the surface to get help and Zanka will slow them down.”
He turned to Zanka, now unclasping Assistaff from his back. “Hey Zanka-”
“Got it, it’s what I’m here for. Now get moving.”
The sound of footsteps behind him gave him a small sense of relief before the pair began stalking forwards again.
“So why do the brimmed caps suddenly have an interest in our newest apprentice anyways?” He muttered, fiddling through his palm quire for the spells he prepared for situations like these.
The woman glared at him with disgust. “What would a pointed hat know about true magic anyways. You’re all a bunch of fakers!” She yelled before completing a spell circle causing the ground to form dozens of mud golems that immediately surrounded them.
Zanka rolled his eyes. “I don’t even need a spell to beat golems this weak. Manipulating the environment on a large scale, a clear example of forbidden magic, and yet you can only achieve this?”
Swinging his staff through dirt figures trying to clear them out, he was met with a harsh punch to the face from seemingly nowhere. “And now invisibility mixed in with some bodily transmutation.” He muttered.
“So you’re the muscle for this witch right?” He called out to the man who had now disappeared from his initial position.
Waiting for the sound of footsteps behind him, he swung, hitting something hard yet invisible causing a loud crash as it fell to the ground. Surging forwards past the golems, Zanka immediately slammed the woman against a nearby pillar in a similar fashion, turning around to ready himself for a counter attack.
However neither of them moved and both the invisibility and the golems began either disappearing or returning to the ground.
“Just one hit? Really?” He asked the open air, relaxing his stance to begin heading back through the tunnel before a small clink of metal behind him caught his attention.
Zanka hastily whipped his head around and barely caught a bright flash of heat before he was suddenly crashing against the opposite wall, pillars crumbling down and knocking his palm quire out of his hand.
What was that? Did I miss one? His thoughts were racing.
He reached out under the rubble from where his arm was partially pinned down and luckily managed to brush his fingers over Assistaff.
Distant footsteps caused him to turn back towards his assailant before his blood ran cold upon meeting Jabber’s eyes.
He was dressed in a similar fashion compared to the other two brimmed caps. A lantern was fixed onto a purple belt drooping slightly on his waist and his clothing consisted of loose white sleeves and dark trousers, but what really caught Zanka’s attention was his hat.
Comfortably resting on top of his dreads, a large brimmed hat was hanging over, almost obscuring, Jabber’s face. Sharp claws were poking over the edge, decorative but somehow fitting.
The base of the crown was almost completely covered in strings of jewellery and beads, each carefully tangled together.
Amongst a string, almost unnoticeable unless looking for it, Zanka couldn’t tear his eyes away from two light blue beads swaying with every movement the brimmed cap made.
He couldn’t help but realise that they looked like they belonged on him.
The brimmed cap crouched down to him, smiling in the same way he had when they first met, and picked up his palm quire. “I’ll be back for ya Mr Bad Attitude, just sit tight for me okay?” He giggled, throwing it further out of reach and running off, presumably after Rudo.
Zanka was an idiot. A complete, total, screw up idiot.
“Who were those punks?” Rudo demanded, running alongside Gris.
The man sighed and kept moving. “Brimmed caps. Remember how Enjin explained what forbidden magic was? Well those guys refused to listen to reason and decided that forbidden magic is exactly what they wanted to specialise in.”
“They’re bad news, especially for us.”
Rudo frowned and kept his gaze on the floor before bumping into Follo. “Huh? Why’d you-”
He cut himself off upon seeing the entrance of the tunnel completely blocked off. Gris gritted his teeth in thought before Rudo turned to him.
“I- I still have the tracer.” He began. “If we put something from the atelier in it, won’t it lead us out?”
Gris nodded and quickly began rummaging through his pockets. “Great idea Rudo, good job, I have this?” He pulled out a charm in the shape of a hand.
Follo scoffed in laughter at the side. “That’s Gris’ good luck charm, he prays to it before every mission he takes. Make sure to take care of it.”
The apprentice nodded, carefully inserting it inside as Zanka had done with the animal fur, watching how the needle recalibrated and pointed them through a small opening on the side. Quickly searching through his quire, he finished a circle and broke the wall, allowing all of them to pass through with no issue.
They continued through the dark, illuminated by a small fireball lit by Follo before sunlight began slowly lighting up the tunnel.
“We must be close, come on.” Gris encouraged them before quick footsteps sounded behind them. “Zanka? Are you injured anywhere? I’m sure the brimmed caps are in worse shape!”
Zanka didn’t answer them though, so Rudo narrowed his eyes at the darkness from where they were coming from. “Zanka?” He called out hesitantly.
But a different man bent over to catch his breath, face obscured by a large hat on his head before his eyes trained on Rudo.
Gris grabbed the back of his cape and shoved him behind him. “Stay back- it’s another brimmed cap!” He turned to Follo, closest to the exit. “Quick! We need to get out of here!”
The brimmed cap kissed his teeth in annoyance before surging past them and clinking two rings together, exploding bright heat into the walls and collapsing the tunnel exit, Follo barely escaping to the other side.
Unsatisfied with having let one escape, the brimmed cap slowly turned back to the remaining pair.
Gris instantly stood in front of Rudo, glaring at the witch. “There was a pointed hat the way you came. What happened to him?!”
“Hey little man.” He began, ignoring the older one completely and instead leaning to the side to talk to Rudo. “We’ve got someone who wants to chat with you. After all, you’re the apprentice who murdered his father right…?”
The way the man’s mouth stretched into a cruel grin made Rudo’s blood boil. He met his eye fearlessly. “The witch with the staff- where is he!?”
The brimmed hat tapped his finger on his chin as if in thought before blinking twice. “Ohh, the guy with the bad attitude!”
He let out a small amused chuckle. “You’ve got nothin’ to worry about. I tend to go easy on strong guys after all, so he’s just recoverin’ from the beat down I gave him.”
Whatever else he wanted to say was cut off by Gris swinging his fist towards the witch's face. He ducked, spun and kicked him away. “Yeah you’re not worth the effort.” He spat at Gris.
“Well I’m here anyways, and as the watchful eye I look after those residing in my atelier.” He declared, taking his spot in front of Rudo again protectively.
Rudo spoke up again in response. “Gris it’s okay, you don’t need to protect me-!”
“-yeah… promise you won’t crash out on me right?” Jabber immediately interrupted, feigning boredom.
“I think he’s already dead.”
The air seemed to leave Rudo's lungs.
Time seemed to slow as Gris’ body began to slump to the ground.
Rudo briefly recognised he was letting out a cry of rage as thick strokes of ink were drawn on the ground beneath him with nothing but his hands and the brimmed cap had the audacity to look excited about it.
He was going to kill this asshole.
He had naturally memorised the spell the masked figure had used on Regto, hoping to recognise the culprit some day like Enjin said, but now he could put it to use as well.
His dark stained fingers moved to complete the outer ring but a strong, familiar grip stopped it firmly. He looked down in shock at Gris’ pained eyes.
The deep stab wound kept slowly pulsing out blood, but Gris’ grip never wavered. “Rudo don’t- don’t you dare-” A painful and wet cough wrecked his figure. “Forbidden magic… it’s not worth it don’t…” His body began to shiver.
As his eyes began to close Rudo moved back to complete the spell circle, but hesitated. This however caused him to react late to the bright light in front of him until something shoved him out of the way at the last second.
Coughing the dust out of his lungs he looked up to see Zanka, looking like a mess and panting like he had just ran a marathon, but standing by his side.
“Rudo.” He hissed. “You’re strong and I’m exhausted from climbing out of a pile of rubble. Carry Gris, break open the wall and call the Knights Moralis.”
He looked at the older apprentice with wide eyes, then to the spell almost complete on the ground. “Zanka… I almost-”
“I know. It’s okay because you didn’t, even though you really wanted to.” He answered back. “Now go.”
Zanka stepped forwards towards the brimmed cap, now with a much wider smile than before, as Rudo dashed towards Gris and began half dragging, half carrying him towards the blocked exit.
“Now now… as much as I would enjoy our fight, I have a job to do here.” Jabber told him, waving a finger as if scolding a small child.
“Well too bad.” Zanka shot back, tearing out a page of his quire and attaching it to the base of his shoe in one swift movement. “You’ll have to get through me first.”
Planting Assistaff on the floor, he made a large circle with his left foot in the dead centre. A large spell circle with a tiny sigil in the middle.
An extremely concentrated blast of smoke erupted from the spell circle, instantly drowning the area in thick fog, making it almost impossible to see. Jabber’s laughter echoed through as Zanka widened his stance and readied another sigil.
Long claws cut through the dense smoke and Zanka ducked before swinging Assistaff wide, slamming the body into what he assumed was a wall. Jabber’s direction of landing shone brightly as Zanka hastily drew up a water wall to protect from the spiral of fire sent in his direction.
The flames, having cut through the smoke, illuminated Jabber’s blurry figure going straight for Zanka’s legs while pressing two of his rings together, completing a spell circle.
He jumped away, using Lovely Assistaff as a makeshift pole vault, successfully escaping the fireball directed towards where he had just been standing.
Upon landing he tore out a spell from the very back of his quire. One he had prepared for situations such as these where escape was a primary objective.
He remembered how one day Enjin had sat him down and explained to him that he needed a way to protect himself.
“Most high level witches either become targets or accidentally encounter brimmed caps after all. You should always have something which packs a punch on standby.”
“But magic which harms another person is forbidden.” Zanka had dutifully responded.
“And that’s where the beauty of loopholes comes in handy my dear apprentice.” His master had happily argued, patting his back. “Now let’s get brainstorming.”
Thank you Enjin, you were right once again. Zanka thought to himself as he spun, completing the spell circle as flawlessly as always, the ground lighting up in a way that had Zanka immediately shutting his eyes to avoid blindness.
Shooting the foot with the sigil on the bottom towards the outer edge, a beautiful shimmering owl erupted from the spell and launched itself at the cackling brimmed cap, flooding the area with blazing flashes of light.
Zanka turned and headed towards where he remembered Rudo dragging Gris through before the red light piercing his eyelids dimmed. He turned to see a scorpion clashing with his owl in response and the witch to blame suddenly right in front of him.
“Beautiful. I always knew you’d be beautiful.” Jabber breathed out, dripping with awe, before being launched to the ground beside them by Assistaff again.
However he quickly recovered and clinked his pinkies together and pointed them at Zanka.
The pointed hat could feel his limbs lock up as he crumbled to the ground, unable to make his limbs respond to him.
A sigh of exhaustion sounded from Jabber and Zanka couldn’t even lift his head to glare at him.
Paralysis. Of course he used forbidden magic on me. Zanka cursed internally. It’s all the brimmed caps are good at anyways.
Trying to twitch his fingers towards where he could see Assistaff, Zanka groaned in pain as his body refused. A strong ringed hand gripped his shoulder and turned him on his back.
“Apparently your squad pulled up just now, so we’ll snatch up your boy another time.” Jabber told him, tapping a weird choker around his neck. “But I’d hate to waste this opportunity.”
Zanka could feel his heart racing as Jabber took out a small hand quire similar to his own.
“We figured it out, don't you worry… you’ll remember yourself soon enough.” He promised lowly, flicking through the pages and settling down by Zanka’s side so that he could barely see him out of the corner of his eye.
“Attempt one, some regular old time reversal but brain focused.” He quietly muttered to himself, taking out a small pen and completing a circle, pointing it towards Zanka.
The apprentice flinched as much as the paralysis let him, feeling a strange sensation wash over him. Suddenly Zanka found that he could feel his face again.
Looking up, he saw Jabber scanning his face, searching for something specific. Zanka didn’t understand what was happening.
“Jabber…” He whispered, hoping to cut through to the boy he spoke to just last night but a hitched breath cut off what else he wanted to say.
Jabber’s eyes instantly lit up in what could only be described as unbridled hope. “Yes?” He grabbed Zanka’s hand. “I’m here, are you back?”
Zanka didn’t understand a thing about what was happening.
“Get the fuck off me.” He spat out. “The Knights Moralis will be here soon, what the hell are you trying to do to me!?”
Instead of answering, the brimmed hat simply tutted in annoyance. “Expected, but whatever.” He muttered again, flicking through his quire again eventually stopping, waiting, and nodding in agreement. “This one, Momoa’s favourite.”
This time the panic was much higher upon seeing the sigil. Jabber’s pen grew closer and closer to the page and Zanka knew he had to fight or risk never fighting again.
After all, while the spell’s exact purpose was unknown to him, every witch recognised the seals responsible for memory.
“NO! Get off! Don’t- don’t take them away!” He screamed, reaching for Assistaff.
Upon touching empty air however, he closed his fist and punched the brimmed cap in the face, kicking him off and throwing away the spell before he could complete it.
His body screamed in agony, fighting the lingering effects of the paralysis but Zanka forced himself to move upon seeing Jabber quickly recover. He had no other choice.
Fight. You’re tired but keep fighting right now. Zanka told himself. If you don’t then you’ll never fight again.
“THERE you are!” The brimmed cap cackled, forgetting the quire and launching himself at the witch apprentice again despite the blood dripping down his cheek. “That’s it- come back to me Mr Bad Attitude!”
Zanka reached out to punch him again, but ended up getting tackled to the ground instead.
Raking his nails across the other’s face, ripping his hat off to grab onto his hair and punch him in the throat, Zanka’s movement slowly grew unfocused and sluggish, focused only on stopping the witch holding him down.
Jabber hadn’t stopped grinning ear to ear, enjoying every moment, every ounce of pain inflicted on him until eventually headbutting Zanka hard enough to connect his pinkies again before the pointed cap could retaliate.
Zanka gasped in pain as he twitched uselessly on the floor. Tears began forming in his eyes upon seeing Jabber reach for the discarded quire again and retrieving his forgotten pen.
Don’t.
He tried to choke out- to beg, but Jabber just locked eyes with him, smiled and connected the circle.
Please no.
Little tendrils emerged from the page and reached for him, attaching themselves to his head against his will.
Searing pain erupted from his head as a pained scream tore out from his throat.
Joined hands. A thumb rubbing over a dark skinned palm as they pulled him closer, finding no resistance.
He could feel the wetness rolling down his cheek as ringed hands held the completed spell closer.
Chapped lips pressed against his jaw before his chest rumbled with carefree laughter.
Sharp agony overtook his head once again.
Purple eyes, a brimmed cap. Zanka reached out and moved a loose loc out of the way to cup the other’s cheek.
The connection severed and Zanka gasped for air. Jabber was gone. Familiar boots were standing over him as an umbrella was held out.
Enjin was shouting something at the brimmed cap but Jabber just readied his hands before a blue haired woman appeared out of nowhere, instantly grabbing her companion and teleporting them both away without another word.
Zanka felt his eyelids unwillingly begin to shut.
Quickly, Enjin darted over to grab the sigil before it could finish disintegrating. What kinds of spells disintegrate after use anyways? He grumbled internally.
He needed to know if Zanka should be taken to the hospital.
Scanning his eyes over the small amounts of leftover ink as it crumbled in his hands, Enjin couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. His world seemed to stop as he tore his eyes away from the ashes to his apprentice.
Memory spell. His apprentice passed out. Brimmed caps.
“Nonono- shit-” Enjin cursed, falling to his knees next to the boy and cradling his bloodied body in his arms. “Please no- not Zanka.” He quietly pleaded into his hair as footsteps sounded through the tunnel.
A gruff voice called out to him and Enjin raises his head to meet the eyes of Goka Nijiku, the vice commander of the Knights Moralis, who demanded an explanation through his sheer presence alone.
“Bastard did some kind of weird memory spell on him. I cut it off before it was finished but-”
“Appearance.” He interrupted rudely, sounding both professional and uncaring of the limp figure before him. “What did the brimmed cap look like?”
The hospital lights shone dimly onto Enjin’s lap.
His apprentices sat at his side, the three of them having just arrived after being interrogated by the Knights Moralis. What a lack of tact. He thought to himself.
Rudo was anxiously bouncing his leg and Riyo was rubbing her thumbs together. Enjin wished he could say their worry was for nothing.
“Listen you both.” He began, wincing at how they both immediately turned, giving their full attention to their master as if he held all the answers of the universe.
“Zanka got attacked badly by the brimmed cap, hence why he’s here.” Enjin steeled his nerves. “I managed to stop the sigil they used halfway through but it was a memory spell of some kind.”
Rudo narrowed his eyes, trying to understand while Riyo’s breath hitched.
“There’s a chance it had some effect, so when Zanka wakes up he might not remember some things or some people. Worst case scenario…” He forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat. “He might be sent away.”
Riyo buried her face in her master’s cloak as if trying to hide her emotions away from the world while Rudo just looked at him hopelessly with a trembling lip.
“Just let me go first okay? I’ll deal with whatever happens.”
Enjin had stumbled in, hangover in full effect and the slap of a one night stand still stinging on his cheek.
Ah shit. I missed the apprentices. He thought grimly. Gris is gonna kill me this time.
Looking around he saw all the other masters with their new apprentices, asking them questions and trying to get to know them. No one had seen him enter yet, if he could just slip away-
“Excuse me Master Enjin?” A polite yet quietly quivering voice asked.
Enjin had turned back to see a boy clutching a stick- a stick? What happened to using pens?- looking up at him, determination fierce in his eyes.
Wait, he knew this kid.
“Heya, Zanka right? How are you, is your sister too busy for you right now?” He asked awkwardly, looking around and locking eyes with a furious- much more than usual- Kyouka, standing on the opposite side of the hall.
Looking back at the boy standing in front of him, he watched Zanka press his lips together before speaking again. “Can you help me get stronger?”
What.
“I’m not a genius, but can you help me get stronger anyways?” He continued, looking up at him with a pathetically pleading expression.
This was the weirdest day of Enjin’s life. “What happened to your sister? Is she retired or something?” The boy flinched and looked down in shame.
“I’m not accepted at home anymore.”
A long silence stretched on, increasingly unbearable, until Enjin cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know what counts as a ‘genius’ but in my experience most mediocre folk overcome that eventually.”
The kid’s eyes lit up immediately in unbridled hope. Ah shit I’m taking him home aren’t I? He lamented internally. Kyouka is actually going to kill me this time.
“Be my Master please!” Zanka demanded. “I’ll work hard every day and I’ll prove that I can surpass geniuses through nothing but grit and determination!” He finished his declaration having raised his voice slightly.
Enjin sighed and tried to look encouraging upon patting his head. “Sure thing, wanna prove it to me kid?”
The nurse opened the door to the waiting room after what seemed like forever. “Zanka Nijiku?”
Standing up, and trying to give a reassuring smile to his apprentices, Enjin made his way through the door where Zanka’s blue eyes shot up and met his own almost instantly.
“Hey ZanZan, what’s the last thing you remember kiddo?” He asked softly, trying to hide any hint of worry in his tone.
Zanka blinked groggily, yawning slightly before answering him. “I was pinned down, and he- the brimmed cap- tried to use a memory spell on me-”
Enjin cut him off with a tight hug, exhaling shakily in relief. Thank the stars. He thought.
After asking the nurse to call in the other two, Enjin asked him how he felt, if anything hurt still and if he needed anything at the moment. The apprentice barely got to answer before Riyo and Rudo barrelled in, hugging him tightly and sobbing into his shoulder in Riyo’s case.
Rudo gripped his hands. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have left you-”
“Don’t pity me, you asshole. Didn’t you know? Basic doesn’t back down.” Zanka snapped back, glaring at him. Rudo blinked before scowling back.
“I was being nice! I realised that I misjudged you!”
“Screw you! You think you can judge me at all?”
The nurse came in to ask them to be quiet almost immediately. Enjin smiled, letting himself enjoy their bickering for just a few moments more.