A/N: A couple of people have been wanting a follow-up for my story Just a Little Black Magic, and somebody else requested a story where José gets really hurt when he's protecting the others. I decided to put those requests together.
José flinched and closed his eyes tightly as a powerful gust of wind blew so strongly that it nearly threatened to knock him over. When the wind died down slightly José opened his eyes ever so slightly to see how his companions were doing.
Donald had curled slightly in on himself, both of his hands gripped tightly on his hat to keep it on his head. José had long since lost his own hat to the wind, and when he saw Panchito ducking on the ground, his arms thrown over his head he knew that the rooster's sombrero was lost as well.
"Are you alright, my friends?" José asked in a raised voice. For a moment he was worried that the wind, which, even if it wasn't as hindering as before, was still unnaturally powerful, had covered his words. He was relieved when both Donald and Panchito raised their heads to look at him.
"I'm good." Panchito said, though he made no attempt to get up from where he knelt. José wondered if it was because he was hurt, or if he just didn't want to bother getting up again when they all knew that another gust of wind even stronger than the last would just knock him off his feet again.
"I'll be fine once all of this is over." Donald scowled as he glared towards the source of the wind. The powerful gusts made it difficult to look towards the source without their eyes getting watery, but even without looking they all knew what was causing all of the wind. Their old enemy, Sheldgoose, may not be as formidable without Felldrake's staff, but they should have known better than to underestimate him. Sheldgoose had gone and found himself a magical pendant that gave him the power to manipulate wind, and he was just using it to toy with them.
José knew they weren't in any danger at that moment, but he didn't want to give Sheldgoose time to change that. "Does anybody have any ideas on how to stop him?" They couldn't even get near Sheldgoose. His wind kept them at bay.
Xandra growled in irritation. "We just have to keep trying." Even Xandra wasn't immune to the wind. The goddess' hair was being blown in all directions, particularly in her face. Xandra ignored all of this and summoned bow. She nocked an arrow and shot it straight towards Sheldgoose. Despite the wind, the magical arrow flew straight, at least, at first. Just before the arrow hit Sheldgoose it seemed to be knocked away by an invisible force and harmlessly hit the ground instead.
José knew that the wind had done that. Sheldgoose was getting better at controlling the element. It was only a matter of time before he either realized that he was barely tapping in to the pendant's magical potential, or he lost all control of the magic, in which case they would all be in huge trouble.
Sheldgoose was messing with forces that he didn't understand. He wasn't just wielding a mythical item with powers, like he probably believed. No, José could feel the magical strength from the pendant. The object was a source of incredible power, and José knew from the way that his own magic seemed to flare up in response that it was specifically white magic.
White magic wasn't like black magic. It drew power from the natural world. Control over elements, the ability to give or take energy, these were things that white magic could do. While those with black magic had to be born with the abilities, theoretically, anybody could have white magic. It was just a matter of tapping into the powers of the world around them.
What many people, even those who regularly used white magic, failed to recognize was that the use of white magic did not equal the control of it. Those with black magic either controlled or were controlled by their powers. Those with white magic were either allowed to use it, or they weren't. The forces of white magic couldn't, and shouldn't, be controlled, and one would have to be a fool to even try.
But then, Sheldgoose had never demonstrated that he was the sharpest tool in the shed.
"You think you can stop me?" Sheldgoose laughed insanely, like he had lost his entire grip on reality, though José wasn't sure if he had ever had a grip on it in the first place. "I have all the power here."
"You don't have any power." Panchito got to his feet. "The little stone thingy has power, not you."
José looked at Panchito in shock. How had he known that? When they had first come looking for the stone Xandra had told them that it was something that would give the holder powers. If José didn't have a grasp on how magic worked, he would have believed that Sheldgoose did indeed have powers, given to him by the stone. How could Panchito tell that wasn't the case?
Perhaps this was another indication of Panchito's own black magic. Even if he wasn't aware of his abilities, which José suspected was the case, Panchito would still feel the magical energy from the stone, just as he did.
Whether Panchito actually knew that Sheldgoose didn't actually have any powers of his own, or if his words were just to get under Sheldgoose's skin, the villain wasn't happy.
"I'll show you just how powerful I can be." Sheldgoose tightened his grip on the pendant. In an instant, the wind seemed to pick up, but it felt different than before, thicker somehow. And before, the wind had blown at them directly from Sheldgoose. Now, it seemed to be coming in from all directions.
José let out a noise almost like a whine in discomfort when it felt like the wind was just pushing him from all sides at the same time, completely trapping him. A glance confirmed that Donald and Xandra were in a similar situation. Panchito though, while it looked like he was also being blown at from all sides, it wasn't all at once.
José watched as Panchito was forced back by some unbelievably powerful wind. Panchito fought against it by trying to walk forward, but as soon as he did that it was almost as though the wind in front of him was suddenly behind him, pushing him forward. Panchito stumbled and nearly fell. Just before he hit the ground, the wind changed and hit him in the side with so much force that Panchito went rolling as though he'd been hit by a car.
"Panchito!" José struggled to get his voice to work at all, and he doubted he had even been heard over the roaring of the wind. José's fingers began to tingle. His magic was on the verge of manifesting, and he didn't want it to. Black magic was dangerous.
But then, it seemed, so was white magic.
José struggled against the wind, but he couldn't move. The only thing he could do was watch as Panchito was forced onto his back by the wind. José couldn't actually see the wind, but he could sense a large amount of magical power just above Panchito's chest, and he could see the way that the rooster struggled and kicked like something was holding him down.
And he could also see the way that Panchito's struggles got weaker the longer he was held down. The air was being pushed right out of him, and there was nothing that any of them could do about it.
A dark feeling built up inside of José's chest. Sheldgoose was killing Panchito. José needed to do something, but he couldn't move at all. The wind was too powerful. He couldn't just stand here and watch his friend get hurt. He needed to stop Sheldgoose. He needed to stop the wind.
He needed to make everything stop.
Suddenly everything seemed to go silent. José could no longer hear the wind rushing in his ears. He didn't feel trapped or restrained anymore. He felt...powerful, and one look at his hands confirmed why. He could usually only see his magic manifest itself if he made a conscious effort to, and even then it was on just a single finger. Now, he could see his power radiating through both of his hands, and he wasn't even trying.
For a moment, José was terrified. He didn't want to use his powers. He hated using his powers, but if it was the only way to save Panchito, then so be it.
José clenched his hands into fists and ran to Panchito. He ignored Donald and Xandra's muted calls. He definitely ignored Sheldgoose's shouts of surprise and rage. José tuned it all out and focused on his inner darkness.
Just as white magic was used to manipulate the naturally occurring elements and energies in the world, black magic had to do with the unnatural. The only way of pushing back the natural was by overwhelming it with the unnatural, and vice versa.
José didn't know what he was doing with his powers, but at that moment just the fact that he was willing to use them was enough to keep the wind away from him. His black magic naturally pushed the white magic away. If Sheldgoose made a conscious effort too, he could have pushed the white magic even more, but as it was, José's magical barrier faced no resistance.
He just hoped that the protection would extend to Panchito as well.
José knelt next to Panchito and took his hand. The second their fingers touched, a power like nothing José had ever felt before surged through his chest, taking his breath away. From the way that Panchito gasped, it seemed he had felt the same thing.
"Wh-what just happened?" Panchito asked quietly as he tried to sit up.
"I'm not sure." José said, though he did have a guess. He looked down at their hands and was stunned, though not quite surprised, to see a dark energy connecting them. Nothing like this had ever happened any of the other times that the two of them had touched. But then, José had never allowed his magic to become so powerful since they had met. And as far as he knew, this would be the first time that Panchito's magic had ever manifested itself at all, in response to the light magic attack he had been under.
José had never felt anything like this before, but he knew that his magic was responding to Panchito's. José didn't know for sure, but he thought that it was safe to guess that Panchito's magic was strengthening his own, and vice versa. José had never sought to make his magic more powerful than it already was, but he wasn't about to complain about it. Not when this power may just be what he needed to stop Sheldgoose.
"My friend, do you trust me?" José asked as he pulled Panchito to his feet.
"Por supuesto," Panchito said. "Of course I do."
"I need you to continue lending me your strength." José said. He didn't know if Panchito even knew what he was talking about, but there wasn't time to explain it to him. "Can you do that?"
Panchito looked at their interlocking hands and the shadows pulsing between their fingers. "...I think so." Panchito clearly didn't know what was going on, but he had to be feeling the power between them just as much as José did. "What do I do?"
"Push the power back." José said. He knew that vague instructions could be infuriating sometimes, but when it came to black magic, instinct was often the best way to go about it. "I'll take care of the rest."
José closed his eyes and concentrated. He could sense where the pendant was, as it was the highest source of magical energy in the room. He latched onto the power that he could feel in the pendant, and he searched for...something. White magic was all about the energy of the earth, and yet it was bound to an artificial pendant. This wasn't something that could have happened naturally. Something had to be keeping the magic tied down. If he could somehow find what that something was…
There! A pulse...no, more like the echoes of one. This wind must have once been controlled by a spirit of some sort who had been trapped in the pendant. The spirit was still in there, but it didn't feel alive anymore...it didn't feel quite dead either. Being trapped in the pendant had put it in some sort of stasis. José knew that if he could bring the spirit out of this state of non-existence, it would be able to break free from it's prison and leave.
There were two ways to help it to break its connection to the pendant. The first would be by snuffing out its remaining life energy, which would be simple enough to do, but wouldn't be very appealing. The more moral option was to return life to it, and it would have the strength and will to break free on it's own.
José didn't want to kill anybody, not even a spirit. Fortunately, the preservation of life was one of the first things that he had learned how to do.
José opened his eyes and held out his available hand. He gathered his energy and power, as well as that which he was borrowing from Panchito. His powers began to manifest more distinctly than they ever had before. A dark, and yet somehow not malicious energy formed from his extended hand. He could feel the power pulsing and growing bigger as it fed on their combined power.
José formed the magical orb, even as he felt his own energy draining. Magic wasn't something that could just be used without a price, especially not magic that had to do with life or death. Life couldn't come from nothing. To give or return life to something, a life must be taken in return. José had no intention of giving up his own life, but he didn't believe he would have to. The spirit wasn't fully dead, which meant that it wouldn't need all of his energy, just some of it. José didn't know exactly how much energy was necessary, so he decided to err on the side of caution. He would give up as much energy as he felt he could, while still keeping enough for himself to cast the spell.
José became oblivious to the world around him. He didn't hear Donald's confused and frustrated yelling, or Xandra's furious and concerned shouting. He didn't see Sheldgoose put his all into forcing the wind towards him and Panchito, only for it to go around them completely. The only thing he could hear was Panchito's breathing next to him, and the only thing he could see was the pendant.
Little by little José could feel his energy draining out of him until he could barely stand on his own two feet. He knew he was reaching his limits, but he continued to push his powers out. He needed to be sure that he had given enough to give life back to the spirit in the pendant. It was only when José's vision started to darken did he give the final push that would throw all of the energy and magic gathered into the little pendant.
The moment he sent the magic out, José felt his legs give out beneath him. He should have fallen, but he was vaguely aware of someone supporting him. Panchito. José heard shouting around him, but he couldn't understand a word being said. Everything sounded like it was coming from far away and underwater at the same time. The shouting gradually got quieter, as well as less and less understandable, until, suddenly, it all stopped.
Everything was silent. This was the last thing that José was aware of before darkness overcame him and everything stopped.
Before coming to America, Panchito had thought that his life in Mexico had been extremely exciting. Every day had been a new adventure. When he had met Xandra, Donald, and José, Panchito had learned the true meaning of adventure. His old life had seemed rather dull in comparison.
Since becoming a Caballero, Panchito had seen a lot of crazy things. He had met multiple gods. He had seen a flying monkey-bat-donkey-rat. He had been to the moon. He had been to the underworld. Weird had become the new normal for him. Panchito had thought he had seen it all but none of this could even compare to the craziness of seeing José using magic.
Panchito had seen plenty of magic since becoming a Caballero. There had even been a couple of times when he was younger that weird things had happened that he could have sworn had been because of magic. He hadn't really thought of magic as an incredible thing, not until he had seen José using it himself.
It had been almost surreal. Maybe it was because of the lack of air, but when José had taken Panchito's hand, he had felt a sudden power and strength in him. He wouldn't exactly call it a good power, but he didn't think it was bad either. It felt weird, and completely unreal, like something from a dream.
At the time, Panchito hadn't even realized that the wind had stopped. He hadn't noticed that he was slowly feeling drained, like all his energy was just being drained out of him. His mind had been unusually clear and sharp, but he could only focus his attention on a single thing. The dark power that José had been summoning.
When José had unleashed the magic, there had been complete chaos. José had shot his magic at the strange pendant that Sheldgoose had found. The pendant seemed to absorb the magic, and an instant later it seemed to explode from the inside out. Panchito briefly saw a strange creature appear out of thin air, but when he felt José begin to collapse, he refocused his attention to his friend.
"José?" Panchito felt a flash of panic. He hadn't let go of José's hand, but he couldn't feel the surge of power from it anymore. Panchito couldn't even understand how much that scared him. "Por favor, amigo, get up...please."
"P-Panch-" José said breathlessly. He opened his eyes a little bit and looked at Panchito. "...Did it work?" José's words were quiet and slightly slurred.
Panchito reluctantly looked back towards the strange creature. It seemed to be created of wind, and it was attacking Sheldgoose in much the same way that he had been attacking them just moments ago. Panchito didn't know what this creature was, or where it had come from, but it felt a little familiar, like a strange sense of déjà vu.
Panchito didn't know how, but he somehow knew that the creature's presence had a big part to do with what José had tried to do.
"Yeah, it worked." Panchito looked back to his friend. "What did you do, anyways?"
"Transfer...of life." José said tiredly. "The spirit needed energy."
Panchito looked at José in horror. "You...you gave your life to the spirit?" Panchito had never thought a lot about how magic worked, but seeing José looking absolutely exhausted, and he said he had done a transfer of life. Panchito didn't have to be a sorcerer to piece together what he had done.
"Not all of it." José closed his eyes again, but Panchito knew he was still awake because his grip hadn't slackened.
Panchito stiffened. "Is that supposed to make it better?" Panchito's tone was low and cold with anger. He never spoke like this, but he had never had to deal with something like this before either. "Look at you." José didn't look very good, like he was completely drained of all his energy. Panchito didn't even know if that energy would come back, because José hadn't said 'energy', he had said 'life'. Energy could be recovered if given time, life couldn't.
Panchito tightened his grip on José and closed his eyes. He remembered the power he had felt earlier. He knew that he had to have felt José's power, but...José had said that he needed Panchito's help, his strength. Panchito didn't feel like he had powers, especially not the way that José had them, but if he did, he at least had to try.
If José could transfer his life energy to somebody else, maybe Panchito could do the same thing.
"Work," Panchito muttered to himself. "Work, work, work, please work."
"Panchito!" The rooster cried out in shock and slight panic when Xandra grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back so sharply that he couldn't help but let go of José. "Panchito, what the heck are you doing?"
"Let me go!" Panchito struggled against Xandra's grip, but she was a lot stronger than he was. "He needs help. I need to give him life."
"Are you crazy?" Xandra forced Panchito to turn around so he was facing her, and she did not look happy. "That's black magic."
"Black magic." Panchito tested the words as if they were in a foreign language. He vaguely remembered a late night conversation with José. The Brazilian had mentioned black magic, and he had been insistent that it was something evil and wrong. It seemed that Xandra thought the same thing. "What's wrong with black magic?"
"It's evil." Xandra insisted. "It's dangerous to try to use black magic."
Panchito thought that it was dangerous to use any kind of magic. Wind didn't seem all that threatening, but look at what Sheldgoose had been able to do with it. "But if it's the only option…"
"It's not an option." Xandra said sharply. "Anything is better than resorting to black magic."
Panchito suddenly froze, a cold anger came over him. "...José used black magic,"
"And trust me, I'm going to have words with him about that." Xandra said furiously.
"He saved my life!" Panchito screamed. "I would be dead if he hadn't used this so called 'evil' magic."
"Enough!" Donald forced himself between the two of them. "We're all sore, we're all scared, and we're all worried about José. This is not the way to deal with this." Donald was usually the angry, out of control one of the group, and yet here he was being the voice of reason. That just made Panchito feel worse, but it did help to diffuse his anger, at least for the moment. Donald was right, this wasn't the way to deal with the situation, nor was it the time.
What was important was that José was taken care of. Panchito didn't know how to give José life energy, though he desperately wished that he did. The only thing they could do was take José home.
Xandra must have realized this same thing. She still looked irritated, and Panchito felt much the same way, but she got out her book anyways. She went over to where José laid and gestured for Donald and Panchito to join her. Donald gave Panchito a warning look before they joined their companions. In a flash of light they were back home.
Well, nearly.
"We've got to figure out how to make the manor a teleportation point," Donald grumbled as he bent down put José's arm around his shoulder. Panchito moved to support José. "I hate having to walk."
"It's just next door." Panchito reminded him. "...Though I'm not looking forward to getting José up all those stairs." Donald and Panchito exchanged a glance. They silently agreed that at that moment the cabana was close enough to home for now.
"Couch?" Donald suggested.
"Couch." Panchito agreed. They worked together to lay José down on the couch so that they could be as comfortable as he could be.
Panchito looked at José and frowned. He took his friend's hand and jumped slightly when he felt a pulse of sorts in his when their palms touched. He could feel José's powers again. Panchito let out a short, relieved laugh. Maybe if José's powers were there, Panchito could use his own. He could make him better.
But not when Xandra was there, watching them.
"Somebody should go tell the girls we're back." Panchito looked at Donald. His fellow caballero nodded slightly.
"We'll go." Donald took Xandra's hand and pulled her towards the door. Xandra didn't look happy about it, but she let Donald pull her out. After they had left, Panchito focused solely on José. He focused on the feel of José's magic, and his own reacting to it.
Panchito didn't know how to use magic, but when José had been using his magic, he had told Panchito how to give him his strength. José had told him to push the power back. Panchito took a deep breath and focused on the spark of power he felt between their hands. Some of it was José's, some of it was his. Panchito had to find the power that was his own, and give it to José. He had to give José his energy.
"Stop." Panchito's eyes snapped open at the sound of his friend's voice. He looked to see José meeting his gaze. José looked tired, but focused. "You can make yourself sick if you transfer life wrong, or you could kill yourself."
"You should learn how to take your own advice." Panchito stopped forcing his energy to José, but he didn't let go of his hand.
"I usually do." José grimaced as he sat up. "But I couldn't just sit back and do nothing as you got hurt."
"Neither could I." Panchito looked at the ground. "I was so worried about you."
"I'm fine." José reassured him. "I'm just tired. My energy will come back."
"But I didn't know that." Panchito tightened his grip on José's hand. "I don't know anything about magic. I wanted to help you, but I didn't know how." Panchito hunched his shoulders and continued in a quiet voice. "I hated being so useless."
"My friend, you are far from useless." José said sternly. He brought his free hand to Panchito's face and made him look him in the eyes again. "Your power gave me the power to free the wind spirit. I do not believe I could have done it without your assistance."
"But I didn't know what I was doing." Panchito protested. "How am I supposed to help you with my magic if I don't know how to use it?"
"We shouldn't be using magic at all, my friend." José shook his head. "Some things are best left alone, and black magic is one of them. It's evil."
"I don't care." Panchito didn't shout, but his tone was insistent. "I don't care what you and Xandra say. I plan on using black magic for good." He knew it was possible, he had seen José do it just a few minutes ago. "But I need your help."
"No." José said quickly. "This magic is forbidden for a reason."
Panchito was quiet for a moment. "...Do you regret it?"
"What?" José asked, though the slightly horrified look on his face suggested that he knew exactly what Panchito was talking about.
"Do you regret using your magic to save my life?" Panchito asked again. José stared at him for a moment before he shook his head.
"...no." José said quietly. "Of course I don't."
"I don't believe in 'black magic'." Panchito said. "I don't believe in 'white magic' either. Magic is magic. It just depends on what it's used for."
"It's a little more complicated than that." José said.
"Not to me it isn't." Panchito looked down at their hands, which were still intertwined. He could still feel the power from their connection, and he knew that José could too. "If I have powers, I at least want to know how to use them, just in case I have to." Panchito didn't have any plans to go crazy with his magic and spread chaos everywhere, but if something like this happened again, he wanted to be ready for it, and he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.
José was quiet for a moment before he sighed. "You are far too stubborn for your own good, my friend." Panchito looked back up to José hopefully. "Fortunately for you, it's not safe for somebody who knows they have magic to not be trained in it. Dangerous things can happen. So, I suppose I'll have to teach you."
Panchito beamed at his friend. "Gracias, José." He embraced José tightly. José chuckled and returned the hug.
"Do not thank me yet." José warned, though it seemed to be in a good-natured way. "You may not like what you learn."
Panchito had already figured as much. If both José and Xandra were so fervently against black magic, then it truly must be something potentially dangerous. Despite this knowledge, and José's warning, Panchito was nothing but grateful. His friend was going to be okay, and he would be learning how to be of use with his magic. Dangerous or not, that was something to be grateful for.
"I'll keep that in mind." Panchito smiled as he pulled away from the embrace to look at his friend. "So, when do we begin?"