Trapped
The dark magic trap seal that Hazel had cast on the floor of her bedroom was forbidden at Kamar-Taj. The Ancient One had been adamant about it, for it was the only trap she could never work around. A dark magic trap seal worked in a very specific way; it targeted entities of, from, or working with dark magic. And whatever creature it caught would be held within the boundaries of the trap, and any and all mystical abilities they'd had would be taken from them until the trap was destroyed or broken.
The Ancient One tried not to panic as the trap seal absorbed her power. She'd been so mindful about encountering one that she'd banned the use of such traps on the grounds of Kamar-Taj and any subsequent sanctuary affiliated with her order. This wasn't the first rule Hazel had broken, of course, and she'd probably placed the trap as another precaution. But still, the Ancient One fretted. What was she going to do?
The Ancient One sat cross-legged in the middle of the trap, simply because she didn't see a reason to strain herself. She tried to meditate, but clearing her mind was nearly impossible in this situation. It had been decades at least, and a century at most, since she'd spent so long without access to any of her mystical abilities. Astral projecting, Eldritch manipulation, foresight… it was all unavailable to her as long as the trap was entirely intact. And the Ancient One had no way to break it, seeing as Hazel had so unceremoniously confiscated her dagger and left her with nothing, nothing, within the boundaries of the trap. All this before even giving the Ancient One a chance to explain herself. What was she going to do?
It wasn't like Hazel would let her escape anyway. Even if the Ancient One managed it, she didn't want to put her faith in Hazel reacting kindly to it. If Hazel told the masters about any of this—and it was likely that was exactly what she was doing right this minute—the Ancient One would be questioned, surely. No, they wouldn't take the word of a student. But if they knew Hazel wasn't lying, and the Ancient One was asked to prove herself, there'd be no way out. It was a slim chance, but a chance all the same. Would she have to kill Hazel to protect herself? What was Hazel doing right now? Was she really telling the other masters right this second? If Hazel told anyone, the Ancient One's secret would be out. She'd been so careful to preserve her past—she never told anyone about her connection to the Dark Dimension. However, getting caught in a trap designed to withhold dark forces was a dead giveaway. The Ancient One was not what she seemed, and Hazel knew that now.
The Ancient One ran her fingers through the fibers of the carpet. If she could escape and managed to speak with Hazel privately before she ran into anyone else, then surely she could convince Hazel to see reason and forget about all of this. Hazel was volatile and a bit stubborn, but she would see reason. She worshiped the Ancient One too much not to.
The Ancient One could see the dimming orange light of the sunset out the window. They were running out of time before the celebration. That's when Hazel returned, frazzled but surprisingly convincing in her delusion of lucidity. The Ancient One straightened, folding her hands in her lap almost regally, as if she wasn't in any way misplaced.
"Alright, talk," Hazel started, folding her arms. "What the hell is this?"
"I'm allowed my secrets, Hazel," the Ancient One replied. Her tone was almost condescending. It gave Hazel a sour taste in her mouth.
"Oh, save it!" Hazel hissed. "You cannot tell me you're in the right here. That seal targets entities of, from, or joined to darkness in some way. So which is it?"
"I don't think you have a place to question the Sorcerer Supreme in such—"
"How much can I bet you wouldn't even be Sorcerer Supreme if the others knew about this?" Hazel demanded. "You broke some rule—a big one. And I don't think the other masters know… do they?"
The Ancient One glared at the girl. "If you bring the other masters into this, you'll face consequences for practicing blood magic and binding against my command. Who would they be more willing to believe, you or me? The masters are already leery of you. And if they found you holding me against my will, when we are on the brink of inter-dimensional war, no less?" The Ancient One's voice was measured. "I couldn't protect you from whatever they decided to do to you."
Hazel's face was blank, her voice monotone. She let the threat slide. As long as the Ancient One was here, Hazel had the upper hand.
"Then I guess we're keeping this between us."
The Ancient One and Hazel gave each other level looks. Perhaps it's for the best.They waited each other out, but Hazel, being younger and less patient and for once, for once, in the higher position, spoke first.
"Why are you here?" she asked again. "What did you do?"
"It doesn't concern you, Hazel," the Ancient One implored. "Release me."
"You could be dangerous. How do I know you're not just some-some demon in a place of power, corrupting young sorcerers or using your order or—"
"You don't believe that, do you?" the Ancient One tilted her head. Then realization hit her. She leaned back. "Kaecilius told you."
"Yeah, he told me," Hazel said. "I didn't think about it at the time, but now that I've seen what he was talking about..."
"He was lying to you."
"Of course he was," Hazel allowed. "But there had to be some truth to his words, otherwise I never would have been there."
Hazel straightened.
"And you never would've been here."
"Would you truly trust him over me?" the Ancient One demanded. "After he kidnapped you, took you, sealed your magic so you couldn't fight him? And after everything I've done... to shelter you and ensure your safety on the grounds of my sanctuary—"
"What if it was all a show?" Hazel demanded. "He was supposed to kill me, you know. But he didn't. And as for you, how do I know you weren't just pretending the whole time? To get me in a state of complacency? You could've taglocked me, you could've pulled out some of my hair or taken something I bled on, or you could've…."
Hazel turned away from the woman, scraping her fingernails through her hair. She's losing her poor mind. Fingernail clippings, strands of hair, dressings from bleeding wounds Hazel had used and discarded so carelessly because she never considered that the Ancient One would have an interest in such things... The hair braiding. The visits to the healers ward. Each time Hazel was injured and the Ancient One was there. The others thought the Ancient One was babying or favoring her. Then Hazel remembered the bind chain. The two halves of a ribbon, still tied in a spell and resting neatly on her desk not three feet away from her.
"You bound me," Hazel whispered in the horror of her dawning realization. "You used a spell and you bound me, Ancient One, what the fuck am I supposed to think?"
"Haalaan," the Ancient one said. "My intention was never to bind you. You must remember that. Everything I've ever done, I've only ever done to protect you."
The Ancient One could see Hazel's downward spiral of thoughts, how all the dots connected in her mind. Her little conspiracy theory could be right in her mind. But how could the Ancient One prove that she was wrong? She's just confused, leave her be.
"Protect me from what?" Hazel whispered. "My own problems? Why did you do this?"
"Hazel, please just listen—"
They both froze when a loud, distant clattering reached their ears. They stared at the door for a moment, like they were afraid someone was going to come in.
"Is that the Guests?" the Ancient One whispered. If the spirits were already arriving and neither Hazel nor the Ancient One were there, it'd cause more trouble than they were already in.
"I have to go," Hazel said. She glanced back at the Ancient One, and for a brief moment, the Ancient One thought she saw an apology in the girl's face. Hazel snatched her robe from the hanger by the window and darted out the door, locking it securely behind her. The Ancient One's shoulders sagged with a heavy sigh. Now what?
Harvest Feast
As promised, only spirits appeared in the courtyard for the feast. All the masters and students stayed inside as if there was a storm. Hazel conjured a bonfire and laid out the platters of food and wine for the Guests. The Guests congregated and minded their own business in the festivities. Those who interacted with Hazel regarded her politely as the host, and a few held brief conversations with her. However, Hazel was distant and reserved throughout the exchanges. She didn't accept gifts or commissions tonight. Those who cared about human customs just put it up to her grieving, or perhaps they all superstitiously thought she was possessed by the spirit of dying still. Whatever their resolve, they left Hazel to her troubled thoughts and enjoyed the night around her.
Hazel sat on the veranda watching the spirits play music and dance. Had she been in any other state of mind, she would've joined them, spinning and flailing in their pagan dances. But now, she was too preoccupied and obsessed with the thought of the Ancient One—the true Ancient One—trapped in Hazel's room. Did she remember to place the silencing ward before she left? If someone discovered the Ancient One while Hazel was away, what would they do? Would they free the Ancient One and come after Hazel? If that happened, Hazel was better off leaving Kamar-Taj now, she could just take her sling ring and spirit herself away when the Guests left. But what if whoever found the Ancient One was in a similar mindset to Hazel's? What if that person wasn't as forgiving? What if the masters did question her? Or kill her? Hazel didn't want that either. She may be at an impasse with the Ancient One, but in this situation, she was nothing less than responsible for the Ancient One. Whether she lived or died was entirely reliant on Hazel right now. It was Hazel's turn.
Hazel didn't eat at the feast, but she seemed much less troubled as she watched the festivities carry on long into the night.
Impasse
The Ancient One was joined eventually. A wayward spirit wandered into the room and sat by the foot of the bed, watching her. It was a tiny little thing, and possibly quite dumb too. The way it stared at her. The Ancient One gave the creature a look.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to bring me my dagger?" she gave the creature a small smile. But it didn't budge. Of course. It knew, and was governed too well by the old laws, that it couldn't interfere with the prey in Hazel's trap. Hazel was more powerful than the creature, and this was her domain. It reminded the Ancient One all too well of the barbaric old days.
The tiny Thing looked at the trap under the carpet. It knew the Ancient One, of course, even without her power.
"It's a dark magic trap," the Ancient One explained, straightening slightly. "A regular seal only targets tamer magic—Eldritch and the like. A dark magic seal will take away everything, if you practiced dark magic to begin with. After all, if the sorcerers who engineered it wanted to trap a demon, what good would it do otherwise? A true demon can use even the most mundane tactics to cause chaos. I'm hardly human at this rate."
She remembered it so vividly, sitting in a trap just like this.
The creature stared at her a moment longer. Then it was gone, darting back away through the cracks in the walls. The Ancient One had felt some solace, some comfort in its trivial visit. It let her indulge in teaching another, which is what she'd loved enough to let it put her here. It was cathartic, in a way; it helped her forget how frightening her situation truly was.
The wards must've sealed again, and the Guests must've all left, because Hazel stumbled into the bedroom not long after that. She locked the door and changed clothes. The Ancient One watched her carefully, once again reminded of her strategy to kill Hazel. She didn't have to kill her, she could just knock her out. She had self-control, after all. She'd knock her out and put Hazel's blood on the trap; that should be enough for it to lift. If only the damn girl would get close enough…. But Hazel knew herself, and she knew self-preservation in the presence of someone she didn't trust. Hazel never crossed the trap, she never let anything fall within two feet of the trap, she even put her clothes against the wall in a sloppy pile to make sure there was no way the Ancient One could reach them. It was excessive, really. The Ancient One felt the border of the trap like an invisible wall she couldn't cross, and the trap was only a few feet across. Besides, how much could the Ancient One do with a t-shirt and no magic?
"What time is it?" she asked.
"One-thirty in the morning," Hazel stifled a yawn and tugged at a couple things on her bed.
"Are you going to sleep?" the Ancient One asked.
Hazel didn't reply for a moment. She poured a glass of water from the pitcher on her bedside table. She sipped the water loudly and turned on her heel, raising her eyebrows at the other. The Ancient One let her expression fall. It had only been a few hours, but of course Hazel would try bargaining with her with hydration. The Ancient One rolled her eyes, turned her back to Hazel, and settled on her side. It was the most comfortable position she'd get to sleep in tonight.
"Hey," Hazel chirped, braving one step closer. The Ancient One waited and continued to ignore her. She looked up only when she felt Hazel's foot stomp on the ground dangerously close to her back. Hazel's face was vacant, almost a glare. "Hi horved."
Hazel tilted the glass, throwing its entire contents on the vulnerable sorceress. The Ancient One gasped—that pathetic, tiny sound—and curled up in shock. The water was freezing! Hazel then knelt and braced her arms over either of the Ancient One's shoulders. There was something commanding in her posture, dominant, but her expression was hard and she didn't demand anything. The Ancient One met her gaze, and it was almost like looking in the windows of an empty house. Hazel knew power when she saw it, and saw when it wasn't to be trifled with, but she'd never been in such a position before. She obviously didn't know what to do with herself.
In a fit of calculated impulse, the Ancient One snatched Hazel's shoulders and pulled her down. Hazel lost her balance—careless of her to come so close to the Ancient One. Did she truly think the Ancient One wouldn't fight? Although taken aback, Hazel put up a fight of her own. She punched the other in the ribs and tried wriggling and kicking out of the other's grasp. She had to break the Ancient One's hold and get out of the trap. But the Ancient One, even when she had to give in, wouldn't let Hazel go that easily. If Hazel escaped now, it was all over. She wrapped her arms and legs around Hazel in a relentless hold. Even if she wasn't doing any damage to Hazel right now, it at least kept her in place.
Like a spider wrapping its kill in silk...
In the end, Hazel still had her magic, she still had her Guests, and she still had the luxury of not being trapped in the same position for the last five hours. Hazel unleashed all of that now, as if she truly was in danger of being killed. However, it wasn't Hazel's efforts that finally separated them. The Ancient One restrained Hazel by her wrists, rendering her unable to wield any weapons. Hazel thrashed and shouted a name—a call that shook the room with the energy it summoned. The Ancient One felt as if every bone in her body shattered, only for an instant. Then Hazel flailed out of the other's limp grip.
Hazel scrambled to the wall and pressed her back against it as she stared at the Ancient One in horror. Chest heaving, limbs shaking, vision blurred with tears. The Ancient One stared back at her, equally horrified, bewildered and anticipating Hazel's next move. She'd kill her now. Hazel would just kill her. The Ancient One frantically looked around for anything—any last chance she had. She couldn't die now! This wasn't supposed to happen.
But Hazel never killed her. Hazel just grabbed a couple things from her bed and bolted around the perimeter of the room to the door. The Ancient One watched her go, a little rueful that Hazel didn't just finish the task herself. However, she could appreciate the little time she had left. Surely now Hazel was going to tell the masters. What else would she do?
The Ancient One slowly lurched forward, wrapping her arms around her sore, aching, bruised limbs and torso. Even with her amateur skill, Hazel did a number on her with her steep advantages. But the Ancient One forced herself upright again and let the pain keep her awake. She didn't want to fall asleep now. It wasn't guaranteed the others would kill her; they might just keep her for a while. She knew which was worse, but in her final moments of solitude, she wanted to be as lucid and aware as possible. This was a chance—an opportunity. And she wouldn't waste it.
No Below
"Reiko?... Reiko…."
Reiko stirred, turned over in bed, and glanced at the clock. Then she heard the meek voice outside her room again.
"Hazel?!" Reiko shot out of bed and went to the door, but hesitated. The last time she'd run after Hazel's voice, she'd gotten her arm broken by some spirit. Reiko's voice was quiet and firm. "What is your name?"
"Hazel Jasper Grace, the Goodest Witch of all," Hazel returned. Reiko slowly opened the door, still prepared for a fight. However, all wariness drained from her at the sight of Hazel's unusually pale, teary face.
"Hazel, what's wrong?" Reiko whispered.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Hazel whispered, her voice surprisingly even considering she'd definitely been crying.
"Sure, come in," Reiko stepped back for a moment and closed the door behind Hazel. Hazel just walked over to the bed, kicked off her shoes, and flopped onto the bed. Reiko followed suit, albeit a bit more gently. Reiko settled on the mattress next to Hazel and pulled the covers up around them. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Hazel said nothing.
"Did something happen at the party?"
Hazel shrugged. She was too exhausted at this point, and too in shock to process what had happened, and too distraught to think about it another moment. Reiko tried to smile at her in the dark.
"What will we tell my dad?" Reiko's tone was rather coy.
"Fuck telling your dad," Hazel snapped. "Dads suck. I hate all of them."
Reiko made an indignant noise.
"Hey. There's no need to say that."
"Easy for you to say," Hazel muttered, her face still buried in the pillow. "Your dad's awesome. He's great, really…. I'm sorry."
That last part came out as a pitiful whisper, but it was genuine. Reiko wrapped an arm around Hazel and inched closer.
"You're really warm," Reiko murmured. "Are you crying again?"
Hazel shrugged, but didn't move again. She wished she could think about her dad more. She wished she could talk for hours and hours about her dad. Because she would rather tell Reiko all about that than confront the very possibility that the Ancient One just tried to kill her.
"I don't have a dad," Hazel sniffled. "Because it would really suck. It would suck if I had a dad."
"You don't know that," Reiko murmured, sitting up and snagging a couple tissues from the box on her bedside table. She coaxed Hazel upright and let Hazel curl up against her.
"That's easy for you to say," Hazel repeated, but this time it was a calm whisper. She took the tissues Reiko offered and fell silent.
Dawn
The Ancient One stayed awake for hours, but the masters never came. Hazel never came. The sunrise came, and the day after that. Still, the Ancient One was alone. At one point, as the morning gong began to sound, the Ancient One jolted upright from where she'd been reluctantly dozing on the floor and audibly said to herself, "What?"
Sun, Wheel of Fortune, Magician
When Hazel woke up the next morning, for a fleeting moment, she forgot everything. She woke up beside Reiko and smiled at the other girl as they both slowly stirred and roused and got ready for the day. But the dream could never remain. Another moment passed, and Hazel remembered everything. And her day truly began.
Hazel minded herself that day. She tried not looking preoccupied, but at the same time, she couldn't stop thinking about the events of last night. Regardless of what she decided to do about the situation, she needed to find a reason to go up to her room alone, just to check on things. She wanted to make sure the Ancient One was still there and still alive.
However, Hazel never made it that far. Reiko seemed insistent on shadowing Hazel all day, probably because she was concerned about whatever happened last night. Hazel was occupied at lunch, and at break, and all of her classes were back to back until that afternoon. And even then, she wouldn't be free.
In the middle of her penultimate class for the day, Mordo appeared in the doorway of the classroom and discreetly waved her over. Hazel felt herself pale with dread as she quietly closed her book and followed the master out of the room.
"What's going on?" Hazel asked. Mordo took her across the compound to the library. Several other masters were already gathered in the globe room.
"It's the Ancient One," Mordo explained quietly. The other masters regarded Hazel hopefully. "Have you seen her?"
"Not since yesterday," Hazel replied. "Why? Did something happen?"
"We've already contacted the other sanctums," Wong said. "It seems the Sorcerer Supreme is unaccounted for."
"You don't know where she is?" Hazel's eyebrows drew together.
"No," Hamir shook his had. "We were wondering if something happened during your celebration last night. Did the Ancient One seem off to you? What she acting strangely?"
"The Ancient One wasn't at the party," Hazel replied. "Are you sure she's not on the grounds? Have you checked everywhere?"
"We've searched the temple quite thoroughly," Mordo assured her.
Hazel bit her lip. "What could've happened to her? It's not like her to leave without telling anyone."
As the other masters nodded in agreement, Mordo hesitated. The Ancient One had asked him to keep it a secret, but since her safety was in question, he deliberated whether to bring it up or not.
"Truthfully..." he spoke carefully. "On the night of the first breach, the Ancient One pursued something in the mirror dimension alone. Had she not returned shortly and spoken to me..." The events of the night were still fuzzy. Had she told him? Had she not? He assumed she'd contained or chased off whatever had been in the astral plain, but the morning after, the courtyard was destroyed.
Hazel quietly considered what he said. "Even so, we took care of that problem. What could she have to pursue on her own?"
"Zealots," Master Junzo replied. Hazel raised her eyebrows and nodded. In her haste to contain the Ancient One, she'd forgotten about Kaecilius being a problem altogether.
"I don't think she would," Master Hamir argued. "She doesn't even know where they are—"
"Could she be dead?" Hazel interrupted the others again, her voice quiet but compelling. What had Kaecilius told her? Did they have any way to know she was vulnerable?
The masters shifted and settled into an uncomfortable silence. Master Tashi finally spoke up.
"I can still sense her mystic signature. She's alive, wherever she is, I just can't find exactly where..."
Hazel continued to look worried. Mordo glanced levelly at the other masters.
"We need to regroup with all the masters. Hazel, can you meet us in the east wing in fifteen minutes?"
"Yes," Hazel nodded.
The Third Meeting
Hazel didn't have enough time to go up to her room. Not if she and the Ancient One were going to talk again. Not only that, but if she was interrogated at this meeting, she'd be better off knowing as little as possible. Besides, if someone saw her walk to the dorms and not go in her room, it would raise suspicion, surely. For now, Hazel was just better off laying low and not drawing any attention to herself whatsoever until after the meeting. Then, once verdicts were made and new accounts in place, she could return and settle things with the Ancient One for good.
Hazel didn't have much to plan; she was sure the others would lead the counsil and only turn to her when they were unsure about something. Whether or not Hazel would clarify depended on the situation, but she needed to be careful. It was best to be vague until she understood their impressions of the situation more. After all, Master Junzo was never easily swayed in Hazel's favor, and his lie-detecting abilities could put her charade to a grinding halt the moment she acts carelessly.
When she arrived to the meeting room, most of the other masters were seated already. She wasn't sure where to sit until Mordo beckoned her to sit by him. Hazel kneaded the hem of her tunic. She felt the others staring at her.
"Oh, look," Master Percival leaned forward with a bored expression on his face and sipped his tea. "I suppose this is our monthly meeting to determine what will be done with Hazel Grace. Where's the Ancient One?"
Mordo gave Hazel a stern glance to reassure her before addressing the others. "It seems the Ancient One has been missing since last night."
A series of surprised murmurs coursed through the room. Mordo could already tell that without the Ancient One's presence, the council would be in chaos if allowed. He held their attention as long as he could as he explained all he knew of the situation, then Tashi spoke his piece about mystic signatures and what not.
"I tried tracking her by her mystic signature, but I couldn't locate her," he explained. "She has the strongest signature of anyone in our order, so if I could find each of you in this room, I should've been able to find her from anywhere in the world."
"She's immune to trap seals, isn't she?" Sol Rama asked. "Could there be something else that would cloak her signature?"
Tashi considered it, but Master Junzo interrupted before he could answer.
"Even if she was trapped somewhere, who would keep her alive?" he demanded. "Kaecilius? He doesn't want her in a position of power, and he and his Zealots wouldn't think to maintain her like this unless they wanted something from her or from us, and we haven't had contact with them yet."
"You think Kaecilius could keep the Ancient One hostage?" Percival's tone was snide. Junzo glared at him across the table.
"No. That's my point. I don't think Kaecilius is involved."
"She could've cloaked her own signature," Daniel Drumm offered. "It's not entirely unlike her to take nonsensical vacation days."
"But it's not like her to disappear without telling anyone," Tina interjected. "Especially at a time like this."
Hazel glanced at Mordo to see if he would dispute this. He met her gaze, but didn't move to speak again. Not here. Hazel nodded a little and resumed staring at the table.
"We've been monitoring activity in other dimensions and ours, like we always have," Wong said. "There haven't been any threatening presences since the breach a few days ago."
Percival glanced at Hazel, but it felt more like a glare. "Yes, about that. I thought Hazel was sworn to that dream demon. What's she doing here?"
"Someone took her place," Mordo replied.
"Who? The Ancient One?"
Hazel straightened, and another wave of surprised exclamations made their way around the room.
"No. Kenzo Sakai."
The room fell silent. Hazel felt her heart racing and prayed the others didn't look at her. She felt Mordo take her shoulder briefly, probably to startle her out of using her hiding powers.
"What if it wasn't enough?" Percival demanded. "Kenzo assumed the form of a beast. Permanently. What if the demon needed more than that?"
"Kenzo was enough because he was able to maintain an animal form while still retaining his being," Wong explained. "Don't belittle that."
"I'm not," Percival dismissed. "Still, don't you find the timing disconcerting? August first, sundown. That was our deadline. That's when the Ancient One disappeared. You saw—we all saw how she was bested by that creature the demon sent. If the demon wanted her, it would've had her."
"The Ancient One wouldn't die for me," Hazel snapped. The others froze as if they'd forgotten she was there at all. Her voice softened considerably. "And Oriishii would never have a thing like her anyway. My Guests have nothing to do with this. Let's focus on the problem at hand."
None of the masters moved or said anything. She was right, and that fact deterred any who thought ill of her.
They remained like that until Master Sakai spoke up. The woman was probably the second oldest person in the Order beside the Ancient One herself, and, more relevantly, Kenzo's mother. If anyone was fit to respond to this situation, it was her.
"I hope you don't find me jaded to consider my son a worthy sacrifice in Hazel's stead," she began by looking at Percival. Her gaze slowly swept the room. "However, there are more threats in the world than Kaecilius. We should search other dimensions for the Ancient One. We must find her by any means necessary. With Kaecilius intending to attack at any moment, we need her now more than ever."
Hazel studied the grains in the table, feeling a bit chagrined for a moment. Why was she ashamed? The others didn't know the Ancient One; they didn't know the danger Hazel herself was holding at bay. She just needed to stay quiet for a while longer.
Rewritten 6.22.2019.
Special thanks to Aerynx for helping me iron out a lot of details for the rewrite. I don't think I would've done it without their help.