XLIV
Inside the ballroom, Frankie and Scarah watch the Reality Bubble with mesmerized eyes, while cutting some small talk.
"So, Clawdeen and Keith, eh? Can't say didn't see that one coming given how close they got lately," Scarah says awkwardly, staving some jealousy.
"Yeah, sure," answers disinterested.
"They always seemed like they'd make a good couple, I mean with all the flirting and chemistry between them, I'm surprised they took this long."
"Can we please not talk about it?"
"I wonder why wouldn't you want to go with them? I know why he didn't want me there, but you staying behind, that's weird."
"Not talking about it."
"Sure, suppose we can talk about how weird it is that he had all that witchcraft equipment in his room."
"What's weird about it? He likes magic, we all know that — we've seen it before. Not what I want to talk about." Frankie replies cuttingly.
"Or if you wanna sit here awkwardly in silence while I keep people away," she ends with a deep sigh. "Wait! I'm sensing one more coming, and she's a total emotional mess."
"Whatever, just send her away."
"Is Batsy Claro, she was in the bathroom crying for the looks of it and — do you know if she was dating anybody?"
"As far as I know, no."
"She feels like she's just broken up with somebody, and damn it I hate that! When people are this hurt their thoughts and feelings are much easier to read and feel."
"That sounds lame."
"It surely is, I can literally taste her heartbreak, but even so, that makes it easier to push her to got to her room and cry… I just wish I could help her. I know just how much it sucks…" states, feeling sympathy for the poor ghoul.
"I know that feeling too, but that's not our problem. Besides, if she just got dumped tonight or whatever, she probably wants to be be alone for a while."
"Yeah, I reckon that might be what she needs," agrees Scarah, using as much of her influence as she can without invading her, to help her fall asleep, for that is all she can do.
"I mean, I literally meditate every single day for hours at the time. How comes I can never do that!?" Venus complains.
"Maybe you don't know how to do it right," Twyla teases her.
For the last thirty minutes Keith has been meditating in order to find some balance and recenter while also replenishing his inner resources. He's also been floating,like any good sorcerer meditating does. What's unbeknownst to them is that he has been able to reach Casta in the astral plane, and now they're having a conversation about the proper use of magic.
"Hey, did you find who you were looking for?" Robecca asks her in her ear.
"No," answers in a whisper. "I think maybe she was out when it happened, and now I'm stuck in here." Venus says with remorse and relief at once.
They talk in whispers to not disturb him as he asked, she knows how obnoxious that is, so she agrees, also she doesn't want others to hear.
Meanwhile on the astral plane.
"Tell me, can you only see me, or can you also see my surroundings?" He asks. "I can only see you."
"No, only you." She replies.
"Lovely. I suppose you can at least point them in the right direction when they get there."
"I don't think I'll need to, they'll be able to see once they get here."
"Now back tot the real problem…"
"Right, where exactly did I fail?"
"Don't know, you tell me. I'm thinking deep down you known the answer. You casted a spell that was meant to create an illusion but lost control of it, creating this instead, which is in part due to the strong ley lines crossing in this school — my guess is you prepared the spell beforehand, hoping it would get enough energy from the area to make a really good illusion but how long exactly?"
"Maybe since I got here early —"
"Stop it before I want to kill you. That was utterly irresponsible and coming from me that's quite a statement."
"Still shouldn't be enough to make this big of a mess." Casta argues.
"You're right, it shouldn't. The other half of the problem is here," he points at her head, "Let's revisit Magic 101, lesson number one: magic is about… you know this, come on. What's the drive of magic?"
"Magic is about feelings and intention," answers feeling a just a little too patronized. Then getting ahead of his next questions, she adds in a very defensive voice "I just wanted to show them a world of heroes! The world I spent so much time trying to bring to life."
"That might have been your intention but then why does your magic reek of fear?" Selina asks in astral form, jumping on Keith's right shoulder.
"…Is that a cat in a witch costume? 'Cuz that is way cute!"
"I'm not a witch, I'm a magical cat!"
"Didn't I send you away —"
"They're during the boring part of the movie when you wanna speed forward to the good stuff, I figured I sleep a bit on her head while checking on you — her hair is so smooth it makes a great pillow."
Sighing deeply, he ignores his pet's intromission.
"Answer the question, why does your magic reek and vibrate with fear? What was it you were so afraid?"
"How… how can you tell that?"
"There is only one thing I know most over everything else and that is fear. And this place is teeming with it, I didn't quite recognize it at first, but it felt familiar enough… what happened that scared you so much you lost control of your magic in such way you created a world riddled with superheroes?"
"I wanted normies to see monsters as heroes and I feared I wouldn't make a good impression?"
"Try again."
Casta sighs heavily… "Okay… I guessed it had to be something like that but… I didn't want to believe it… no point in denying it anymore… This is all my fault, because I am afraid… and weak… see, I recently had an experience during one of my concerts that… there was people in danger, and I had this power for all my life and for all of it, I couldn't do anything to save them — I got frightened and I hate myself for it, for being so fucking weak and pathetic… and so predictable too. Leave it to Casta to get nervous and fearful on stage and ruin things with her magic she can't control turning her audience into animals, well at least this time I didn't turn anyone into animals, or at least I hope I didn't. You weren't a —"
"I was turned into a magical cat by you, thank you." Selina answers with every intention of making her feel worse.
"Great!"
"She's is kidding, she's my pet, I brought her here just because." He explains, turning his gaze onto her again, the faint amusement replaced by a cold stern look. "Instead you accidentally created a world where you — and anyone in a costume — can keep the innocent safe. Because in it you're a strong and fearless defender— the superhero you were during those ten months of shooting and you wished you could have been during whatever it was that happened, I don't need those details, all that matters is that your spell worked far too well, you brought them with their heroes to keep them safe…"
"From dangers created by you," Selina adds what he thinks but wouldn't say to his favorite artist.
"Now you recognized your problem, we can —"
"I can't undo the spell, okay? I just can't! I have already tried everything I know and nothing works, because I am a witch with no talent for magic whatsoever!" Casta cries. "But — but maybe you can, I mean you got in here somehow, clearly what I lack in talent you have far in excess."
"That is flattering, but I'm not a born witch like you, I don't have the power."
"Hhmm… I have been wondering on that since you said you got here with magic. Then how do you —?"
"Lesson number two: what are the types of magic users?"
"Oh, that's easy. There are three legitimate types of magic users: first and most common are the Borrowers, else known as Sorcerers - those who trade the power of a mystical entity in order to practice the art in exchange of a price, their power comes from a source. Then, and rarest of all, are the naturals - those who are… born with the gift. That is not the same to say they're born with a talent for it," says looking prone and ashamed of herself.
"You're one of those, be proud of that — always, even if your talent for manipulating your gift is literally proportionality inverse to your artistic talents… which you posses in abundance."
"Why, thank you! Wait… is that an insult or a compliment? I've never felt both at the same time." Exclaims in confusion, to which he answers by shrugging off his shoulders. "Lovely… so you are a Borrower?"
"Well, as you can tell I am not a born homo magi, that means that in order to practice this beautiful art, I must borrow magic from others entities by calling upon their names like some other Sorcerers, and that magic comes at a price — most often my pain which they seem to enjoy, and sadly the magic borrowed to get in here is a bit more powerful than I thought. If I wanted I could use it to force this bubble to pop but I can't guarantee my wellbeing or that of those in here, most likely my body won't be able to withstand it… yet. The price of powerful magic I guess."
"Right, powerful magic," she repeats in a faint grunt, most often than not that means dark magic, but then again that's a distinction that has never been quite clear she reckons, only reason hers isn't qualified as such is that she lacks any ill intention when using it but even then, others would say that wouldn't be enough, and how good does he have to be for any of those beings to grant him that much power? That's new for her. Now that she sits here in the astral plane with him right in front of her, she can feel the power emanating from him like electricity flowing through a high voltage wire exposed, and it feels almost… chaotic. Perhaps he's a practitioner of chaos magic? Then an idea strikes her. "What if I grant you my power? I mean what if I literally transfer my magic into your body so you can use it with your talent? Mine might not be quite as powerful, but is the responsible for all of this, so is clearly strong enough to solve it, and is surely not as harmful."
"Come again?"
"Well, since you can't transfer your talent and knowledge to me in any immediate way, to do the opposite is the only option," states with spiking excitement.
Keith glares at her, scratching Selina's head. "Casta, I admire you greatly, which is in part why I came here to this bloody party in the first place, and why I agreed to do all I did to get inside here to help you with your mess, but I'm not cleaning it up for you," states harshly. "I hate being manipulated in such ways."
"Come on! You can't be serious! I'm literally giving you the power you clearly wished you've been born with your whole life for free — no condition whatsoever attached — and you say no?"
"You are only giving it to me for as long as I need it to fix this, and… is not for free if I must do your dirty laundry… that qualifies as a condition…" then he stops to mull onto it for a moment. "You know, maybe you're right, I'll do you this favor, in xchage of another — in other words, you'll owe me one." As he says those words there is a odd chill that follows his voice, goosebumps raising on her as though her skin had been bare to winter breeze. Odd, because to feel such things in the astral plane is mostly unheard.
With eyes unreadable and expressionless, he extends his right hand.
"Got a deal or not?"
"Your serious?"
"Come on… won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?" Speaks in a low voice, dropping to a whisper, then striking her hard with his flashing devil smile.
"Deal…" says taking his hand with fading hesitation — and for some reason she remembers the feeling she got once when a friend dared her to hold a knife by the blade and run all the way around the house and back to the kitchen when they were children, danger and excitement in a single particular blend she wouldn't drop but rather hold tightly in her hand while knowing she shouldn't. "But you better don't ask me for nude pictures!"
"Would never dare," says with a hint of elation. As if the Internet ever fails to provide.
