Chapter 3: From the Mouths of the Mad

The Silver Dragon– a few days after the Outpost Lima visit

"Oh God, it's you…" Chen said under his breath as the familiar form of an unshaven man decked head-to-toe in camouflage walked into the building, his coat pockets filled to capacity with horseshoes and other iron objects. "Listen, if you want to avoid a loitering charge like last time, I suggest you buy something and not just sit around scaring off customers!"

"Is it my fault that they can't accept the tr–"

"Nicholls, here's a truth you're going to have to accept– we have the right to refuse service to anyone. Especially whackadoodles who rant about how all the most powerful people on the planet were switched out for pod people from Fairyland years ago."

Just then, Hay Lin walked in from the back room. "Is everything okay?"

"YOU!" Nicholls exclaimed, pointing at the girl. "You can't fool me with your glamour, 'cause I've seen your true form! Flying around with little butterfly wings and fighting off that giant snake– you really think you can hide now, missy?"

"Um, sir?" Hay nervously asked.

"Don't think you can play coy with me!" came the reply. "Now, you got any beef chow mein around here?"

Chen's eye twitched. "Depends on whether or not you can shut up."

"Listen! I'm trying to save you from a life of being a perpetual dupe to the greatest evils known to man! Evils like Queen Mab, Mordred, Dracula, Set–"

"Okay, I've heard enough. Hay?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"Give me a hand with our 'friend' over here while I call the police."

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, you know! Mark my words– when Tinker Bell and her armies start raining their pixie dust on us from the sky, I'm not giving you so much as an ounce of cold iron!" Nicholls raved.

Sheffield Institute Cafeteria– the next day

"Girls, we've got a bit of a problem." Hay Lin said as she took a seat next to her friends.

"Define 'problem'." Cornelia replied, idly picking at a salad.

"That crazy old guy with the steel plate in his head?"

"What about him?" Irma asked.

"Let's just say he recognized me from what went down with Cedric." Hay grimly whispered.

A stunned silence settled over the table as everything sank in. "Any good news?" Taranee asked.

"It looks like he's got things backwards about our forms– he thinks our Guardian ones are our normal ones, while our normal ones are…he called it glamour, I think?"

Will nervously swallowed. "Let's count ourselves lucky that nobody's going to believe him about that."

"Nobody respectable, that is." Cornelia added. "Trust me when I say that a supermarket rag like the Weekly Comet'll pick up something like that without a second thought."

City Jail

"You can't do this to me! I have rights!" Nicholls exclaimed as he rattled the bars of his cell door.

Tom Lair rolled his eyes. "And loitering in a private business so people can your delusional ramblings isn't one of them, buddy." he retorted. "Seriously, how many times has this happened in the past six weeks?"

"You don't understand, my friend! I know a great many things the rest of you people can't and won't accept or understand, because I can see behind the glamour that those supernatural thingies use to blind us to their existence!"

Lair sighed. "And how can you do this?" he asked, going through the motions of his prior interactions with the man before him.

"That plate in my head I got after those government scientist types went pokin' around in my brain? It interferes with their magic, that's why! And furthermore–"

"For the umpteenth time, your claims that Alderman Vickers is part of a satanic cult are completely unfounded and you're lucky he hasn't accused you of slander!"

"And you're a dupe, my friend! I can smell the taint of demons on him! Demons, I tell you!"

They never prepared us for this at the academy. the hapless officer thought as Nicholls continued his ranting and raving, the topic soon shifting from local politics to something about…a veil separating this world from the rest of the multiverse? Portals? Witches?

"What on God's green earth are you talking about?" he finally asked, interrupting the old coot mid-sentence.

A wild-eyed look materialized on Nicholls' face. "I ever tell you about what exactly those scientists were doing poking around in my noggin back when?"

"No, and I'm not particularly interested." came the retort.

"They thought I had what they called 'psionic potential'– that I could read minds, see the future, move stuff with my brain, all that jazz."

"Just…just get to the damned point!"

"Well, during one of their little experiments, they gave me a whole bunch of something called 'mescaline'– said it was the stuff in those peyote buds that hippies and Indians eat. They thought it'd awaken my supposed psychic powers." He paused. "What it actually did was awaken me to the true nature of the universe– like the existence of that veil, how magic's real, something about a…heart and an oracle and guardians? I dunno, those scientists made sure I was high as a satellite– not exactly that conducive to remembering things. And then after that, they poked around in my brain directly…"

Lair groaned, thoughts of retirement dancing around in his head as he tuned out Nicholls' rambling– thoughts that were soon joined by one more: Why do I feel like this round of nonsense might actually have legs?

"Let's address the elephant in the room." Will said as she and the other four girls sat gathered around the table in the Silver Dragon's back room. "As of yesterday, we're one round of blathering from a particularly loose-lipped crazy guy away from having our cover completely blown. At least with Trismegistus, we can be sure they can keep a secret. Old Man Nicholls– not so much."

"Shouldn't we be more worried as to how the guy managed to see our battle with Cedric in the first place?" Taranee asked.

"Wait, didn't he say something about–"

"Glamour?"

All five girls practically jumped out of their skin as Yan Lin entered the room, a plate of cookies in her hands.

"Don't sneak up on us like that!" Irma exclaimed. "Seriously!"

"I'm sorry if I startled you, my child." came the reply. "Now, as for this talk of Old Man Nicholls, I believe there is a…well, not a good explanation, but a reasonable one nonetheless."

"And that would be?" Cornelia asked.

"Perhaps he possesses some form of mystical vision capable of piercing through such illusions– a 'true sight' if you will. Alternatively, he may simply be resistant to the effects of magic, or the spell may have wavered, or his madness may have had something to do with it."

A pregnant silence settled over the room.

"Well, at least nobody's going to believe him." Irma said.

"There will always be people who believe in words spoken from the mouths of the mad, I'm afraid." Yan replied. "Let us just hope that this man's words never reach someone with the power and resources to ruin you and all you love and hold dear."

Sheffield Institute– next day

Well, this is fantastic. Will thought as she made her way to her locker. Here we were, thinking that if anyone figured out our secret, it'd be…I dunno, our parents? One of our enemies? Someone important? But no– it's a crazy old man. Swear to God, if he ends up getting us killed, I'll be sure to haunt him until the day he di–

It was at that moment that Will's train of thought was suddenly derailed as she collided with another student, knocking them both to the ground.

"I am so sorry about that!"

A dazed Will looked up. There, standing on her hands and knees, was a girl about her age with pale skin, bluish-gray eyes, jet-black hair running down to her shoulders and clad in an ensemble that screamed "Gothic-punk" from the rooftops– combat boots, a "The Cure" t-shirt, an army surplus trenchcoat, and a pair of black cargo pants.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry." she said, gathering up papers from the floor. "I should've been paying attention–"

"No, it's my fault. Should've had better timing–"

"Again, it's my f–" The words died on Will's lips as she snapped into "new girl" mode. "So, what's your name?"

"Briar. I'm, err, new here." the other girl said as she joined Will in the cleanup. "Just transferred over from the county school. You?"

"Will. Out of curiosity, I was wondering if you w–"

"Free after school? Yeah, I think so. Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to introduce you to my friends is all."

"Gotcha. Where at?"

"Callaway's Arcade."

"Sounds like a plan to me. See ya then."

"Likewise."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Keep an eye on Briar, dear readers, because she's going to be important later on (though no, she's not going to become a Guardian– at least not a capital-G one). As for Old Man Nicholls, he too will have a role to play going forward. And speaking of him, try and figure out which of his ramblings are foreshadowing for events to come, which ones are his delusions, and how much of a role does that steel plate in his head plays in regards to his being able to see through illusions like the glamour that covered up W.I.T.C.H's fight with Cedric in "Z is for Zenith".