So, this is the moment you guys have been waiting for. Serious canon divergence. I'll admit, I'm a bit intimidated by the prospect of having to write original plot threads. It is still taking shape in my mind and I'm a little excited to see where this takes us. So, we'll be treading unexplored lands.

I know you guys have been waiting so without further ado, this is the next chapter!

Chapter 6: Little Jinx

Suffocation.

Mylo's understanding of the word had changed.

Suffocation wasn't the grip of the monster's hand around his throat. It wasn't his windpipe being slowly crushed. It wasn't the smoke from the fires choking him.

It wasn't any of those things. Instead, it was reminiscent of the feeling of tears streaming down his face, the screaming soreness in his running feet, and the words of his older brother ringing endlessly in his ears.

PROTECT YOUR FAMILY! NO MATTER WHAT!

That's right. That's what suffocation was. It was the weight. The weight of the world. The weight of his younger sister on his back. The weight of responsibility.

At first, Mylo wanted to scream. How could Mercury just leave them with such responsibility? He wasn't like the older teen. He couldn't do the things that Mercury seemed to do effortlessly. He couldn't make Powder or Vi or Claggor laugh as carefree. He couldn't defuse situations with just his wit. He couldn't manage an entire family.

But Mylo couldn't scream. He couldn't scream because of the suffocation. Maybe it was a good thing he couldn't scream, that he felt the weight of responsibility. The suffocation forced him to focus on the things right in front of him. The road in front of him. The flashing street lights moving by. The rush of the wind in his face.

If he didn't focus on those things, if he let attention slip for even a second, then he would be crushed under a different weight. A deep ocean of despair.

Finally, they made it to Benzo's and Mylo's eyes went wide. Usually, the front of the store would be empty, only occupied with stray puddles and cigarettes. However, the streetfront of the store was populated instead with the corpses of enforcers strewn about. Blood was splattered across the surfaces of the streets like a morbid painting. It was total carnage.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Claggor also stopping beside him.

"Oh my god," Claggor whispered. "Don't look, Powder."

Too late. Mylo could feel Powder's head over his shoulder and he could tell that she was looking at the scene. He couldn't do anything though because he too was staring numbly.

Mylo could just feel the imagery searing itself into his mind and he knew that he would have plenty of restless nights plagued with nightmares of that night. The night sure didn't have a shortage of horrible things to use as fuel.

The door jingled in front of them and opened outward. Ekko walked out of the shop with a small bag on his back. He looked at them with a blank expression, not even regarding the bodies around them.

"Follow me," the young boy said.

Ekko walked to the side of the building and began to scale it with boxes and implements of the neighboring building. Mylo followed first and helped Claggor climb up. The goggled boy cursed at his broken arms but Mylo didn't mind. He needed to focus on something, anything.

When they reached the top, Ekko put his small bag in a small pile of other things. Mylo spotted some stationary and notebooks amongst the pile.

Mylo slackened his arms and let Powder climb off of his back. His back didn't feel any lighter. He gingerly took a seat on a large metal slab. Claggor sat next to him and Powder went to the opposite side of the roof.

She was swaying uneasily, her face was a mess of tears and mucus. Her eyes were puffy and red and her lips were quivering uncontrollably. However, she made no sound. None. The only noise that came from her was the scraping of her boots against the grain of the roof. Then, slowly, she lowered herself to the ground, facing toward them. Her eyes didn't meet theirs.

Ekko's face was haunted. Downtrodden. Mylo didn't judge. Ekko was in good company. Mylo reckoned that nobody in the Lanes would be smiling anytime soon. No, they shouldn't be smiling anytime soon. Not when someone was stolen from right out under them.

And suddenly, Mylo realized that he couldn't ignore it anymore. The focus was gone. The moment he sat down and relaxed his body, the suffocation eased up and his attention widened. He could no longer push aside the fact that Vander and Mercury were gone. Forever.

Never once had he ever imagined what his life would have been without them. Never. He could have never pictured what it would have been like without Vander's stern and firm presence. He could have never conceived what it would have been like without Mercury and his always ready smile.

Except at that moment.

At that moment, Mylo saw what it would be like. It was cold. The type of chill that wasn't physical but rather spiritual. It froze his soul. There was an empty space that shouldn't have been there. It was like a void that sucked up all of the warmth in his body. Because the two constants in his life, the two people that he just knew would always be there weren't there anymore.

For a blasphemous moment, Mylo thought that maybe it would have been better if he had never known them at all. Maybe it would have been better to have stayed on the streets and not let anyone in. Maybe if he didn't know them, if he didn't love them, then he wouldn't have had a space to be emptied in the first place. Maybe if-

"Where's Merc?"

The question came from Ekko. The brown skinned boy was sitting down on the ground beside them. His legs were close to his chest with his arms wrapping around them. Ekko's neck was bent upward, his eyes blankly staring at the empty canvas of the night sky.

Mylo blinked. He shook his head and wiped his tears away from his eyes. Tears? Yes, there were tears. He had sunken into that ocean far faster than he had originally thought.

They said nothing. Absolutely nothing. And Ekko understood. His eyes welled up and tears streaked down the well worn tracks on his cheeks.

Silence reigned between the four of them. But it wasn't completely silent. Rather, it was noisy. There could never be a total silence in the Lanes. That was what Mylo had learned early in his life. There was always some noise.

Hiss. The sound of steam.

Clang. The banging of pipes.

Bam. The echoes of something falling to the ground.

Except, there was something missing. Essential sounds. The sound of an older brother's laughter. The sound of a father's firm reprimand. The absence of those sounds created an abominable silence. That was the silence that reigned. It was the silence that choked out all of the other noises. The silence of loss.

They lived in that silence for a while.

"And Vi?" Ekko said.

Mylo furrowed his eyebrows. So much had been on his mind but even still he was appalled at himself. He hadn't even noticed that Vi was missing.

Claggor spoke up from next to Mylo, "We thought she would have been here by now."

"Well, I haven't seen her." Ekko stood up and began to pull on the straps of his bags and put them on his back. "And we need to go. Now. Before anyone tries to find us."

"We need to wait for them," Powder murmured.

Ekko paused and looked at her. Mylo and Claggor did the same.

"He promised. He said he'll be fine," Powder spoke as if in a daze. "And Vi will be here soon. She just needs a minute."

"Powder…" Claggor said. "Merc's… Merc's go-"

"No!" Powder jumped to her feet and shouted. "He promised! He promised that he'll catch up so he will. And Vi can't leave me. Not again."

Powder gripped onto the boxes in her hand tightly.

Ekko sat back down slowly. "Okay then, Powder. We'll wait. Until we can't anymore."

And so they waited. And the accursed silence settled upon them once more.

They waited for a minute for Vi to return. For a brief moment, Mylo could have imagined Vi greeting them as she climbed up the side of the building. But there was nothing.

They waited for ten minutes for Vi to return. The wind howled and choked the sounds of the night briefly. Mylo hoped that it would carry the voice of Vi to them as well. But there was nothing.

They waited for an hour for Vi to return. Exhaustion had set in. After those life changing minutes at the cannery, Mylo had been in a constant state of action and just the opportunity to rest made him unbearably tired. But he forced himself to stay awake to catch even a glimpse of Vi. But there was nothing.

They waited for two hours for Vi to return. A pit had burrowed its way into his stomach. Would there be another one that night? Another person who would leave their family? That question plagued him more and more each passing second. It kept him awake despite his fatigue. Desperately, Mylo looked within himself for faith that Vi would return. But there was nothing.

They waited for the rest of that night for their family to return. They used to be six. A father, three brothers, and two sisters. A disjunct family but one that worked somehow. Mylo hoped in vain that their family would be at least four by sunrise and so he waited for a sign, any sign, that Vi was going to make it, even though he had no faith. But there was nothing.

When the sun rose over the horizon and warmed their faces, there was no sign of her.

There was shouting in the streets. They must have discovered the bodies laying in the front of the shop.

Mylo peered over the edge of the building. A crowd had formed in front of the shop. Some people looked aghast and horrified, stood shocked still where they were. Some wasted no time in stripping down the enforcers lying in the streets. So much for respecting the dead.

It was that time of the day where a slight mist was floating along the bottom of the street. The mist would be quickly dispelled when the sun rose higher but at that moment, the fog hung around the feet of the crowd. Mylo noticed that there was movement of the fog, a sort of current flowing from one side of the crowd to the next. Mylo's eyes followed the source of the current and traced it further up the street.

There was a small group approaching the shop. They were people that Mylo had recognized. Silco's gang. Some of them must have been from the nights before because they were covered in dust and burns. However, a couple of them were fresh like they had just rolled out of their beds and onto the streets. Their collective movement produced the current of mist.

Was Silco still alive? How? Were they looking for them? Was the previous night all for nothing?

Ekko had made his way to Mylo's side without Mylo noticing and saw the group as well. The young boy's eyes widened and he said, "We have to go. Now!"

Claggor cursed. Ekko ran back to his belongings and began strapping them onto himself. Mylo's eyes remained focused on Silco's gang for a few beats before he tore away from the store's edge.

Mylo walked over to Powder and crouched down. She raised her head up to look into his eyes. Her expression was blank. Her eyes had run out of tears to cry. Her lips were in a fine line and her breathing was calm.

Mylo searched in her blue eyes for something that used to be there. That little spark of something mischievous. That ember of life. But it was murky. Something was there, hidden behind a veil but Mylo couldn't tell what it was. And he wasn't sure he would like the answer.

Could Mercury have known? Would he know the right words to say to her? He always seemed to know. Even in his last moments with them, he comforted them.

But he wasn't there anymore. And Mylo wasn't his older brother.

Mylo clenched his fists. Even if he wasn't, there still remained responsibility. And Mylo could never allow himself to betray the duty that Mercury had put upon him. Even if he could never handle it, even if it would break him, Mylo would still shoulder that faith put in him. No matter what, Mylo would protect his family. Hopelessly.

Mylo slowly put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She nodded morosely and stood up along with the rest of them.

They would have time to grieve later. At that moment, they only had time to survive.

They left. Never to set foot again in that neighborhood. Not for many, many years at least. And not all together.

Powder trudged along their path. They decided to take the forgotten alleyways and dusty trenches of the city that Mercury had shown them.

They didn't really know where they were going. They just walked. Away from Benzo's, away from the Last Drop, away from home. But they stayed in the Lanes because there wasn't anywhere to go. Whenever they neared the edge of the city, their feet automatically pulled them back within the orbit of the Undercity. It was like they were in a fishbowl and trapped by invisible glass.

They had traveled for the better part of the day. The sun had gone up and gone down and the city had become dyed in many neon hues. The shadows of the city had shortened and stretched before their eyes.

At last, the four of them found somewhere to rest. It was near the edge of the city, a part where Powder doubted even Mercury had come often. It was almost like a separate entity to the rest of the Undercity. It was contained within a small little valley, one side pressed against a sheer, rocky cliff. The ground was more dirt and gravel than concrete and asphalt.

The buildings were sparse and old-so old that Powder could smell the dust and age. They could barely even be called buildings. Most of them lacked solid roofs and the walls of each of them looked like they could fall apart if she even poked them with her finger.

There were people there but none of them spoke to them or each other. They just glared at the kids like they were taking up way too much room.

There were no functional street lights. Even back at the Last Drop, the street lights provided semi-consistent lighting. Where they were, however, maybe one or two out of every five lights flickered even a little before dying an abrupt death. It made the whole place seem extra creepy. Or, at least, it would have been extra creepy to Powder once upon a time. Now, Powder just didn't seem to care any more.

They roamed around for a bit, looking for a place to stay. Their boots trotted along gravel paths. Everywhere they turned, even with how few people there were, there always seemed to be someone watching them out of the corner of their eye.

After around half an hour, they all stopped in front of an abandoned shack which was separated even more so from the rest of the neighborhood. Just like the other buildings in the area, it was falling apart at the seams. The wooden walls were rotting, the windows were shattered, and there wasn't even a door. Frankly, Powder was mildly surprised that there were even windows to break in the first place.

They all stepped through the empty doorway and became aware of a slight claustrophobia. The walls seemed just a bit too close together. There were three rooms which were more like closets.

Still, it was the only building that they saw which could host them.

"We should bunker here for now," Claggor said.

Ekko responded, "Yeah."

The boy set down his bags, all of which he had been carrying by himself the entire day. Whenever Mylo, Claggor or Powder offered to lighten the load, Ekko silently refused.

"Tomorrow, we should try to look for a new hideout. Something better than this, where Silco can't find us," Claggor said.

Silco. Was that the name? Was that the name of the person that ruined Powder's life? The one who took away the people who were the most precious to her?

No. She already knew who took them away.

Mylo said nothing. That was strange to Powder in a detached sort of way. It hadn't occurred to her until just that moment but Mylo had said absolutely nothing to anyone. Not during the whole day. Not during the previous night.

To be honest, she had been bracing herself for the words that she knew that she would hear from him. The words that she had deserved. However, there was nothing. Not a peep. That was weird. But she didn't comment on it. All she did was find a little corner to sit against.

Without a word, the rest of them also found open spots for them to lay down on. Ekko passed the other two boys large blankets from one of his bags and gave Powder one as well. It was a light blue and was big enough to wrap around her twice over. So she did just that. It was thick and warm.

Unbidden, the words leapt from her mouth. "Vi and Merc are gone, aren't they?"

The other boys looked at her and said nothing. But Powder could see it. It was written all over their faces.

"So he lied. He lied about being fine, about catching up. She lied about coming back for me. They lied about everything, didn't they?"

It was the only thing that made sense. They were like her parents. Liars. All of them.

"Powder-" Claggor started.

Powder cut him off, "No. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to talk about it. Just… forget it."

Powder turned away from them and faced the dark corner alone. She heard shuffling behind her and she could just feel them wanting to say something. And a small part of her wanted them to say something, anything. But they ultimately said nothing.

Powder bundled herself tighter within her blanket and closed her eyes. It would be a while before she could fall asleep. And when she did, she wished she would never have dreams again.

"It was your fault," the darkness whispered.

Powder whipped her head around, drowning in murky blackness. She couldn't see anything in front of her. She couldn't even tell up from down. It was like she was trapped in a bubble of ink.

"All of it. You jinxed everything. Like always."

It was her voice. The darkness spoke with her own voice. Powder moved her hands, the hands that she couldn't even see, to her mouth only to discover that there was nothing. There were no lips, no teeth. She had no mouth. The void had stolen it.

She was floating, flailing. The abyss engulfed her. She couldn't even scream. Her own voice betrayed her.

Her voice said, "If only you weren't there. If only you didn't get that stupid idea. Maybe they would still be with you."

The words cut deep. Powder knew that. She already knew that. Why did it have to remind her when she already ingrained it into every thought that she had?

Then the bubble burst. Black fluid rushed away from her and suddenly Powder was falling. She was hurtling toward the ground, wind roaring in her ears.

She fell through the sky, through red clouds, through white oceans, through sideways buildings and upturned trees. It was too chaotic. Her old home. The bridge. The Last Drop. She could see again but she wished she couldn't. But she couldn't close her eyes. It was like her eyelids were taped open. Actually, it was like they were cut off.

Finally, everything else fell away and she hit the ground. The rocks and dirt pressed against her skin harshly but there wasn't any pain. However, it was hot. Scorching. Just like…

Powder raised her head and took in her surroundings. It was cramped, narrow. The dark sky was above her, looking down at her balefully. Fire crawled along the shattered walls of the alleyway and chunks of bricks and rocks casted deep and menacing shadows.

It was the alleyway. The same one where she entered so proudly and left so hopelessly. Why? Why was she there again?

There was a shifting of rubble behind her and a wheezing sound. Powder's heart pounded within her chest and she so very much didn't want to look. She already knew that if she did, if she saw what she knew she would see, she would fall apart. Regardless, her body turned for her. It betrayed her, just like her voice. And then she saw him. Mercury.

That's right, it was Mercury. Except everything about him was wrong. He wasn't supposed to be standing awkwardly on shattered legs. There wasn't supposed to be a boiling, blistering burn on his face. His smile wasn't supposed to be that unbearably wide. His teeth weren't supposed to be that menacingly sharp. His face wasn't supposed to be that cruel.

He wasn't supposed to make her afraid.

Powder desperately wanted to face away but she couldn't.

"Powder," Mercury said sweetly.

His smile grew even wider. His lips actually tugged at his cheeks so hard that the corners began bleeding. Even his blood was wrong. It was gray. Everything about him was gray except for his red eyes and white hair.

Powder trembled. His voice sounded wrong as well. It was too low, too grating.

Mercury continued. "It wasn't your fault. You did everything right."

He began walking toward her stiltedly. Every moment caused his legs to buckle and crack. Powder winced with each gory noise that came from them. And yet, his smile seemed to grow wider, showing even more teeth.

"That bomb worked exactly the way it was supposed to, right? That's why you made me like this. You hate liars, don't you Powder? Is that why you made me a liar? Do you hate me, Powder?"

Powder began to sob. She could never hate him. Right? It was just a dream. A horrible dream. One that she would wake from any moment.

Her legs finally obeyed her and she began to run. But, the alleyway didn't end. It stretched on and on into eternity. Once she thought she reached the end, the alley redoubled in length.

She ran and ran and ran. It didn't end. It never ended. She looked behind and there he was. Right behind her. Even though his legs were destroyed, even though he stumbled with each step, even though he took his time, he was right behind her. She never managed to put any distance between them at all.

She tripped on a stray rock and fell to the ground helplessly. She flipped herself onto her back and crawled away from Mercury.

Please. Please! She wanted to say. But she couldn't because she had no mouth.

"Don't worry," his unnatural voice said. "It doesn't matter if you hate me, Powder. I'll always love you. No matter what, no matter where."

Mercury reached her. He bent down to her, so very gently, and grabbed a hold of her petrified face in both of his hands. She thrashed around in his hands but his grip remained steadfast and strong. Mercury shushed her and finally she gave up and looked at him.

The only thing she could see were his wide, red eyes and his terrifying smile.

"You're my whole world. Isn't that right, Vi?"

Mercury turned her face to look behind her. There her sister was. And Powder wanted so desperately to weep and scream.

Vi was gray, so very gray, just like Mercury. There was only half of her, split from top to bottom. It was the right side, the side where her hair hung along the side of her face. She was somehow standing perfectly balanced, as though her right side was still attached. The area of the division of Vi's body was covered in a murky darkness. The only splash of color on her was the washed out pink hair and the malevolent red eye.

Vi's eye swiveled and looked straight into hers.

Powder felt something inside just… break. Because within Vi's eye was nothing but contempt.

Powder's eyes snapped awake. It was still dark like that bubble of ink except she wasn't drowning. She took several shallow breaths in quick succession. Her heart was still beating furiously in her chest. It almost hurt, like it would break out of her ribs at any second.

It was just a horrible, horrible nightmare. Powder forced herself to take a long, deep breath, just like how Vi taught her. When she was younger, she had nightmares often. Vi always knew how to calm her down. Vi…

She looked around the room from her position in the corner. Beams of moonlight shone through the broken windows and cracks in the wall and lit up the inside of the shack like one big night light in the sky. It was actually bright enough for her eyes to see everyone else in the shack.

The rest of the boys were fast asleep. Mylo was sleeping with his back against one of the walls opposite her. Ekko was laying flat on his back in front of her. Claggor was lying on his side near Mylo.

And… there was something else. At first she didn't think much of it but Powder couldn't shake the feeling that there were more than just them in the shack. Like there was something watching them. Why?

Powder scoured the inside of the shack keenly. Her eyes passed over each wall, each nook, each cranny. Nothing. She let out a breath.

Tears began to trickle down her face once more. It was her. Just her. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Again. Like her nightmare wasn't enough. How long would they have to live like this, she wondered. Running. Afraid. Lost. Confused.

Powder just wanted everything to go back to the way it was. Before she messed everything up. She wanted Vi and Vander and Mercury back. She wanted her family whole again. Maybe she was in a nightmare and she would wake up any second.

Right, like that would happen. She could only wish to be so lucky.

Powder looked at the boys again and wondered, were they having nightmares as well? To be honest… she would be glad if they did. She didn't want to be alone in having horrible nights. Did that make her terrible? Maybe. She was bad luck, after all. Bad luck to herself, bad luck to them, bad luck to-

Powder's eyes widened.

There were two other people in the corner across from her. It wasn't like they were even hidden in the darkness. They just were there. Like they were always there. But she was sure she didn't see them at all! How?

Then, she saw their faces. And it all made sense.

Mercury smiled his hideous, bloody smile at her and said, I told you, Powder. I'll catch up. No matter what.

His voice carried clear across the room but didn't wake any of the boys up. How could they not wake up? Could they not hear Mercury's horrific voice?

Powder was petrified and couldn't scream. Her body betrayed her once more. Seized her like in her nightmare.

The nightmare didn't end. She forgot. How could she forget? Reality was the bigger nightmare. One that she would never wake from.

Vi and Mercury looked around at the rest of the room. They stared at each of the boys before looking at her in unison.

The corner of Vi's lips opened up and she said, You want us to be a family again, right? Mylo, Claggor, Ekko, they'll be like us soon. After all, you're just bad luck, aren't you.

Powder wanted to deny it with all of her heart.

That's not a bad thing, though, Powder, Mercury said. I love unlucky things. Like you, my little jinx.

Jayce floated around in a sea of blue stars. A big, dumb smile was plastered across his face as he was miraculously floating in the air. No, not miraculously. It wasn't brought about by any stroke of dumb luck. It was brought by the hard work and years of research and refinement by himself and the spark of ingenuity by Viktor.

He looked across the room at the other man. Floating alongside him, Viktor was also in wonderment of what they had just done. The gaunt man had a slight curve of the lips and passed his arms through motes of blue energy.

It was like they were swimming in the air. Like they were flying. The sensation of flight tapped into that childlike wish of wanting to soar high above the sky. To be honest, it made him a little giddy.

It was a success! A smashing success! A carefree laughter erupted from his mouth, the likes of which he hadn't let loose since before his father had passed. He wasn't a madman after all! He already knew he wasn't one, he understood that he was quite a rational person, but he would be remiss if he didn't acknowledge at least a little bit of the doubt that had been in his system.

Blue energy arced between the objects that were floating alongside them. Books, glass elements, chairs, tables, there was an eclectic range of objects floating amidst them. Chuckling still, Jayce pushed lightly at a cog gliding in front of him. The cog bounced off of his finger and toward the source of the floating phenomenon.

The source was a small translucent orb of the magical energy with a bright white light visible at its core. Jayce theorized that it was a sort of nexus that magical energy and effects were produced from. Perhaps everything magical had a similar nexus. Maybe it was the other way around. It was also possible that the magical "source" was not a source at all but rather a visualization or expression of the magical effects. Further experimentation was necessary to determine the solution to this new chicken and egg problem.

The cog impacted the edge of the source and then seemed to teleport to the other side of it in an instant. That instantly began turning the wheels of Jayce's mind. The possibilities…

Jayce was sure that he was the happiest that he had ever been in his life. Not even the emergence of Heimerdinger and a small retinue of campus security guards could hamper his joy. In fact, their presence enhanced it.

With the biggest smile on his face, he spread his arms out wide as if to say, Look! This is what you were afraid of!

Jayce could see it in Heimerdinger's eyes as well. The awe of it all. Well, after the righteous anger had faded.

The guards quickly shook out of their reverie and began shouting for Jayce and Viktor to come down but it was all just a dull roar in Jayce's ears. The only thing that he could focus on was Heimerdinger.

The yordle's eyes found Jayce's. The professor's arms were crossed behind his back then and he shook his head slightly in disbelief and he snorted a little in what resembled amusement.

Jayce knew that was the most that he would get out of the councilman and he was completely fine with that. After all, the professor was notoriously hard-headed but even he would have to accept Jayce's research when confronted with its absolute success firsthand.

Jayce felt it then. Something amiss. His smile fell away from his face and he hardened his features slightly. There was a shaking in the air, a sort of rumbling. He looked back toward Viktor. However, his companion in the air showed no signs of noticing what he had.

His eyebrows furrowed. Perhaps it was his imagination? Then why did it feel like something was going to happen? It was the same feeling that he felt right before his eyes fell upon that magician. It was a weight upon his chest. It was a heaviness in his stomach. It was the feeling of… fate.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a slight rumbling. The objects besides them began accelerating on their own even though that shouldn't have been possible. Jayce maneuvered his body to face the source once more.

Once he did, he was extremely confused. He caught Viktor's expression as well, the other man having gotten the same idea once the objects had started rotating. Viktor's face held bewilderment.

The source looked… Well, it looked normal. It was stable, just within their calculations. There was no shaking or instability unlike his previous failed attempts (the ones that had ended in what had amounted to a fart of energy). If there wasn't anything wrong, then what could have explained this unplanned behavior in their experiment?

Then, the doubt resurfaced in his mind. Was Heimerdinger right? Could magic really not be controlled?

Actually… Jayce looked closer. The source of the gravity field was somehow a little brighter. What he thought were little motes of light were, in reality, the runes that he had used to control and direct the flow of energy. He looked even closer, swimming a few inches to observe the surface of the source with a critical eye. Indeed, the motes of light were all runes and most of them he recognized. But, there were a few which he didn't.

No, he did recognize them, they had shown up during his research with potential applications with teleportation. He had just found no use for them in his immediate pursuit with manipulating gravity and so he hadn't worked with them in quite some time. Just why would they show up on the source?

"Alright, Professor," Jayce called out to his senior. "I think this demonstration proved my point. Could you perhaps find my device and shut-"

Jayce didn't even have enough time to finish his sentence before normal gravity reasserted itself and Viktor and he crashed to the floor. The other floaters around them had also fallen with a smattering of clanking and clunking.

Jayce groaned and rubbed the back of his head to soothe at least a small portion of the pain smoldering on his skull. He cracked his eyes open and looked at the source which had remained in the center of the room, still stable.

The guards were quick to move and wrest Jayce and Viktor up to their feet but Jayce paid them no mind. His eyes were as sharp as a hawk on the energy source. Dimly, he heard Heimerdinger commanding the guards to let them go.

"-ayce. Jayce. Jayce!"

Jayce drew his attention away from the source and to Heimerdinger.

The yordle said, "Was that also part of the demonstration, Mister Tallis, Viktor?"

"Um, not exactly, Professor," Jayce replied.

"And I don't suppose you can explain what exactly that thing is doing right now?"

"Um, not exactly, Professor," Viktor said.

Professor Heimerdinger rubbed his forehead with his gloved hand. "Will it blow us all to the next life, my boy?"

"No!" Jayce shouted. "I made sure of it."

He had been extremely focused on reducing any potential of an explosive reaction. He had gone through every avenue to make sure that any failure of his experiment would only lead to a spectacular lack of energy, rather than a catastrophic explosion of one. It was even to the point where Viktor had considered some of his precautions a tad excessive.

"Very well," Heimerdinger said. "If you would be so kind as to turn off your machine, then. To be quite frank, I have barely the slightest idea of how to operate it. I don't know what exactly you were thinking asking me to turn it off."

Jayce nodded listlessly, staring back at the source. "Yeah, I'll do that."

Before he could even take his first step, the source glowed a brilliant azure. Jayce's eyes widened. That definitely shouldn't have happened.

Then, the source became blinding. Jayce reflexively shielded his eyes from the glow with his arm. His ears began ringing when the rumbling from the source increased dramatically in intensity. It became almost unbearable.

A loud boom rattled the office and a thud quickly followed. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Silence overtook the room.

Jayce quickly uncovered his eyes. The intense light had vanished. The blue stars surrounding them faded. The source was gone. It was like there was no trace of it at all. He then focused his attention to the object that produced the thud and gasped.

It was an unconscious man. His face was burnt on its right side. The white hair on his head was a mess, some of it was burnt and some of it was missing entirely. His left hand was crackling with the magical energy. Jayce thought that he saw blue shards of something seemingly melt into the unknown man's palm. Were they perhaps the remnants of one of Jayce's magic crystals? How the hell did this man get his hands on one?

The clothing he wore didn't escape whatever did that to the rest of his body. It was tattered and torn in many places and burnt in others. The gray vest was open due to most of its buttons being missing. The left sleeve of his black shirt was torn away.

And finally, his legs. Jayce's stomach rebelled at the sight.

Jayce had been unfortunate enough to pass by the medical ward on the day of a particularly disastrous experiment once. His curiosity had surpassed him and he cracked open the door and saw the mangled limbs and gore that had befallen his fellow students and even some teachers.

The legs before him reminded Jayce of that day. They were, in a word, destroyed. It was like they had somehow been crushed on all sides. That wasn't even the worst of it. They were barely connected to the man's pelvis by some strands of sinew and flesh. Blood was pouring profusely between the gaps.

Jayce flashed himself down to the man's side immediately.

"Hey! Hey! Are you okay?" What the hell? Was the man okay? Of course he wasn't fucking okay. His legs more resembled grinded meat than human limbs. But Jayce was scrambling. He had to make sure that the man was responsive at least.

Behind him, he heard Heimerdinger calling to the guards to get medical teams to the room immediately.

Jayce pressed his index and middle finger to the man's neck, feeling for a pulse. His palm was shaky and his breathing was quick and rapid so he couldn't get a proper read. Shit!

Jayce pulled his hand away. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. He brought himself back to that day, the magician, the snow storm, the magic.

In

Out

He put his finger back on the neck and felt for a pulse. A moment passed. Then, he felt it. It was faint, it was weak, but it was there.

"He's alive!"

I'm alive! I do admit, this chapter has taken quite a bit longer to make than I had originally anticipated. Okay, a lot longer than I had anticipated. Not that it was for lack of effort. Nor was it for lack of energy or motivation. Simply put, college and life in general has been really crazy. I was only really able to write during my spring break. So, I sincerely apologize for the delay.

Oh, and there was one other thing which was really eating up my time. A pretty small indie game came out during February. It was pretty underground so you might not have heard about it. It was this little game called Elden Ring.

I will not apologize for the hours that I have sunk into this game. It was amazing the whole way through and I'm still playing. But, I should hopefully have more time for writing.

I will also no longer make promises on how long the next chapter will take to be posted. It should hopefully be shorter than this interim. It will be a little surprise for everyone involved! However, rest assured that I will be finishing this story. Thank you guys for patiently waiting.