Forever and never

SUMMARY

Gwen's magic is becoming all too powerful and Kevin has come in peace with himself. Nothing prepares them however, for the Ben that comes back home from a solo mission as their worst enemy yet.

[ set after UA: Absolute Power Part 2 ]

•••

2 - GWEN

Gwen woke up with a start, her eyes scanning the room for any signs of danger. When she found none, she unclenched her fists and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't real, she told herself. It's just a dream. A nightmare. Lifting one hand to wipe her forehead, she noticed the other one was shaking. It was the hand that had, in the dream, tried to save a deranged Kevin from an equally deranged Ben.

Gwen covered her trembling hand with the other, hoping to wriggle out some of her jitters and steadied herself against the pillow. Her eyes kept darting across the room, searching for any sign that her nightmare was real.

Her dream had, like always, started in the arcade where Kevin tried to absorb her life force. In a fit of rage, Ben had turned to Way Big and blasted Kevin into bits. As a last desperate attempt, Gwen had raised her hand to conjure up a spell. But nothing occured to her. Instead, Way Big echoed the same words Ben had once spat at her.

"You know why you lost? Because you care about not hurting me. And that is exactly why you can't do what it takes to deal with Kevin."

The worst part of the dream? It could all have been very real.

Had she not enlisted Dark Star's help, Ben would have...

Gwen suppressed a sob behind her hands. A year since the incident and she still struggled with the thought of losing Kevin. Even when they were together, she'd hold his hand or sometimes touch his face. Just to reassure herself that he was safe. That he was in control. That he wasn't dead. She knew he took notice of her worries, and only chose to never question them out loud. And she loved him for that.

Of course, as an optimist, Gwen would rather focus on their future than the terrible past. But there was a problem. She only noticed it a month after Kevin had recovered; they were still horribly unprepared if Kevin were to lose control ever again.

Determined to never let that happen, she was working every spare moment on her magic.

Sure, juggling her training with everything else going on in her life was exhausting. And the nightmares wouldn't let her sleep enough. But this was better than doing nothing.

The frustrating part? She had no help.

Ben and grandpa Max always refused her invitation to spar. And while Kevin often indulged in her requests, she knew he held back on his side. He was still too afraid to hurt her. Once or twice, when she was on the verge of giving up, she had thought of calling on Verdona's help. But then she remembered their last meeting and decided against it.

Right at the moment though, Gwen was fighting a different battle. She needed to sleep. If she didn't, she'd have to force another spell upon herself. One that would keep her awake throughout the day. And with Ben gone, Kevin and Gwen had to work overtime to keep Earth safe. So the spell would soon lose its effects. If Gwen had to skip helping Kevin sweep out the bad guys again just so she could sleep, she might uproot her favourite tree in annoyance.

She tried meditating. Hovering over her bed in silence usually calmed her enough to fall back asleep. But today, it was forcing her to recite all her problems.

"Ben just had to go to fetch that stupid flower." "Grandpa Max would've loved to help that doofus. But no, not me." "Kevin must be snoring in his car right now." "Ugh, why do I have to do everything alone?" "What would Charmcaster do?"

Gwen fell on the bed with a loud thump. Muttering her foulest choice of words, she pushed herself to a sitting position. Meanwhile, her brain worked overtime.

For a moment there, Gwen had lost focus because she thought she had an answer. But no, it was crazy. She could not... would not enlist her enemy's help.

Sure, Charmcaster was the ideal choice, with her knowledge and versatile magic. And she would love to taunt and pick on Gwen's mistakes. Not to mention, the last time they had worked together, it almost felt like Gwen was working with a friend. But there was no way...

There really was no other way.

•••

The window opened with tiny squeak. Lucky Girl smirked. Hex needed better security spells. But perhaps this was for the best. If she kept being this lucky, she could be fast on her way to Ledgerdomain tomorrow.

Her eyes scanned the room, hands ready with her glowing mana. But nothing attacked her. Instead, a few books on the top left shelf glared at her. She knew by the many visits in this library, that the books could be blinded by a very simple spell. One she had already cast upon herself.

"Now, where do I put this."

Walking across the room, Lucky Girl traced her hand across a section of the shelf. Finally, she reached a gap that could fit the book she had pulled out of her bag and carefully placed it in. Her eyes lingered on it for a second, then she was wandering towards the other section.

For what seemed like hours, she spent looking for something... Anything, that could help rescue Charmcaster. Instead, she kept getting distracted by some other book with an intricate cover or spell. Once, she was sure a book whispered her name. She had almost touched it. But then she saw the title and took a step back.

"Ugh, I could be here all night."

She was already on the edge due to her lack of sleep. Wasting more time searching for a book manually could cost her precious hours of rest. Deciding that she better risk running into the owner of the mansion than miss her window of opportunity, Lucky Girl closed her eyes.

"Ortis."

The effect was instantaneous. Almost all eyes on the top shelf turned to where she was standing as what she needed appeared in front of her.

The thought that Hex might barge in through the doors (or walls, he wasn't picky), made her shove the book inside her bag hastily. She turned to leave and cursed. A bolt of yellow energy was hurling towards her.

Gwen was almost glad that Lucky Girl was fast enough to raise her shield in time. The bolt of energy collided with it and disappeared as if in warning.

"Well, if it isn't the book thief. Come to steal something else, have you?"

So the eyes alerted him of intruders, but not about the intruder's actions. She almost smirked. Then her attacker shot another bolt of energy and she shifted her focus on her shield. This time though, the energy didn't disappear and pretty soon, cracks began appearing in her shield.

But Gwen had come prepared. She had been practicing for months. Ducking sideways, she let the shield shatter.

No sooner, Hex redirected his attention and Gwen shouted ", pocntum contego!"

She almost laughed when the first hit landed. And had to bite her cheeks when soon after, Hex was battling his own collection of books.

"Ow. OW. OW. Get them off. Get them-"

But she wasn't listening. Her mind was racing far ahead of what was happening in front of her. As Gwen scanned her surroundings, she realised her biggest help could be the man right in front of her, who was now swatting his arms blindly to keep the books from hitting his face.

She almost forced herself to stay rooted on her spot. A part of her wanted to run off. But the other part wanted to muster all the help she could get for Charmcaster.

"I'm going to call them off. But you'll have to listen to me first. There's something important you need to know."

Hex could barely uncover his face to throw her a nasty look.

"Why should I listen to you?"

Gwen frowned and sighed. She raised her hands reluctantly and the books fell on the floor, inanimated.

Wasting no time to recuperate, Hex raised his hand. But Gwen was quicker.

"Statuea!"

He froze on spot, eyes widening in surprise and hands raised halfway to conjure a spell.

"You'll listen to me... Because it's about Charmcaster."

•••

Gwen was surprised. Never, not even once, did she think she'd ever feel any sort of pity for the man in front of her. But here she was, guilt and pity battling to take over her head as she saw the broken look on his face.

"Spellbinder gave his life to free us from that place," Hex spoke in a trembling voice ", and now you tell me... No... It can be."

Gwen sat down in front of him. She had removed his bindings, but he was still sitting like he was tied up; stiff and horrified.

"I know this is hard for you. But I wanna help Charmcaster. I wanna help her defeat Addwaitya."

Hex looked at her as if she was talking gibberish. She was half sure that he'd blast her with a lightning bolt. When he didn't, she took it as a sign to continue.

"Aggregor stole the alpha rune. Without it, may be we have a chance! You can help me!"

"You said your friends defeated Aggregor. If that's true, then the alpha rune might've already reformed by now. And Addwaitya could already possess it."

"But—"

"No, " Hex stopped her. "I will not go with you. I escaped that place with great difficulty and loss. I will not go back. And after all, my niece... She might be dead. It is best if she is."

"She is not dead!"

Gwen wasn't sure where that was coming from. But whatever little time she had spent with Charmcaster in Ledgerdomain, it taught her that she was tough. If there was anyone that could survive that place, it was her. Though she could see, Hex did not feel the same. He stood up fast, and Gwen in an age old panic, raised her glowing fists.

"Take whatever you need," Hex spoke without any zeal ", but do leave me alone."

Gwen stared as he walked out of the room, shaking his head and muttering soundlessly.

For a while, she sat there as if nothing had happened. Then with great effort, Gwen stood up and allowed herself to disappear.