Hey y'all, it's Ender! I hope you're having a great day and I hope to make it even better with this new one-shot! NOTE: I do not own Minecraft, Mianite, any YouTubers mentioned, and really, I don't own anything except this story.
Little Magic
I jumped as I heard a loud bang from outside, accompanied by a bright flash of purple light and a pained scream. I mentally groaned, abandoning the perch I was making for my owl pet, and rushed outside, knowing to immediately go up to the mountain where Wag lived. It sounded like one of his spells had backfired again, and judging by the scream, the result wouldn't have been pleasant.
In fact, now that I was thinking more about it, I was worried for Wag. I had never heard him scream like that before; so full of agony and pain. Now fueled by a new urgency, I rushed up to the doorway of his newly-built tower, courtesy of Farmer Steve, and hopped onto his elevator after finding nothing on the main floor.
It was on the third floor that I found Wag - lying on the ground and twitching slightly. But that's not what caught my attention.
It was the fact that Wag... wasn't Wag anymore.
He was a little child - probably no more than five years old - and was nearly covered by the robe that his adult form usually wore. His skin was very pale and he had ruffled dark brown hair that trailed to his shoulders.
"Wag?" I whispered, unsure of what to do with the unconscious child in front of me. Wag whimpered, twitching again, and I felt pity strike my heart. Poor Wag must have been in a lot of pain after the spell.
I gently picked him up, and after realising that he was buck naked, wrapped his purple-grey cloak around him. I couldn't leave Wag here alone; not in this state. No doubt he would be pissed at me after he woke up, but for now I was going to take him to my house. Maybe I could ask Martha to make some clothes for him too.
My eyes widened. Oh crap. How was I even going to tell the others that our powerful wizardly friend had been turned into a five year-old? That was something I hadn't thought about.
Oh, and something else I hadn't considered. How were we going to change Wag back? The other wizards didn't live that far away, but taking Wag through the Taint would be dangerous. He couldn't wear armour like this and the Taint Swarms would kill him instantly.
I frowned and adjusted Wag so that his head was resting on my shoulder. He sighed, still unconscious, and snuggled up against my hoodie. I couldn't resist a smile. I would love teasing him about this once he was back to normal.
I made my way slowly out of Wag's house, picking my way down the mountain with the utmost caution for fear of waking Wag up. I held him tightly against me so he wouldn't fall and get hurt on the sharp stones.
Why am I being so protective of him? I mentally scolded myself. It's not like I was his mother or anything.
Though it would be nice having someone else to look after for a little while...
"Hey Sonja!" I started when I heard Tucker shouting at me from a distance and looked up to see him flying towards me, his rapier in hand. He landed in front of me and was about to say something, but abruptly stopped when he saw Wag in my arms with his cloak wrapped around him like a blanket.
"Who is that?" Tucker asked curiously, pointing at Wag.
"That's Waglington," I answered, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"Haha, no seriously," Tucker stared at me. "Who is that?"
"It's Waglington," I said again, shifting slightly on my feet as Wag stirred a bit. He actually wasn't that heavy, even though he would probably be about as high as my waist if he was standing up.
"You - how - what?" Tucker stuttered, eyes flicking back and forth from me to the child in my arms. "How is that possible?"
"A spell backfired, I guess," I would have shrugged then if Wag's head hadn't still been lying on my shoulder. "Say Tucker, could you go get the others? And if you can, round up the - ah - adult wizards too. We need to have a discussion over what to do about this."
"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Tucker agreed, though he still appeared distracted by Wag's new form. "What are you going to with Wag while he's... you know... like this?"
"Take care of him, I guess," I smirked slightly. "It'll be good practice if we ever have a child together."
"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves now!" Tucker backed up hurriedly and I snorted with amusement at his suddenly awkward expression. "I'll be back soon with the others. Maybe in about an hour." Tucker wasted no time in jumping into the air, using his blood sigil to fly away.
I stared after him for a few seconds with a smile playing on my lips, before turning back to my house. I tapped gently on my door and it spiraled into nothing, the rainbow crystals disappearing for me to walk through with Wag.
I made my way down to the basement and went over to my bed, laying Wag down on the mattress and wrapping him up within the sheets. He looked so peaceful lying in the bed and I smiled, brushing a stray tuft of hair out of his face.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I'm cold!" I stared down at Wag, who had woken up by now and was standing in the doorway, glaring up at me. Now that his eyes were open, I could see that the irises were a bright blood red colour - it was almost scary except for the fact that they belonged to a five year-old who had apparently abandoned his oversized robe.
"Well, I don't have any clothes for you right now," I explained gently. "If you want, you can wear one of my spare T-shirts for now. It should fit."
"Fine," Wag huffed in an amusingly high-pitched voice, watching me with narrowed eyes as I walked over to my clothes chest and dug out a fresh white T-shirt. I went over to Wag and pulled it over his head, despite his child-like protests.
"Is that better?" I asked him, snickering with amusement as he fidgeted with my shirt, pulling the hem so that it was low enough to brush his knees.
"I guess so," Wag grumbled. I was discouraged by his negative response but I had to remind myself that he was still a child, and probably had a child's mind.
Thankfully, I was saved by the bell - literally, the doorbell rang. Wag cried out in delight and raced towards the door, skidding to a halt when Steve and Martha arrived together, walking through the door hand-in-hand. They both froze when they saw Wag and had the most confused stare-off that I had ever witnessed.
"Hi," I greeted, coming over and standing behind Wag. I had been right in guessing that he was only as tall as my waist.
"I'm guessing that he's who we're here for?" Steve growled, jabbing a finger at Wag. I bit my lip, forcing myself not to argue with the farmer. He and Wag had always been at each other's throats, especially after Martha had announced her engagement to Steve.
"That would be correct," I responded, picking Wag up with a slight grunt of effort. "This little bugger known as Waglington made a mistake on one of his spells and, well, you can clearly see the result."
"Oh my," Martha stared worriedly at Wag. "Waglington? Dear? Do you still know us?"
"Nuh uh," Wag shook his head violently. "Who are you?"
Martha gave a concerned glance at Steve, who stared at her blankly in return. "My name is Martha, and this my husband-to-be, Steve."
Wag regarded Steve with a highly critical eye for a few seconds, as though sizing him up. "He smells like cow poop," Wag finally concluded, making me burst out in laughter and even Martha crack an amused smile. Steve, however, looked far from amused and snarled at Wag.
Then we were all surprised when Wag sniffled and started to cry, seemingly scared of Steve's anger.
"Oh no, shh, it's okay," I soothed, hugging Wag gently. I glared at Steve, who looked completely at a loss to do about this whole situation, before going back to comforting Wag. "It's alright Wag, just calm down. Steve didn't mean to scare you."
Steve muttered something under his breath and Martha glared at him as well, hissing something unheard. I really couldn't care less about the couple's disagreement at the moment; I was just trying to get Wag to calm down. He was sobbing harder than ever and to be honest, I was getting a bit annoyed. Not with him, of course. Just with Steve for making him cry like this.
"Let me, dear," Martha reached out her arms and I hesitated before handing Wag over to her. She appeared much more experienced than I, and within just a few minutes, she had Wag laughing giddily with delight as she tickled him. "Works like a charm every time," Martha's eyes shone brightly with a youth that I had never seen in her before.
"Wailing wretch," Steve muttered, too quietly for Wag and Martha to overhear, but it was loud enough for me to catch. I snarled silently as Steve turned his back on us and stalked over to the stairs leading down to my basement where our little meeting was to be held. Honestly, I couldn't understand what Martha saw in him. Although he was hard-working and clever, he was often bitter and vengeful. Martha had in fact confided in me before that Steve sometimes hit her when he was in one of his more furious moods.
It wasn't long before the others arrived. I had taken Wag upstairs and told him to stay put for now. He had, of course, immediately complained of being thirsty, and knowing his passion for tea, gave him a small glass of drink. It seemed to content him, at least for the moment, and I made a mental note that when it came to Wag, tea solved everything.
Right now, we were all gathered at the meeting table in my basement. It was made of purple wood, much to Steve's disgust. I was sitting at the head of the table, with Tucker, Tom, Steve, and Phil to my right, and Jordan, Matt, the other Tom who was more commonly known as Killer, and Martha to my left. There was an empty chair at the opposite end of the table from me; the place where Wag would usually sit.
"Well guys," I began, the quiet conversations between the others quickly dying off. "I'm sure most of you know why we're here. Tucker, you told them, right?"
"Um... no."
"Well that's just great," I sighed. "So three of you know why we're here. And the fact of the matter is, our wizard friend Waglington has messed up. Big time - or rather, little time. You see, somehow he managed to transform into a five year-old version of himself."
Silence. You could have heard a pin drop.
"You have got to be joking," Jordan stared at me disbelievingly. "Where is he?"
"Upstairs. I'll be right back," I promised, getting up from my chair and rushing up the stairs all the way up to the highest level. Wag was absentmindedly messing around with my typewriter and appeared to have created the most unintelligible page of print that I had ever seen. "Come on, Wag. There are some more people that would like to meet you."
"Don't wanna," Wag stared at the arm on the typewriter, repeatedly pressing the 'f' key and watching it spring up to print the letter on the paper. "Sonja, how does this thing work?"
"Magic," I replied simply, scooping Wag up and away from the typewriter. He protested most vigorously but I ignored him, carrying him downstairs to where the other were still waiting.
Silence once again descended over the room as everyone turned to look at me and Wag, who was still dressed in my too-large T-shirt and leaning his head against my shoulder.
"That's Wag?" Tom choked out, staring at the wizard child with wide, uncomprehending eyes. "Like, our Wag?"
"Afraid so," I smiled, sitting down again. Wag slipped down to sit on my lap and put his hands on the table, staring at everyone curiously. "Wag, do you recognise any of these people asides from Steve and Martha?"
"Uh huh."
"Who?"
"Matt," Wag pointed at the armoured wizard, eyes narrowed in concentration. "Phil, an' Killer," Wag's finger strayed to the last two wizards. "I don't know anyone else." Wag turned to look at me, his expression one of severe worry. "Should I?"
"No, no, it's alright," I reassured him. So he remembers the wizards... interesting.
"I met you earlier, before you woke up," Tucker piped up. He was a little less shocked than the others, mainly because he had had more time to get used to Wag like this. "My name is Tucker."
"I'm Jordan," Jordan grinned as Wag giggled a bit at his introduction.
"I like your sunglasses," the wizard child told Jordan. Jordan blinked and adjusted his bright red glasses.
"And I'm Mecha Dianite!" Tom laughed excitedly, ignoring me as I glared at him.
"No, he's Tom," Tucker explained, sounding greatly amused. "He likes to go around calling himself that but he's really just Tom."
"I am both," Tom leaned back in his chair. "I am everyone and everything." His body suddenly turned black and I stifled a cry of disgust when I heard bones cracking and shifting under his skin as he morphed into something different. Wag whimpered and buried his face in my chest. I hugged him tightly, feeling him tremble out of fright.
Then Tom's new form solidified into a chicken. He ran quickly across the table towards me and Wag, flapping his wings quickly to increase his pace.
"Look, Wag!" I encouraged the wizard to look up as Tom clucked cheerfully. Wag turned his head around and his eyes immediately lit up when he saw Tom.
"Chicken!" He cried excitedly, reaching out and stroking Tom's silky white feathers. Tucker opened his mouth to say something that would most likely be not kid-friendly, but I glared at him and he shut his mouth quickly.
"Alright Tom, you can go change back now," I ordered the chicken in front of me. Tom squawked in chicken-y protest but obediently went back to the other side of the table to morph back to normal. This time, I had the sense to avert Wag's eyes early and turned him away as Tom went through the sickening process of morphing back.
"Well, what do we do with it?" Steve asked harshly once Tom was back to normal, staring around as though demanding an answer.
"Don't you dare call Wag an 'it'," Killer immediately jumped to Wag's defense, much to my surprise. "Wag's still a person too."
"He's useless to us now," Steve growled. "We should just leave him to die in the Taint somewhere."
"How dare you!" Jordan cried, glaring at Steve. "Wag's our friend! We can't just abandon him!"
"Friend, eh? You do know he was flirting with Martha... after she accepted my proposal," Steve glared angrily at Wag and thinking quickly, I shooed Wag off to go play with my owl before Steve said something that would make him cry again. "And how many times has he hurt you with that star of death? Sent you to the Nether? Do you think those were all just accidents and jokes?" Steve stared around triumphantly when no one was able to answer him. "What would be the point of transforming him back? A waste of energy and resources just to bring back one of the most dangerous forces in the world. And," Steve lowered his voice, "we all know that Wag was the one who killed our Dianite."
"So what?" I snapped. "At least he never abused his fiance when he got angry at something."
Steve's eyes widened and he stared at me, frozen out of shock. Everyone else's eyes were filled with horror, including Martha's, but I didn't regret what I had just said. It was time for them to know what only Martha and I knew about Steve.
Steve slowly rose out of his chair and stalked over to me. "Never speak that way to me again, woman," he growled angrily. Tucker swiftly got up but before he could move anywhere else, Steve had slapped me across my face.
I gasped, more out of surprise than pain, and all of a sudden, Tucker had Steve pinned on the ground with his arm behind his back.
"Don't you dare touch her ever again!" Tucker howled, twisting Steve's arm back even farther as the farmer tried to struggle free. Steve cried out in pain, but couldn't move away.
"Tucker," Phil broke in quietly. "Let us take him. We can make sure he will never hurt anyone again. We won't kill him," Phil hurriedly promised when he saw Martha's terrified expression. "We can just - well - do wizard stuff."
"Yes," Matt agreed. "And don't worry, Sonja. I'll be working on finding a cure for Wag's little problem myself."
"Thank you," I breathed, my cheek still stinging from where Steve had hit me. Steve glared at me, his eyes dark with hate, but yelped again as Tucker gave his arm one last sharp twist before getting up. Phil and Killer made their way over to Steve as he tried to push himself to his feet and grabbed his shoulders tightly, making sure he couldn't escape.
"Good day, Ms. Firefoxx," Phil nodded to me before he and Killer teleported away, taking Steve along with them to who-knows-where.
"Are you okay?" Tucker was beside me now, staring at me worriedly as he brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I smiled slightly at his concern and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'm fine," I reassured him. "It barely even hurt. It just shocked me more than anything that Steve would do that out in the open in front of everybody."
"Sonja?" I turned around when I heard Wag's small voice. I just couldn't get used to how much it had changed - it used to be deep and powerful and commanding, and now it was just like any young boy's voice - timid and lighter and not at all threatening. "Sonja, what happened? Where did Steve go?"
"Steve is just on a quick leave of absence," Tom muttered bitterly. Wag tipped his head to the side questioningly, clearly not understanding the complicated words. "It means he's gone for now."
"Oh," Wag said. He thought for a moment then decidedly said "I didn't like him anyway."
"You wouldn't have," Jordan smirked, most likely remembering all the violent spats between the farmer and the wizard before this certain incident. "When you weren't - well - a child, you were always at each other's throats. I swear, you would have killed each other several times over by now."
"What do you mean?" Wag asked fearfully, trembling slightly. "I don't want to kill anyone!"
"Jordan," I reprimanded my friend, "He doesn't remember his life before this. Don't traumatise him."
"Will he remember when he goes back?" Tom wondered aloud. I turned to answer him, but couldn't find anything to say. The truth was, I didn't know if his adult memory would return when we reversed the spell.
And that scared me.
"How does a toaster work?"
"Magic."
"How does a pen work?"
"Magic."
"What is this?"
I glanced over at Wag, who staring at one of the magical lights outside my house with wide eyes. "Magic," I replied simply, grinning a bit as I remembered how the adult Wag had lit up the land around us with those magical lights. I was outside with him right now, collecting ripe red apples from the tree in front of my house.
"Is everything magic?" Wag stared at me, and when I nodded, his jaw dropped. "No way! That's so cool!" He started running around my yard, going up to all the flowers. "So this flower is magic? And this one? And this one?"
"Yes, yes, and yes," I replied patiently, wobbling a bit on my ladder as I strained to reach a particularly juicy looking apple. "If you think about, even we're magic. I mean, look at us. How do we walk? Talk? Do the things we do on a daily basis? It's magic."
"So who makes all the magic?" Wag asked curiously, going over to my ladder and reaching up with one hand. I gave him the apple I had finally gotten and he took a big bite out of it, chewing slowly as he awaited my answer.
"I dunno. One of the gods I guess," I shrugged mildly, coming down from the ladder after seeing that I had picked all the apples in reach. At Wag's confused glance I started to explain, "Mianite's the god of the Overworld, which is this realm. Tucker and I follow him, even though he's been doing... questionable things as of late. Dianite is the god of the Nether and he was killed before we came to this realm..." I felt my throat grow dry as Steve's words echoed in my head - "We all know that Wag was the one who killed our Dianite" - and swallowed quickly before Wag could notice that something was wrong. "He's been talking to us in spirit form but we've never seen him since he doesn't have a body. He's kind of good... for now. I don't know if he's just acting that way because he can't interact with anything yet and if he's going to turn evil once he has a form or what. Now Ianite is the goddess of peace and balance and so forth. Personally, I think she's a bit of a wimp." Wag snickered and I cracked a grin. "Then there's Martha."
"But Martha isn't a goddess!" Wag protested innocently.
"Of course she is," I picked up the wicker basket filled with apples and glanced down at Wag. "She's just a minor goddess right now though. She has but one follower and they rely on each other for practically everything."
"Is it Steve?" Wag wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"No, it's someone else," I grinned but didn't tell him who. Of course, it was Wag who was her follower, but I didn't want to make him even more confused.
"Oh," Wag said, following me inside as I deposited the basket of apples near the door. "Who do the wizards follow?"
"No one," I responded, ruffling his hair affectionately. He grumbled and tried to duck away from me, going over to my trash can and tossing his apple core away. "The wizards belong to themselves and no one else. Their combined powers are more than a god's normal power anyway."
"Wow," Wag breathed, trailing after me as I tossed a bit of chicken in the furnace for our dinner in a few hours. "I want to be a wizard one day."
"I'm sure you will be," I told him, smiling widely on the inside. Little did he know that he actually was a wizard and his powers were buried deep inside him. "I'm sure that one day you'll be able to cast powerful and mighty spells so that all will bow down to your will."
"And I will be Waglington!" Wag crowed gleefully, climbing up on top of my crafting station and standing proudly. "The mighty wizard of Ruxomar!"
"Exactly," I chuckled, picking him up and sweeping him off of the crafting station. "But for now, it's naptime for this mighty wizard."
Wag pouted - something that seemed extremely adorable to me - and crossed his arms. "But I'm not tired," he argued, glaring at me as I tried to pick him up so I could take him downstairs to my bed again.
"I feel sure you're not," I stared down at Wag with a critical eye as he attempted to stifle a yawn. "You're not sleepy in the least little bit. Nope, you sure wouldn't want to snuggle up in some nice soft blankets and just close your eyes. You wouldn't ever dream about going into the warm depths of sleep and floating away to a peaceful dreamland. No, you sure wouldn't want that."
Wag was yawning uncontrollably now and I noted with pleasure that his eyes were indeed drooping. Trick successful. I picked him up and this time he didn't argue, only went limp in my arms and snuggled up to my chest. I smiled gently and took him down to my basement, laying him down on my bed and tucking him in. "There you go," I whispered, feeling warm affection bloom in my heart as Wag closed his eyes. "Sleep well, little wizard."
I was just taking the chicken out of my oven when I heard a soft knocking at the door. I quickly set the chicken on the counter to cool and rushed to open the door, finding Martha's friendly face behind it. She was holding a fairly large package that was wrapped in brown paper and tied up with a bit of red string.
"Hello, dear," Martha sounded unusually tired and strained, but her eyes were bright with delight. "I just finished making some clothes for Wag that would be his size."
"Thank you so much!" I hugged Martha, and she returned it as best she could whilst still holding the package. "I'm sure he's going to love them! He certainly doesn't like wearing my T-shirts all the time."
"He'd better," Martha said jokingly. "I was up all night making them. At least it took my mind off of," Martha suddenly lowered her voice to a whisper and I had to strain to hear her. "Off of Steve."
"I'm really sorry about that, Martha," I began, but Martha cut me off.
"Don't worry about it, dear. I was honestly tired of him treating me the way he did. But now, with him gone and Wag like this, I don't really have any close source of comfort," Martha sighed and handed me the package. "Anyway, dear, I wish you the best of luck with Wag. Normal children are hard enough to handle. I can't imagine what wizard children must be like."
"At least there's a simple answer for everything - magic," I grinned and Martha chuckled, knowing that when it came to wizards, that was literally the answer for everything. "Of course, tea works pretty well too."
"I would imagine," Martha grinned. "Anyways, have a good day, Sonja. I'm off to assist Lady Ianite with something."
"Have a good day!" I waved as Martha left my house, then glanced down at the package still in my arms. Time to see what she had made for Wag.
I went over into my living area, saying a quick hello to Boris, before setting the package down on the floor and tearing open the paper. Inside, there were several pairs of dark shirts and pants, all neatly folded up. I smiled slightly, feeling a wave of affection towards Martha that she would take the time to make these.
"Sonja?" I looked up as I heard Wag and saw him coming up the stairs, rubbing his eyes blearily. "I'm hungry."
"Put some real clothes on and then we'll have supper," I told him, pulling out a pair of black jeans and a dark red shirt. "Martha made these for you last night so you don't have to keep wearing my T-shirts."
"Okay," Wag grabbed the clothes from my hands and headed back downstairs. I desperately hoped Martha had undergarments covered too. Apparently she did because I heard no complaints from Wag. I went over to my kitchen, carved off a leg of chicken for Wag and the other one for myself. Hopefully he would have forgotten his strong hatred for eating chicken and wouldn't get traumatised later after he found out he "ate Kevin."
Hopefully.
"Wag! Come on! Food's ready!" I called and Wag came running over to the kitchen, practically jumping into one of the chairs. I grinned and set our plates down on the table before sitting down myself. Wag didn't hesitate to start wolfing down his chicken, as did I, and before long, we were done with our meal. I took our plates to my sink and set them down to be washed for later.
"Sonja?" Wag asked, coming over to me and staring up at me expectantly. "I'm bored. Can we do something?"
"If you want, we can go and see what Tucker's doing," I suggested, and Wag nodded agreeably. "I think he said he was going to work on some blood mage stuff today. It would be interesting for you to see how that works."
"Blood mage?"
"A wizard who dabbles in sacrificial rituals."
"What's 'sack-rah-fish-l'?"
"You'll see."
Wag frowned but followed me willingly as I left my house, quickly grabbing my sword on the way. I didn't know if I would have to fight anything or not, but it was better to be safe in this world. You never knew when a stray monster would appear.
On the way to Tucker's house, we encountered no monsters, although I did have to call Wag back from time to time when he darted off to explore the cliffs. He was always reluctant to leave his exploration but I was insistent that he did not risk his life to be adventurous. It was a long tumble into the sea below and since he couldn't fly anymore, it was almost certain that he would be killed.
Once inside Tucker's gate, we saw him standing at his blood altar, eyes closed, sleeves rolled up, and chanting something to the sky. He was holding his sacrificial dagger in one hand and a pure white bird in the other. The bird was squawking madly, flapping about hopelessly as it was dangled by its feet. I felt myself grow sick to my stomach but couldn't tear my gaze away as Tucker pinned the bird against his blood-filled altar, staining the white feathers a horrible scarlet shade, and stabbed the bird through its heart. The bird's raucous cries abruptly stopped and Tucker muttered a few more words before slicing a few cuts across his own arms. The altar began to glow as Tucker's fresh blood mixed with the bird's and I had just enough time to hurriedly shield Wag's eyes before there was a silent explosion of light. When it faded, both the bird and the cuts Tucker had made on his arm were gone and there was a thick sigil sitting in what little blood was left in the altar. Tucker grinned and plucked it out of the altar, grabbing a red-splotched rag from his pocket and wiping it off. He glanced to the side and his grin suddenly fell from his face when he saw Wag and I staring at him in abject horror.
"Oh," Tucker swallowed. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Usually - usually I prefer to do this in private. I was just making a better flight sigil. Honestly, I would have stopped if had known you were here."
"That's alright," I swallowed down my disgust and looked down at Wag. He was clinging to my leg, shooting terrified glances at Tucker. "Wag? Are you okay?"
"Is that a 'sack-rah-fish-l'?" Wag whimpered. I couldn't resist a small snort of laughter and I picked him up, feeling him tremble with fright.
"Yes, that is what is known as a 'sacrifice'. Don't worry, Tucker's not going to hurt you," I gave a nasty glare to Tucker and he quickly set his dagger down. "That's what a blood mage does to gain more power. He has to kill things - usually animals - and uses their blood to create certain spells that give him magical abilities."
"That specific spell just needed some of my own blood to bind it to me. But yes, it's okay Wag. I would never dream of hurting you," Tucker soothed and Wag slowly stopped trembling. "Besides, everything gets all healed up afterwards. See?" Tucker presented his arms, which, pale as they were, had no scars marked anywhere on them. "It's magic!"
"I wanna do magic!" Wag complained. "I don't wanna kill things though."
"You don't have to," I reassured him. "There's other types of magic other than blood magic. There's the magic that you have to use a Thaumonomicon for - that's a book of magic that is ridiculously hard to pronounce - there's Witchery which is really complicated - no pun intended - and there's Ars Magica. You would like Ars Magica I think."
"Ars Magica?" Wag said and I winced at his British accent. It eliminated the 'r' from the word and I didn't want him unintentionally picking language that he shouldn't know as a five year-old.
"Watch the 'r'," Tucker told him. "And yes, Ars Magica. You can make any spells you want with it - light spells, digging spells, and the almighty star of death. You can make spells for faster speed, stronger attacks, and better vision."
"Ooh!" Wag smiled gleefully. "Can I start doing Ars Magica now?"
"In a few years," I promised. "You're too young right now. You wouldn't be able to control your magical power. But don't worry. Soon you'll be strong enough that if you wanted to, you could eliminate the entire Taint!"
"What's the Taint?" Wag asked curiously.
"Evil. It's just beyond my house and you must never go there," I told him sternly. "The wizards live just past it, and even with their powers, they rarely venture through the Taint to visit us."
"Oh," Wag blinked, but even I couldn't miss the flash of defiance in his eyes. I swallowed down a acrid taste that was rising in my mouth.
Something bad was going to come from this.
I was sure of it.
"Wag!" I screamed, desperately rushing around my house. "Wag, where are you?" I was positively panicked; I couldn't find the little wizard anywhere. I had only gone downstairs to the spa to tend to the plants; but he was gone when I had come back upstairs. Upon closer inspection, I also noticed my old rapier had gone missing and I felt my throat close up - it was light enough for Wag to hold.
I quickly grabbed my little telecommunication device and pressed the button that would call up the other heroes. "Hello?" Jordan's voice crackled through the speakers, barely understandable through the thick static. The static quickly cleared up and I could hear Jordan start to speak again. "Sonja? What's up?"
"Wag's gone missing!" I burst out, unable to wait until I was sure that both Tucker and Tom were in the call. But from the three surprised exclamations on the other end, I knew that everyone had heard me. "I can't find him anywhere!"
"Okay, Sonj, calm down," Tom's steady voice came through the communicator. "Where and when did you see him last?"
"Five minutes ago. He was in the living room," I took a deep breath, trying to ease my frantic state of my mind. "He also took my old rapier - like he was planning to fight something."
"What would he have wanted to fight?"
Suddenly it dawned on me. The flash of rebellion in his eyes when I mentioned the Taint. His determination to meet the wizards. His desire for adventure.
He was going through the Taint.
"Sonja? Sonja, are you still there?" Tucker's worried voice interrupted my thoughts. I swallowed and nodded before remembering that he couldn't see me.
"Yes. I know where Wag has gone," this was met by an excited murmur from someone, though I couldn't tell who. "He's ventured into the Taint."
"The Taint?" I winced at Jordan's screech and almost dropped the telecommunicator. "What in Dianite's name did he go there for?"
"To find the wizards, I think. And because I told him not to," I admitted. I heard angry grumblings from the others and continued quickly, "But if we don't get to him soon, he could be killed by the Taint swarms and the Tainticles."
"We have to hurry then," Tucker urged. "We can't let Wag be killed because of his own stupidity."
"Go and search the Taint then. Tom, why don't you go around to the wizards' place and start from there? Maybe get Matt to help you with the search. Jordan, go through the Taint starting at your house and Tucker, come around and search from the other side. I'll start searching near my home." I paused for a second before adding, "I just desperately hope we won't be too late."
I ended the call and tucked the telecommunicator into the pocket on my jacket in case one of my friends found Wag and needed to contact me. I was still severely worried, but at least I wasn't completely freaking out anymore. Wag was smart... he knew when to back out of danger.
"Come and get me, suckers!"
Well... maybe not.
I sighed and headed out, jogging until I reached the small river that separated my house from the lands of the Taint. Then I dove into the current and swam strongly across to the other side, being careful not to accidentally stab myself with my rapier. I came out on the purple-stained ground and immediately took off running, gaze darting from side to side looking for Wag.
It wasn't long before I spotted the cloud of Taint...
And the young boy huddled limply in the center of their whirlwind.
"Wag!" I cried, charging forwards at the Taint swarm. They scattered as I swung at them with my rapier, killing quite a few in the process and driving the rest away.
"Wag?" I gasped, looking down at the little wizard curled up at my feet. His face was set in an expression of intense pain and he was covered in horrible dark purple stings. He was dotted with his own blood and he shuddered, coughing weakly. My old rapier lay next to him and it was rotting, corrupted by the Taint poison.
"Just hold on Wag," I swallowed and picked him up, cradling him in my arms. He was trembling badly and coughed again, sounding horribly ill. I quickly grabbed my telecommunicator and turned it on.
"I found him," I said into the device and ignored the cries of relief from the others. "But it doesn't look good. Tom, get the wizards. We need their help."
"Will do," Tom promised, sounding tight and strained. "Sonja...? How bad is it - exactly?"
I hesitated before answering, "Bad enough that if he doesn't get help soon, he could die."
There was silence on the other ends. "I'm in their village now," Tom said shortly, and left the call. Tucker and Jordan followed soon after and I was left to carry a very sick Waglington back to my house.
Please Wag, just hang on a little longer. Just a little longer...
Once back at my house, I found Tom and the wizards all waiting for me at my door. "Give him to me," Matt demanded and I shakily handed Wag over to Matt, who cradled him just as I had been doing. I trailed after Matt as he swiftly went inside but Phil gently rested his hand on my shoulder as I attempted to follow the wizard downstairs.
"Let him work," Phil explained. "It will be easiest if he has no distractions."
I nodded curtly and swallowed, wondering just how long it would take for us to know if Wag was going to survive.
An hour later, I got my answer.
"I've done all I can," Matt sighed, walking gingerly up the stairs from the basement. "It's just not enough."
I squeezed Tucker's hand slightly as I stared up at the armoured wizard. "So will he die?" I whispered, well aware of everyone else in the room. Tom and Jordan had been conversing in a corner, Martha was in tears, and the other two wizards were pacing anxiously, almost running into each other several times.
"I don't know," Matt moaned, collapsing back into another chair. "I just don't know. I hate not being able to tell, but there's just nothing else to do! Wag's deathly ill and I don't know if he has the strength to fight against it."
"He has to!" Tom exclaimed, his eyes darting worriedly from me to Matt. "He's stronger than that. He's a powerful wizard!" Matt slowly shook his head in defeat.
"Even the mightiest fall."
It had been a week after the Taint incident and Wag was feeling much better, as he proved by practically bouncing off the walls. I was getting tired of constantly having to watch him, but I didn't dare trust him to be on his own after what happened last week.
"Sonja," Wag whined, lying on his back on the floor. "Can we go outside and play?"
"No, I think it's high time that we both went to bed," I sighed, staring at Wag tiredly. "I'm exhausted from having to look after you all day. You didn't even have any sugar!"
"But I'm bored," he complained, dragging out the 'o'. "You're no fun."
"Well, I'm sorry," I gritted my teeth, trying desperately to keep from snapping. "I've been a bit busy defending the cookie jar from you."
"Why can't I have a cookie?"
"Because someone - namely Tom - spiked them," I rolled my eyes. "I don't have the ingredients to make more, so that's the only reason I haven't tossed them out yet."
"Spiked them?" Wag's eyes widened in horror. "So if I eat them, will spikes come out?"
"Yes," I lied. Better than telling him what 'spiked' actually means. "Stay away from the cookies."
Wag slowly backed away and I shooed him downstairs, chasing him until he went over to the bed. "Get your nightclothes on, and then get into bed," I ordered firmly. "I'm going to get ready for bed as well, but don't try any tricks with me, mister. Always watching... always watching." Wag gave me the Death Glare and I glared right back at him. There would be no shenanigans.
So finally, after some arguments about which nightclothes to wear and stalling to get into bed, we were both settled down. I had made a new bed for myself and it was across the room from where Wag was sleeping. The lights in the room were dimmed with a simple murmur and I closed my eyes, waiting to fall asleep.
But somehow, tonight, I just couldn't. I just lay there, thinking about Wag as he had been before this spell. He was oftentimes reclusive and was dangerous when he was around. Did I really want the little kid living with me to change back into that?
Then I remembered how good he was with spells; when faced with a problem, how tirelessly he would work; how his shyness combined with his power created the most interesting wizard I had ever met.
I wouldn't want that to disappear for who-knows-how-many-years until Wag grew up. That was for certain.
As I was thinking, I heard what sounded like a quiet whimpering. It took me a few seconds to realise that it must be Wag. I swiftly got out of bed and crossed the room on silent feet, halting at the side of Wag's bed.
The little wizard was twitching and tears were trickling down his cheeks as he sobbed. He gave a sudden, violent jerk to the side, crying out like he was in pain. I hesitated before waking him up though. The old myth that waking someone up from their dream was bad luck floated freshly through my mind but I shook it off as Wag wailed again, nearly falling off of the bed.
"Wag!" I grabbed his shoulder and shook it, ready to catch him if he rolled off the bed. His eyes flew open and for a moment, they were pure red, glinting with horror and despair. Then they faded back into more human eyes, with red irises as usual.
Wag started crying loudly, practically launching himself into my arms. I hugged him tightly, picking him up and swaying soothingly from side to side. "Shh," I whispered gently. "It'll be okay, Wag. I'm right here. I won't let anything hurt you."
"Dad," Wag whimpered. "Dad said that too."
I tensed, just barely able to force myself to relax again. What did he mean? Who was Wag's father? I pushed those questions to the back of my mind and carried Wag upstairs, sitting down in a rocking chair that Tucker had made for my birthday. Wag was still crying but I didn't mind. After a nightmare like he must have had, I didn't expect any less.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked softly. Wag paused for a second before shaking his head, leaning against my shoulder. I was content to let him stay on my lap and didn't scold him as he started playing with my hair, sniffling occasionally as he began to calm down.
Before long, he had closed his eyes and by his steady breathing, I could tell that he was asleep again. I smiled, leaning my own head back and shutting my eyes as well. I wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight but at least Wag was resting easily now.
And that was all that mattered.
"Sonja! Sonja, I found the cure!" I jumped when I heard Matt shouting at me. The armoured was running towards me, carefully holding a light purple potion in his hands. The potion was bubbling and it frothed madly, even though it was barely being shaken around.
"Hey Matt!" Wag waved and Matt flashed him a cheerful grin. "What's that you've got?"
"Something for you, but you can't have it just yet," Matt told him. "Sonja, this here should reverse his spell. It will turn him back to his adult form and restore all his memories. However, if it doesn't work, it has the potential to kill him. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
I felt my breath catch in my throat and my gaze darted back and forth to Matt, holding the potion and staring at me expectantly, to Wag, who looked terrified at the very mention of death.
It just wouldn't be right if the potion failed and Wag died. I knew that if that happened, I would blame myself forever. There would be a tremendous gap in the community that could never be filled if Wag weren't around.
But he couldn't stay like this forever. The potion could work, but if we never tried, we would never know.
"Alright," I decided. "We'll do it."
Matt nodded and handed the potion to Wag, who handled it like it was a bomb primed to explode. He looked nervous about drinking from it know that he knew what consequences there could be, but when Matt uncorked it, he didn't hesitate to bring it up to his mouth and take a big gulp. Wag's eyes widened as he continued to drink and he dropped the bottle halfway through, doubling over and gasping in pain.
"Wag!" I cried, attempting to lunge forwards. Matt grabbed my wrist though and gently pulled me back, barring his arm across my chest to stop me from going over to Wag, who has collapsed. He was writhing violently on the ground now, clutching his throat as he screamed silently. "Let me help him! He's in pain!"
"Wait," Matt said simply.
As I watched on in growing horror, I heard a sickening sound of what might have been bones crunching and shifting. Wag seemed to be growing, and his clothes looked like they were being stretched uncomfortably tight. After just a few more seconds, they tore. Wag's face slowly grew more hollow and he was aging faster with each second passed.
Finally, he looked like just what I imagined he did as an adult, considering I had never seen more than his hands and feet because he always wore his robe. He gasped and opened his eyes and I flinched, startled by their pure blood-red colour.
"S-Sonja? Matt?" Wag stuttered, his voice deep again. He stood up cautiously and trembled a bit before regaining his balance. "Wha-what am I doing out here?" Wag glanced down and yelped, a bright red blush suddenly covering his face. "Where are my clothes?"
I snickered at the sight of Wag standing buck naked in front of my house, completely disoriented. Wag stiffly moved his hands down so that his privacy was shielded at least a little bit before swallowing, his face still red with embarrassment.
"What - happened?" he squeaked. "Or do I not want to know?"
"It's a long story," I suppressed a giggle at Wag's highly unusual awkwardness. "Come inside and I'll tell you. Oh, and don't worry. I have your robes as well."
"Thanks," Wag muttered. "Would have been nice to have them, oh, I don't know, five minutes ago."
Matt chuckled and waited for me to go inside before following. Wag hobbled after us, being forced to walk very uncomfortably due to his predicament at the moment. His robe had been laid on the couch in my living room and I grabbed it, tossing it over to Wag without looking. I heard the soft swish of fabric and heard Wag shuffling around slightly so I assumed that he had indeed caught it and was putting it on.
"Alright, I'm better now," Wag grumbled, stomping over to a chair and plonking himself down, keeping the hems of his robe tightly pulled together. I could once again no longer see his face and I found it almost relieving; Wag was back to the powerful wizard that he truly was. "Now what was all that about?"
"Well, you see," Matt grinned, "You were working on a spell that kinda sorta backfired and turned you into... a five year-old version of yourself."
"Oh, I remember now," Wag sighed, facepalming. "Yeah, here's a heads-up - do not under any circumstances try to combine a regeneration spell with a wither effect spell."
"Aw shoot," Matt suddenly stomped his foot on the ground. "Phil and Killer were messing around with that sort of stuff when I left. I'd better go stop them before we have another accident."
"You go do that," I smiled slightly, watching Matt run out of the house like he was on fire, muttering to himself under his breath as he sprinted away. Then Wag cleared his throat and I turned back to the wizard in front of me.
"So... what all happened while I was - you know - younger?" Wag asked, sounding slightly hesitant. I opened my mouth to answer him, but a thought popped into my head and I choked back what I was about to say previously.
"First you have to tell me - who was your father?" I thought I saw a flash of panic in Wag's dark eyes but he quickly regained his composure, stiffening slightly.
"I'd rather not share that information with you right now," Wag said tersely. "Why?"
"You had a nightmare and after you woke up, said that your dad had said that he would never let anything hurt you. You seemed pretty traumatised and I was curious," I shrugged, trying to be casual. Wag sighed and slowly shook his head.
"I don't like to think about my past, Sonja. Anything that happens in my nightmares -"
"Wait, this has happened before?" I interrupted. Wag stopped speaking abruptly and I could almost feel him glaring at me. "Sorry. Continue."
"Anything that happens in my nightmares is strictly between me and my own thoughts. I've been having nightmares for as long as I can remember; even after so many years, they still get to me," Wag sighed again. "There's nothing I can do to stop them though, so I've just dealt with them. Anyway, back to the top of 'what happened' which you have not yet explained."
"Well..."
"Wow," Wag breathed, whistling impressively a second later. "I'm not even going to ask how you found that much patience in you."
"Good, because I don't know either," I laughed heartily. Wag had enjoyed hearing about the antics he had gotten up to while he was five but was slightly less thrilled when I informed him that if need be, there would be blackmail using this. "But it was fun."
"Well, thanks for doing all of that for me," Wag stood up, stretching slightly. His cloak shifted apart a little ways and he hurriedly pulled it back so that it completely covered his body again. "Geez, what happened to the black clothes I usually wear under this?"
"I don't know. They're probably back at your house somewhere," I shrugged, trying not to giggle. All of a sudden, my telecommunicator buzzed and I pushed the button that turned my end on.
"Sonja!" I heard Matt gasp from the other end. "I - I was too late a-and -" there was a crash in the background and then Matt was shouting at someone. "Hey! You leave that alone, you little pest! That is not for you! Phil, no! Those are the special brownies!"
"Matt?" I asked, worried.
"Sorry," Matt panted. "But you know what Wag was saying about the spells? Well, I was too late in getting back."
Another crash. More screaming. This time, I heard someone crying loudly in the background before Matt came back on.
"Killer and Phil are children now too."
THIS WAS SO FUNNY! *doubles over laughing*
I had way too much fun writing this! Little Waglington child - oh yes, and more wizard children! Just wonderful! Oh, and did anybody catch the reference to Killertom? No? "Stop eating all the special brownies!" That. That was the reference. At least he wasn't screaming "Matt, Matt, Matt Matt Matt Matt! Take off your clothes, it'll calm you" this time. Yes, that actually did happen. No, I don't remember which episode it was from - possibly one where I was laughing too hard to actually understand them like what happened today. Which was bad, because I'm actually a little sick and it hurts to laugh.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this really long one-shot... IT'S OVER 9,000! Like, legitimately, it's over 9,000 words. Now to beat that record!
-Ender, signing off