Chapter 15
Viktor woke up the next morning alone. He sat up and stretched, feeling horribly relaxed and comfortable and let out a smile before he got out of bed and dressed, going down the stairs. Matthew was sitting up at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee, and another mug sat across from him with Arthur's tea, but Arthur was in the kitchen rinsing out the bottles from the night before, lightly humming songs to himself with a bright smile. "Dobroye utro, dorogoy." Viktor walked up and softly kissed him on the cheek. Arthur giggled lightly and turned, kissing him back softly at the corner of his mouth.
"Good morning, love. I hope you slept well?" He asked and Viktor smiled nodding softly before wrapping his arms around Arthur's waist, laying his head on the smaller man's shoulder.
"I did, and you as well?" Arthur giggled at the deceptively comforting morning, something he'd never remembered having. It was amazingly warm, wrapped in his arms as he felt the nod over his shoulder. "Listen, you don't have to ask permission anymore." Arthur spoke softly. "I was just being shy and a bit paranoid, alright?" He asked turning to see Viktor's eyes set on his, a warm and inviting smile on his face.
"Da. In that case..." He turned Arthur, not even giving him time to wipe his hands on his apron, and brought their lips together, kissing him softly, but with a warmth that made Arthur toss his arms around his neck, holding him close. As they pulled apart Viktor reached up, brushing the strands of hair that framed Arthur's face away, looking at him with a broad smile. "I'm glad to see you're in such a good mood today. Maybe it would be a good day to go out, da? Maybe go for a picnic, or introduce me to your tree friend." Viktor grinned and Arthur smiled sadly.
"I can't. I have to get my staff and cloak made and go to the castle, remember? I was supposed to do it yesterday, but ended out too distracted." He grinned at the last part, making Viktor giggle.
"Da." He softly kissed Arthur's cheek. "Sorry."
"Don't be." Arthur smiled before turning back to the sink. "I do have to get these cleaned out, though. They'll be perfect for herbs."
"Herbs?" Viktor asked, his eyes instinctively heading to the huge pile of packets Arthur had bought at the apothecary the day before. "What do you need so many for? And most of those don't even sound tasty." He frowned as his eyes shifted over the name 'Skullcap' and Arthur chuckled.
"Angel was teaching me to be a potions master. I'm hoping I can still find someone to teach me, but I'll have to make sure to keep my skills up." Arthur glanced back at Viktor, who was staring at him in surprise.
"Magic potions?" He asked, his head tilting with a look of caution in his eyes. It was a look Arthur couldn't decipher.
"Yes, why?" He asked and Viktor frowned.
"You do tool magic. You do magic potions. You have visual magic. I can't figure out what kind of magician you are." Viktor admitted and Arthur grinned.
"I'm British, I do whatever I want." He gave a curt nod, hiding his chuckle and Viktor stared in surprise before letting out a booming laugh. Arthur couldn't hold back his chuckle after that as Viktor hugged him again.
"You can almost FEEL your teeth rotting from the sweetness!" Alfred spoke from the stairs, his voice loud in the smaller room and Mattie turned, back, laying his hand over the back of the couch.
"Morning." He grinned and Alfred looked at his brother, exasperated.
"Don't tell me you've been stuck down here watching these two like this!" Alfred came down the remainder of the stairs with Yao right behind him, rolling his eyes.
"No worse than Matt and Francis and the dining table incident three years ago." Yao raised an eyebrow at Matthew, who started stammering, trying to find words to vindicate himself.
None came to mind.
"Hey," Arthur spoke up, setting the last of the bottles on the counter to dry, "Does anyone have any interest in watching how to enchant a cloak and a staff?" He asked and the group turned to him with a little excitement. Alfred grinned from ear to ear, his eyes wide and Arthur could see the stars twinkling in the corners from across the room. Matthew turned with intrigue.
Matthew used some tools in his magic as well, so he understood better what was being asked. Magicians guarded their tools with their life. They were of dire importance and usually completely hidden away, rarely seen by those around them. Seeing a magic tool was a rare occurrence. Getting to see them enchanted? That didn't happen. He enchanted his own in the woods, miles away so no one could see. He hid them in a hollowed part of a tree, magic keeping the top and bottom halves connected, with only a small door that only he could see.
Unfortunately, if found by the wrong people, they could be used to control a person as well, so they were always hidden away from the home, so even if found, no one would know who they belonged to. "Arthur, I think I heard enough to understand, but I don't think it's a good idea to let us watch something like that," Matthew whispered. "You didn't have magicians where you were from, so you might not understand, but it's a sacred pact! It's not something you should allow others, especially those you've known as recently as us, to witness." He stared and Arthur looked at him with wide eyes.
"If it's found out what they are, if someone understands and finds where I hide them, if they understand what they have and who it belongs to, they could use it to control me. I wouldn't even necessarily know what's happening. They could wear the cloak and whisper 'I want to die,' and I wouldn't even understand where the depression comes from that I'd kill myself over. I actually do understand, but somehow, it's freeing. I trust you to watch." Arthur watched Matthew's widening eyes and utter surprise at the words. "The fact that you warned me of that, that you thought of such things, tells me my trust wasn't misplaced. Thank you." Arthur smiled as he wiped his hands on his apron before undoing the ties on his back and hung the apron on its hook.
He grabbed his supplies, thread and wool, the staff and the button he'd cut from it and laid them nicely in a basket. He had gotten a stick of chalk and laid it softly in the basket, making sure not to get any chalk dust on the black fabric after wrapping it gently in the paper. He turned, finding everyone dressed, Mattie wearing an outfit of Alfred's while Yao looked quite uncomfortable in a suit Viktor had gotten from Arthur's clothes (with permission). "Where we go?" Yao asked and Arthur smiled before answering.
"The magic used for this can sometimes be felt by other magicians, so it's a good idea to do things like this away from populated areas. I know just the place, though," Arthur smiled as he started walking towards the tree he'd met before.
It was a good forty five minutes they walked before Arthur felt the life of the trees and looked up, seeing Vitae watching him with wide eyes. "Good morning, Vitae. I brought my friends out today." He smiled, watching the face of the tree.
"I don't think they can see or hear me. So few can." She said, a little sadly and Arthur nodded.
"I know, but all the same, I thought it would be good for them to meet you. Is it alright if I do my enchanting spells out here? I don't want to trouble you." He watched as she grinned, nodding.
"I wanna see! I wanna see!" Her voice was high and excited, as the little face moved in a figure eight pattern over the bark, as if dancing and Arthur let out a grin and a chuckle at the show.
Arthur turned to the group, seeing them all stand a little back from the tree, staring, except Viktor, who stepped forward, pressing a hand to the bark and looked up with wide eyes.
"Thank you for getting Arthur to talk to me." Viktor spoke up to the tree, looking over the branches. He understood what Arthur had been talking about. It didn't feel dark, but something about the tree seemed out of place, like it wasn't quite right. "Can it hear me?" Viktor turned, looking at Arthur, who rolled his eyes.
"Of course she can hear you. Just not the other way around." Arthur watched with a smile, his eyebrows shifted up in the center, looking an inch away from laughing.
"I don't know if she's talking. I don't want to interrupt." Viktor frowned and Arthur shook his head with a smile, kicking leaves away from a large slate sheet on the ground nearby.
"No, I think you surprised her. She's just staring at you." Arthur shook his head with a laugh before kicking away more of the leaves. Alfred and Yao stepped over to help him out while Mattie stared at the tree, nibbling his bottom lip in a worry no one else noticed.
"In that case," Viktor turned back, looking up into the branches again. "I owe you a lot. If you hadn't spoken to Arthur, there's no saying where things would be right now. Since I don't come out here often, and I can't hear your voice, I have no idea what to do or say to make it up to you." He frowned before stepping back and bowing. "But thank you so much." He stood and turned to help clear off the stone.
"She said that being thanked was good enough." Arthur looked over to see Viktor grin, his whole face lighting up and nod.
What Arthur didn't share was she was actually in the middle of a rant on all of the things she'd want him to do to her if she was a person instead of a tree, and none of the ideas she came up with were appropriate for the situation and Arthur found himself with burning cheeks, Alfred asking him if he were feeling alright.
The tree noticed something and the words stilled as she stared, confused and surprised. The sudden stop of the rant had Arthur turn, looking to see where her face was looking and turned, finding Mattie struck still, staring, still nibbling his lip. "Matthew, is everything alright?"
"I can't hear her." Mattie nearly whispered as he stepped forward. "I can see her. I can see her face." He turned to Arthur who was staring wide eyed. "I've never seen something like this before. How can I see this?" He asked as he stepped cautiously forward, his shoulders trembling slightly as his hand reached out and he touched her cheek.
"Maybe you only have a little ability to see things like this, not enough to get all of the senses." Arthur said as he watched Matthew tilt his head, completely captivated in the tree before him. He let out a soft smile as he turned to his basket, lifting out the chalk.
"Everyone go sit by the tree. No matter what, I need you to stand back. This spell succession can be dangerous for me, so don't stand, don't come over." He turned and Matthew turned to him with confusion.
It had never been a dangerous spell before. He did have to cut himself to enchant his athame, but it was never more than that. He frowned as he sat, leaning against the tree, suddenly feeling an odd pull to her. The others sat by him, watching as Arthur drew on the slate, making a large circle. It seemed much larger than the circles Matthew had to draw, again showing him the differences between their magics.
It took a couple of minutes, Arthur occasionally stopping and walking the circumference to make sure the symbols were placed properly before nodding happily and laid the staff in the center. He stepped back out of the circle and raised his hands over, laying them up against where the circle was, as if touching some barrier around the pentacle.
"Rogo autem vos socios fieri ferro. Dimicandum latus meum ut socius meus. Adiuva me coercere, qui circum me in lucem tenebras mundi perfundi." Arthur whispered out, a soft green glow coming from the chalked markings. The staff in the center started to glow and lift up, spiraling gently in the center of the circle, as if showing itself off as the glow started to sink in, absorbing into the wood. Arthur repeated the spell again before the staff slowly drifted down, laying in the same space that it had lifted from. The green glow started to sink away, as if lowering below the earth and Viktor noticed Arthur's shoulders tense before his head tilted back, the same green glow started sinking over his body.
Viktor stared, a bit horrified. He could see a look of pain cross Arthur's face as the light enveloped him, and words again started flowing from his lip, but it wasn't in any language he'd ever heard, or could hope to decipher. Finally, about three minutes after he was enveloped, the light sank back into the circle and Arthur fell to the ground, gasping for air. Viktor started to stand and Matthew gripped his arm hard, shaking his head.
"Don't interrupt the ceremony. It could kill him." Matthew whispered and Viktor stared, his eyes turning back to Arthur now in alarm.
Arthur climbed to his knees, still panting as he reached in and grabbed the staff, laying it before his knees, half in and half out of the circle. Arthur was finally getting into a position Matthew was used to, but somehow it seemed off. Matthew had always felt that his ceremony was giving thanks to the magic that allowed him to fight, while Arthur seemed to dominate it, fighting for supremacy. He laid the rest of the items, the thread, wool and the wood button in the center and grasped the staff, standing slowly, his arms straight as he lifted the staff into the air before him, just before the wool on the ground.
"Protector factus es mihi. Landum in tenebris lux clarior ut emineret. Ostende mihi viam, defendam, resistam. Pugnare meus protector meus et habemus accessum ambo splendens." Arthur called out, a little more fight in him this time and Matthew watched as the wool unraveled, raising up and altering, shifting into shape as the thread seamed through and the button stilled, impaled by the thread before being attached at the neck. As the cloak took shape it started to shine blue, a marking, like a finger scractching at the slate within started lighting up and Arthur looked down, seeing it. He repeated the spell as a shout and the cloak took its form, but stood still in the air, as if already worn.
Matthew watched confused as two red eyes shifted up, looking at Arthur with absolute hatred. Arthur walked forward, releasing the staff with his right hand and reached out as he brought the staff beside him, pressing the end hard against the ground. His right hand enclosed around the neck of the thing inside of the cloak. "Protege me vivere." The voice he made barely sounded human. It was a rumbled growl that startled Alfred and Viktor as they watched his body's stance shift, his head tilted forward, his shoulders pressed forward as he puffed out his chest, looking more threatening than he ever had to either of their eyes.
"Ergo nihil es ad me." Matthew startled at the sound of the voice.
"What is that?" He asked, not expecting an answer, and was surprised to hear one none the less.
"It's a creature of darkness. He has to defeat it and win to get his cloak." Matthew turned quickly, his eyes widening as he turned to the tree.
"I can hear you!" He gasped and the tree turned to him in surprise.
"How pleasant! I wonder if it'll last after the spell? You're all being bathed in light energy right now. Since that's what I'm made of, it doesn't do anything for me." She shrugged and turned back to the battle.
Arthur released the staff completely and it hung in the air at his side, a soft green glow connecting them like a wire as he reached forward with his other hand. The figure under the cloak shifted, and though they couldn't see it, they could see the constricting of Arthur's airways as long fingers clenched around his throat.
"Non potest esse in tenebris lucem. Lux illa percutiamque tenebris. Ego sum lux. Ego vitam exstinguit ignem, ut valeant in lucem terrae Die revertens expulsus!" Arthur yelled as his hands clenched harder, his breaths coming in pants as he fought to win over the creature who screamed at the words.
The spell worked. Though they couldn't see the creature itself, they could see the smoke from around Arthur's hands drift into the air, and the tree frowned, looking up at it.
"He's won." She spoke and Matthew stared, shaking. As the cloak started to fall, Arthur grasped it and brought it over his shoulders, clasping the button around his neck. He walked into the center of the circle and grasped the staff again, raising it up over his head with both hands, a chuckle and a grin on his face.
"Circulus fuerit completur. Aperite mihi liceret exire. Vale, lux mea est." He spoke with a strong sound and the subtle green glow from the circle faded away. Arthur turned and walked out, making sure his feet were out of the circle before he collapsed, his hands raising to his throat as he choked and gasped for air.
"Can I go now?" Viktor asked and Matthew nodded, still shaking too badly to move.
Viktor jumped over Yao to get to him, lifting Arthur up in his arms. "Are you alright?! What was that?! What happened?!" He nearly yelled, confused and terrified as Arthur looked up, grinning like mad.
"I won over the darkness." Arthur nearly gasped out, a huge contrast to the strong tone he'd just been speaking in. "My cloak and my staff are complete. I can see better now, and I can feel what's around me even better." He relaxed, letting his head lay against Viktor's arm for a moment. "I forgot how tiring this was..." He grumbled and Viktor chuckled, hugging him close.
"It looked like you were fighting for your life." Viktor spoke softly and Arthur nodded.
"I was. Now you see why I was so upset when my last set got ruined." Arthur glanced up and let out a sigh, slumping in Viktors arms, almost faster than he could blink, falling into a deep sleep.