{*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*]*~Multiverse Mysteries~*[*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*}

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-SupernaturalSleuths Verse*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

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Chapter 10:

Love Bugs And Other Pests

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*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*

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"Alright the clearing me and Alec got separated is just up ahead. Thinking we can start there." He paused, glancing over at Raphael questioningly.

Raphael flashed a warm smile, approvingly nodding.

"Sounds like a good plan Angel. With the supplies Mags sent we should be able to get some kind of reading and follow the trail back to the nest."

Simon smiled, settling a bit closer to his side, relaxing faintly, nodding back before shifting over to the other three.

"I read over the info on the bugs in the book, at least what I could understand. A few sections were in some kind of demonic language. I really have no clue about those parts but Eli said he knew the language enough to at least get the gist of it."

Raphael nodded, shifting closer, glancing over the others, picking up the explanation.

"It really didn't add a lot. They were a few personal accounts of ways people have supposedly stopped the bites effect in the past. Honestly they kind of struck me as the demonic version of an old wives tale. We don't really need wild eyed theories or shots in the dark, we need a foolproof cure. There's a potion that can be made that is completely effective and the only solidly proven way to break the bites influence but in order for it to work the spell caster needs specimens from the specific swarm as each Chwantiau swarm has a distinctive magical signature. That's what Magnus will need to synthesize the potion to cure those still affected.

We need to capture the entire swarm. All the spell caster needs is one or two members of the swarm but obviously we can't just leave an entire swarm of demonic lust bugs from a closed off hell dimension out running free. It's also imperative we get every one as they reproduce asexually so just missing one can restart a whole new swarm."

Blake blinked, looking around the others, kind of holding up a finger.

"Uh...okay...I'm new here, totally don't get like –well basically any of this- but that seems impossible. How are we going to catch an entire SWARM of bugs? How do we make sure we get them all?"

"With this." Simon said, bouncing lightly on his heels, gesturing towards the bag on his shoulder.

Simon smiled brighter, holding it up so they could get a better look. It was rather odd looking, a deep violet with an odd patterning almost like snakeskin, about the size of a larger purse or a small luggage carry. It had a bit of decorative embroidery on the front that looked like runes and gold detailing around the edges with a small crystal clasp on the top.

"Magnus managed to distract Alec long enough to send us a supply kit. He didn't really have a chance to go over all the instructions with Raphael so he just tossed a quick explanatory note in with the rest of it. I've read it, it does sound a bit complicated but I think I got it.

This is everything we need to catch and contain the entire swarm. There's some really odd looking berries from Calon Tywyll, a crystal, a black violet candle situated under a goblet type thing that seems to work almost like a magic Bunsen burner and of course the bag itself.

The berries are apparently the bugs' favorite food and should work as a pretty strong attractant however they don't have much of a scent unless they're very warm. When we find the nest we set the bag on the ground about twenty to thirty feet from the nest, op-"

"Why do we set it up so far away? Wouldn't it make sense to put it as close as possible to the nest?" Divya asked.

Simon shrugged, head tilting concedingly.

"Maybe, but it'd be way too risky. The bugs are very protective of their nest; anyone gets within twenty feet they're likely to swarm. You guys may be immune to the bugs magic but it's still a swarm of biting bugs, kinda doubt we want to get too close and have them on the defensive.

Also everything in the book says actually going into a love bug nesting area will likely end up rendering you pretty much drunk off your ass. It's not overly dangerous or life threatening, heck of a lot safer than most ways to get to that state but it does make you black out levels of intoxicated and from what the book says the hangover afterwards is hell.

Thinking we all want to avoid that."

Blake blinked, swallowing, nodding quickly.

"Uh yeah, really good with avoiding being attacked by a biting demonic bug swarm and waking up with the mother of all hangovers. Thirty feet you said?"

Simon shrugged.

"Twenty to thirty.'

Blake nodded.

"Thirty it is. Anyways you were saying?"

Simon chuckled softly at the girl but nodded, flashing a warm smile, continuing.

"Okay so we set up the bag a safe distance from the nest, open the top all the way and hit the little jeweled button on the clasp of the bag. We set the candle and goblet inside the bag, put the berries in the goblet and light the candle- I'm assuming as it's a magic bag it's not flammable but I did toss two bottles of water into it too just in case.

Hitting the button on the bag triggers it, when one of the bugs lands in the goblet the bottom of the bag drops down like a trap door which opens into a portal/wormhole type thing that ends in a secure container somewhere in Magnus's Lair. The bugs have a pretty strong connection- a kind of hive mind- so when one is agitated or distressed the others will be drawn back to defend them. We'll want to find somewhere close enough to keep an eye on the bag but far enough away not to catch the bugs attention. They're supposed to get a bit of tunnel vision so most of their focus will be on the bag as that's where they'll sense the captured bugs so as long as we're not standing too close we should be fine. Once one is trapped the entire swarm will instinctively come to help and the more get trapped the quicker the others will arrive. The bag has a sensor that reads the signature on the bugs which tells it the number in the swarm and it will keep going until it has collected the entire swarm so we don't have to worry about missing any.

The bag will indicate when the entire swarm is in and then all we do is close the bag and head back home.

See, easy right?" he paused, glancing between Divya and Blake, flashing a bright smile.

Blake again blinked, brow rising.

"Uh...yeah...easy..."

Divya chuckled, slipping her arm around Blake, reassuringly patting her shoulder.

"Actually given the usual supernatural insanity this does seem pretty easy. All we have to do is hit a button, light a candle then just sit back a safe, comfortable distance and wait. That's way easier than the usual. Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it."

Blake snorted, shaking her head.

"Yeah I really don't see that happening. You did hear the 'biting, attacking, bug swarm and blackout drunk off your ass mother of all hangovers part...right?"

"Yeah, but at least these bugs aren't the same size as us. And they don't have pyro powers or claws that can cut through steel or whip like fire tipped stingers...like Simon said, easy."

Blake huffed, shaking her head.

"We have VERY different ideas of what constitutes 'simple."

Divya shrugged, flashing a teasingly impish grin.

"Welp, I drove and I got the keys so you're kinda stuck, may as well just go with it. You were saying Simon?"

Simon blinked, huffing out a soft chuckle, flashing a reassuringly apologetic smile at the blonde teen, giving a bit of a shrug.

"Okay, well like I said catching the bugs isn't gonna be hard, we're set there. Magnus has everything he needs to create the potion back at his lair; all he's missing is the bugs." He caught Blake's still somewhat flummoxed, concerned look, flashing a bright smile, eyes widening faintly, shaking his head, placatingly holding his hand up.

"Oh and don't worry, the bugs aren't hurt or anything. He doesn't add any of the actual bugs to the potion, just a bit of their magical residue so the potion's tuned to the exact magic signature of the swarm. Once he's made the potion he's gonna send the whole swarm back to Calon tywyll."

Blake huffed out a faint laugh, shaking her head slightly, unable to stop a bit of an amusedly charmed smile.

"Uh, yeah...I-I really wasn't that concerned with the wellbeing of a demonic bug swarm- but okay, cool- always in favor of humane treatment of animals- I guess even demonic, realm hopping animals. Well, unless they're like those freaky giant fire scorpions Divya tangled with.

But, again good. No animals will be harmed. Always good." She took a deep breath, glancing between the others, giving a slight shrug.

"Alright so I think I got it as much as I'm gonna get it anyways. We do some weird ritual a SAFE distance away from the nest involving a magic glass, demonic berries and fire and then set the magic Mary Poppins/Doctor who bag to capture and transport the entire swarm to Magnus's lair. He does his Magnus 'thing' makes the potion and...What? I mean obviously that's good for Alec but how are we gonna get the potion to the other people affected?"

Simon smiled, nodding encouragingly, giving a bit of a shrug.

"That shouldn't be too difficult either. Most of the people have already snapped out of it. The bites symptoms only last for twenty four hours and there's no ill effects- well except for most likely a lot of embarrassment over their actions and maybe a few delayed freak-outs when they realize how stupid/crazy/dangerous said actions were. Other than that they should be fine and there's not really a magic fix for making an idiot out of yourself- I know, I've checked- so unfortunately they just kinda have to deal with it. I'm sure they'll be fine, for most of us it's just a standard part of life. At least for me it always has been.

In any case there's not much to do for them but there's still some like the cat dude brought in with symptoms today. Most of those looking into this feel like the people affected have been drugged with something. They're all being held at the Brooklyn ER for observation and testing.

That's actually pretty lucky as a few members of Eli's clan work the night shift there so Mags can Magic the treatment to them and they should be able to get the treatment to those who need it." he shifted over to the blonde teen, smiling reassuringly.

"Look, I know it sounds really complicated and pretty overwhelming with all the new stuff you're being bombarded with but I really do think we got this. It's an easy case, low stakes and we have a magic lust bug wrangling kit designed by the High Warlock Of Brooklyn himself. We're gonna be fine.

Honestly the hardest thing for us is gonna be finding the nest. Once we do that we're pretty much golden." Simon paused, sighing, reaching up, tucking a wayward honey brown lock back away from his face, head tilting concedingly.

"That being said that part may be a bit tricky. We do have a bit of an advantage there though. See apparently the glittery, shimmery effect of the bugs isn't just for show, it's how they communicate- kinda like how ants leave a scent trail or bees leave a beeline that the rest of the hive follows. The shimmer leaves a residual magic trail after effect that can't really be picked up by the naked eye but the bugs can see it for hours or even days afterwards.

The crystal in the kit is supposed to amplify the trace in at two hundred foot radius to where we can see it. That's gonna help a lot but as odds are they've been all over these woods and have been here for around two weeks it's also likely gonna look like a jumbled mess. The book said a swarm usually tops out at around forty bugs. That's gonna be a lot of trails to look through. It says each bugs trail will be a slightly different color- just enough to distinguish one from the other, that might be a bit confusing but it could also kinda work in our favor as it should make it slightly easier to follow one trail.

The trails should be different intensities depending on how old they are so we should be able to tell older from newer but even so it's likely gonna be confusing as all hell when we first see it, like trying to follow one line of string in a yarn ball.

We'll just have to try and make sense of the jumbled trails and hope we can see where they seem to coalesce the most and follow that hopefully towards the nest. I'm sure they've been all over these woods but the most trails should lead towards the nest. You guys are all but immune to their bites but it is a thing that bites so kinda be careful. Make sure everyone keeps an eye out for anything shimmery, flickering or Barbie pink. If anything they should be easy to spot.

Any questions before we head out to the clearing?" he paused, glancing over the others, lingering on Divya and Blake.

Divya smiled, shaking her head.

"Nope, think we're good. Sounds like you got it pretty well covered. Let's get this bug hunt going!"

Blake groaned, rolling her eyes faintly at the other teen, flashing a totally heatless, slightly exasperated glare.

"You are way too cheerful for this."

Divya grinned, shrugging.

"Well like I said it was this or Becky and Greg's six-month-aver-"

"Ugh, yeah, yeah. Demonic Vampire bug hunt it is. I'll happily take a swarm of biting demonic bugs over a swarm of idiotic love sick teens any day."

Simon snickered, nodding.

"Wise choice."

Blake shrugged.

"I know, always gotta go with the lesser of two evils. So I guess we're doing this. Where's this clearing thing?"

Simon laughed at the exasperated tone, flashing a bright, dimpled grin, nodding over his shoulder.

"That's the spirit. And it's this way, just a bit down the path." He smiled again, reaching into the Demonic Lust Bug Wrangling kit, rummaging around between the crystal, the goblet and the water bottles, finding something hard and heavy, retrieving it from the bag.

Blake glanced over, brow quirking.

"What is that, some magic, bug seeking thingamabob?"

Simon snickered, shaking his head.

"Nope, just a standard police issued mag light. Figured if were tramping through a nature preserve in the middle of the night it might come in kinda handy."

Blake gave a faint chuckle and a conceding head tilt, Divya settling closer to her side. Simon flashed one more quick smile at the teens before turning towards the path, flicking on the light, illuminating the trail through the trees, the other four falling into step around him, Eli and Kevin standing on one side, Divya and Blake on the other, all of them alternating between watching the trail ahead and scanning the surrounding plants, trees and bushes, watching for flitting lights and shimmers.

He took a deep breath, a bit of the false confidence and bravado slipping from his features as he tries to center himself, force his brain away from the panic and thought spirals trying to push in.

Okay...alright...he's doing okay...right?

He seemed competent and together, not suspicious or flaily. I-I mean...he didn't seem TOO competent...did he? Like he didn't seem too relaxed about it? Eli told them he's known for weeks and he's a detective and works with Kevin so it'd stand to reason by now he's worked a few cases with a supernatural twist...right? R-right...right...maybe...

Ugh...okay whatever it was fine. They weren't suspicious. He's doing okay. They're doing okay. Divya and Blake bought Eli's cover. We're dating, getting serious, Eli decided to tell me the truth so I could know the real him and what I was actually getting into with the expectation that if it had any ill effects either he or Mags could fix it. He told me a few weeks ago and I haven't been spelled yet because that would involve telling Magnus and Magnus is...well...Magnus...

All in all it's a pretty good cover. Hell of a lot better than any of his or Kevin's contributions- which basically consisted of just switching between near hyperventilation and a constant litany of 'oh crap were screwed'.

But it's okay. Eli had this...

He does...

I-I think...Oh man this is SO bad!

Simon took another deep breath, mindfully pushing his nerves back down, tramping down the panic spirals, forcing his mind off of his personal panic and back onto the task at hand. He shifted the flashlight beam, sliding over the bushes, trees and flowers surrounding the walkway keeping an eye out for anything shimmery, pink or fluttery before casting a quick glance around the group, giving a slight shrug, reaching up, tucking a few locks behind his ear.

"This was pretty much the closest thing to a link we could find between the victims. We downloaded the GPS info off the first victim's car. It pinged right around here and we got hits from a few of the others GPS from fairly close by. We realized a lot of the people affected were either outdoorsy types or nerdy types with major interests in insects, ornithology or botany. This area feeds right into a nature preserve so tons of hiking trails and a lot of flora and fauna, plus it kinda lines up with a lot of migration routes. It seemed like a pretty decent place to start.

It's just a bit further- a really pretty place- looks straight out of a fairytale. I'm not even the outdoorsy type and even I could see the appeal. It really is something else. Even if you don't know magic is a real thing it definitely feels pretty magical." He paused, head tilting concedingly, trying to keep up the chatter as it seemed to help keep his mind from spiraling.

"I mean I guess that should have been kinda an indicator- should have somehow put me on guard as I do now know magic is an actual thing but it just kinda fits with the place. It does feel a bit weird but like...I don't know- good weird? Like relaxing and happy and positive. Not really the feelings you usually associate with needing to be on guard.

I know that doesn't make sense but it will when you s-Ah! Here we are..." he exclaimed, cutting off his own sentence, gesturing animatedly as they emerged from the path into the little Fairy glen area.

The other four looked around, blinking in surprise. Simon gets it. In the daytime it'd been pretty and inviting but right now under the moonlight it looked almost ethereal. The flashlight's not even really necessary with the brilliant full moon illuminating the forest, casting it in a soft incandescent glow. The colors look somehow both softly muted and strikingly bright. It's fairly comfortable out, there's the soft, soothingly quiet sound of the water running in the little brook cutting through the center of the clearing. It's quite pleasant, a bit cool with a slight breeze kicking up the scent of the flowers bursting into full bloom all around them. Everywhere he looks he sees honeysuckle, wild roses, lilac, wisteria and a surprising array of moonflowers in multiple colors that nearly seemed to glow under the full moon light.

"Wow..." Kevin muttered.

Simon gave a soft chuckle, nodding, glancing at them.

"Right? See what I mean?"

Raphael huffed out a soft laugh, sharp gaze flickering over the picturesque area, nodding slowly.

"Yeah...I can see why this could throw you. How do you stay on guard when it looks like you stepped into a Disney movie? I half expect to see anthropomorphized animals bounding about singing about something or the other."

Simon again chuckled, nodding animatedly, Kevin, Blake and Divya mirroring the move, the quintet taking a moment to really take in the shimmering, ethereal, moonlight enhanced little Glenn. It really does seem like a lovely place. Perfect for a romantic walk, a nice little picnic or just to set and stargaze with a bottle of wine...or it would if he didn't know the woods was swarming with glittering lust bugs from a hell dimension.

He shifts, glancing around cautiously, keeping an eye out for any lights or shimmering pink flickers amongst the explosion of flowers. He'd figured the luminous shimmering, cotton candy colored bugs would be fairly easy to spot in a dark, dreary forest but the way the moon is casting lights on the various flowers it might be a bit harder than he expected. Simon shifts, taking a deep breath, shaking himself out of the Fairy Glenn stupor, once more turning to face the others.

"So this is where we were when we got separated. I went back to the car to grab the kit. It was a real pain carrying the damn thing so it was a bit of a chore getting it back here but I really couldn't have been gone more than maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. I got back up here and started to apologize to Alec for taking so long before I realized there was no one out here and I was just talking to myself.

I didn't really know what way he went; I knew he hadn't headed back up the trail to the car because no way I wouldn't see him and it's really not like him to just wander off on a case. The car isn't that far- if he shouted for me I'm sure I'd of heard and if he seen anything alarming up one of the paths or got a hint anything was off I'm sure he'd of either waited for me to get back or called out to me so it just seemed really odd.

Then I kinda caught that weird, tingly, buzzy feeling and realized it was magic- not just like the 'ooh pretty fairie Glenn, fairytale, Disney movie place' type magic but ACTUAL magic and I kinda panicked. That's when I called Eli." he shrugged, reaching up, tucking a loose lock behind his ear, giving a faint sigh.

"From what Eli said Mags told his Alec seemed to confirm this is where he was when he was bit. He told Mags about the place he saw the 'fairy'. That I guess really alarmed Mags as he hears fairy he thinks extremely powerful fae, not fuzzy little Barbie moth. At least it's not as bad as all that. I mean demonic, realm hopping lust bug isn't exactly great but compared to a pissed off Fae wreaking havoc think we're kinda good here."

Divya nodded, smiling, glancing over at Blake.

"Definitely. I've read a lot of the books on the Fae- really don't sound like beings I want to screw with."

Blake snorted, brow quirking.

"I'm half Fae; you screw with me all the time. Hell, the only reason I'm even here right now is because you basically kidnapped me when we were on our way back from the movies and we were driving too fast for me to tuck and roll."

Divya grinned, clasping her on her shoulder, flashing a teasingly bright smile.

"Yeah but that's totally different."

"How is it different?"

"You don't know what the hell you're doing."

Blake huffed out a faintly disbelieving laugh, brow quirking.

"Eventually I will."

Divya shrugged unconcerned.

"And eventually I'll be more cautious."

Raphael snorted, shaking his head, flashing a teasing smirk.

"No you won't."

Divya shrugged, head tilting concedingly.

"No, I won't. But by then she'll be just as loony as the rest of us and it won't even register."

Simon laughed, shaking his head, flashing an apologetic smile at the exasperated blonde teen, giving a bit of a shrug.

"Gotta admit it does kinda grow on you. Though I may not be the best source. My whole life I've been a total nerd. I lived for scifi, fantasy and all that other comic-con type stuff. I love cryptozoology, extraterrestrials, myths and all the rest of that. I've spent most my life believing in things like ghosts, aliens and Cryptids. When you believe in those things magic and the supernatural doesn't really seem that far out there.

I know it's new to me and should seem totally alien but I kinda feel like on some level I've been preparing for this my entire life." He smiled, glancing over Blake, giving a bit of a playful shrug.

"You don't really strike me as the nerdy/scifi/fantasy/LARP type so it may be a bit more of an adjustment for you but it really does grow on you. I don't think it's possible to not end up seeing the magic and wonder of it all."

Divya chuckled, head tilting, giving a bit of a wave.

"Unless you're Raj."

Simon huffed out a faint laugh, brow rising.

"He's having a bit of trouble with it?"

She flashed an affectionately exasperated smile, shrugging half-heartedly.

"Oh yeah, but, well, it's Raj. That's just kinda what he does. If he's not spiraling, flailing or overreacting THAT's when I'd be worried."

Simon chuckled, shrugging.

"Well I think it's different for everyone and it's not like panic and flailing is a total overreaction when confronted with something that turns your beliefs on their head and throws everything you thought you knew about the world and reality clean out the window. I'm sure he'll be fine..." He paused, gaze slipping from Divya over to Blake, flashing a warm, dimpled grin, catching her eye.

"I'm sure BOTH of you will. It'll just take a bit." He smiled once more, reaching up, tucking a wayward lock behind his ear, giving a faint shrug.

"However in the meantime we have a magical lust bug swarm to capture and I'm pretty sure poor Magnus is at the end of his rope with Alec teasing him." He paused, glancing over at Raphael, flashing a bit of a smile.

"And I know turnabout is fair play and all that but the girl only has so much he can take before he snaps. We really should get started." He chuckled again, relaxing faintly, shifting the bag on his shoulder, reaching in, rummaging around, coming up with the crystal.

It's an odd looking thing, kinda reminds him of some of the fancier wands he's seen sold at Comic-Con. It's fairly thin, about the diameter and length of a pencil and looked almost like some kind of quarts, a deep midnight violet that blended to a near fire orange at the base. The colors kind of remind him of a sunrise. Around the bottom of the crystal there was a band of some kind of burnished metal with a small sapphire looking stone on the bottom. There's also a few hieroglyphic like symbols carved into the side of the crystal and filled in with gold.

Simon blinked, head tilting curiously, sharp golden brown eyes flickering over the crystal in interest, lightly sliding his fingers along the edge. It's smooth and slightly warm to the touch. He rolls it between his fingers before holding it up for the others to see and finally passing it over to Raphael. He again reaches into the bag for the instruction sheet Magnus sent, quickly reading over them again, glancing back up at Raphael, catching his pretty deep brown eyes.

"Okay so, sounds pretty simple. It says to activate the crystal you need to hit the symbols – the first, the third and then the second- and then press down on the sapphire on the bottom of the base for five seconds. When you move your finger off the stone the crystal should illuminate and so will the magic trails in our immediate vicinity.

To turn it off you do the same thing but in reverse." He glanced up, catching Raphael's eye, eagerly bouncing on his heels.

"You got it?"

"I think I can manage." Raphael chuckled teasingly at his eagerness, flashing an entirely too cute smile before deftly going through the motions, flawlessly activating the crystal.

There's a soft little buzz type sound and a little puff of smoke from the tip of the crystal as it seems to spring to life, the colors brightening, further illuminating the clearing. Simon blinks at the intensity before realizing the light isn't just coming from the crystal, it's coming from all around them.

Like ALL around them...everywhere.

Distantly he hears Blake gasp. Simon nods faintly, blinking, eyes widening in surprise, subconsciously shifting closer to Raphael and the others. He gulps, again blinking in disbelief taking in the huge array of swirling illuminated streaks of color surrounding them.

"Oh wow..." Kevin mumbled, bright doe eyes wide in shock.

Simon swallowed, nodding distractedly, looking around them, shifting still closer to Raphael.

"Umm...w-we may need a bigger bag."

Raphael huffed, slowly nodding. Simon gulped again, shifting closer to Eli and Kevin, fumbling slightly, turning off the at this point totally useless flashlight, slipping it back into the bag, glancing between the two, nervously holding up a finger.

"Uh- y-um-you guys's vision is a lot better than ours, can you tell how many different color trails there are? Give us an idea of how big the swarm is?"

Raphael scoffed, head shaking.

"Hell of a lot more than forty."

Simon gave a faintly exasperated huff, brow quirking.

"Yeah I kinda got that."

Raphael shrugged.

"Sorry Amore. My sight is a fair bit sharper than yours but it's geared towards hunting and finding prey not detecting incremental color variances."

Kevin nodded, shifting closer to his side.

"Same with mine-well minus the prey thing. I can pick up on more subtle movements and possible threats or predators but sparkly Barbie moths don't generally fall into that category. There's a lot of them- at least sixty though probably a fair bit more and I'm thinking from the overlay of the trails they come through this area a whole lot so it's either a favored feeding ground or a well-established stop back to the nest but that's about all I got."

Simon nodded slowly, again swallowing, giving a faint shrug.

"Well I guess if anything else we have plenty of trails. The more data you have the easier it is to see the pattern..." he shrugged, settling closer to Raphael's shoulder, once more swallowing before turning, looking at the other four.

"O-okay...so t-this...um...this might be kinda bad."

Divya blinked, head tilting.

"What do you mean? I mean I know it's a lot more than we expected but the bag's a self-contained portal/wormhole, no way there's too many to fit in that and it's Magnus; I would think it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than a few extra bugs to overwhelm him. I'm sure he'll be able to handle it on his end. Yeah it's more and it looks pretty insane but even so we should still be good, right?"

Simon began to take a deep breath before thinking better of it, giving a faintly conceding shrug.

"Y-yeah...for the most part. But the thing of it is the book did say the vapor trails from the bugs in high concentration can have a somewhat intoxicating effect. Like I said stumbling into a love bug nest will end up with you drunk off your ass. The concentrations won't be quite to THAT level but in higher doses it can render you a fair bit loopy. It's usually only an issue during their migration when you get multiple swarms together. I didn't mention it because I didn't think it would be relevant as we're just dealing with one swarm but as this swarm seems to be at least double or more the usual size it might end up being a factor, especially when we get closer to the nest and the amount of vaporous bug trails and pheromones congregate." He paused, head tilting, giving a bit of a half wave.

"Actually that'd make a lot of sense. When me and Alec were here we were investigating but it felt way more relaxed than a usual case- and yeah that could just be because it's a kinda wacky lower stakes case but it could also be the effect of an overabundance of the bugs magical vapor trail." " He swallowed, shifting over the others, catching Blake's worried look, flashing a faintly reassuring smile.

"Hey, we should still be fine. It doesn't make you spin out of your mind or totally lose your faculties; it's not like going into the bugs nest. There's no ill effects, no blackouts or missing time, no hangovers. You just get a bit relaxed and slightly punch drunk. The book said during migration season there are even festivals held around where the bugs congregate to capitalize on the experience. It's not harmful or overwhelming, just a mood boost and stress reliever.

And again it is just in really high, strong concentrations- like the trails from hundreds of bugs as opposed to a few dozen. It's entirely possible it's not even close to those levels- I just want us to be aware of it and try to pay attention to how we're feeling while we're out here, especially as we get closer to the nest. We just need to stay close together, keep your wits about you and pay attention to how you're feeling. If you start to feel off or anything make sure you let the others know." He paused, glancing at Divya and Blake, flashing a reassuring smile.

"Hey, I know how that sounds and it might be kind of unsetting but I really think we got this. We have a Magical lust bug wrangling kit designed by Magnus FREAKING Bane. The woman's The High Warlock of Brooklyn and one of the most powerful supernatural's in the human world. Whatever this is he has this.

He's got this and so do we." He sighed, giving a faint shrug, head tilting, looking over them.

"Whatever the case we need to find the nest. We could go and get some particle masks from somewhere but that'd likely take hours and we don't even know if they'd work for magical lust bug dust/pheromones. Besides with you all being Ace- or Ace adjacent in Kevin's case- it sounds like the bugs pheromones shouldn't even really affect you much. The bites won't affect you at all; I'm thinking the pheromone/magic dust would be pretty close to the same thing as it's based in the same magic.

I'm really the only one who should be too susceptible to it and I really don't want to waste the time on extra- likely unnecessary- precautions. The book said the bugs don't replicate too quickly, usually about two a day but it does also say in cooler months that number is a bit higher. There's easily twice the usual amount in a standard swarm here so that's way off.

Calon Tywyll is supposed to be a completely sealed off realm. There are spells and a few other ways of sending things over to that side but it near always only works one way. They had to of come through when Kai and Declan came for their visit two weeks ago. I couldn't see an entire swarm not being noticed so it had to of just been one or two that got though. There's got to be at least eighty in this swarm. That means they're replicating a lot faster than usual and they're not stopping when they reach the usual point.

I don't know why, maybe it's because it's cooler here, maybe it's just something about the area or our world or something but regardless of why they're replicating a lot faster than normal and they're not stopping when they naturally would. That means we need to get this dealt with as quickly as possible before this spreads out of control.

I really think we just need to roll the dice and take the risk. We need to catch the swarm and get it sent back quickly before it gets any bigger or it splits and there's multiple swarms to contend with." He shifted, blinking, sharp golden brown gaze slipping around the magically illuminated clearing, half expecting to see the bugs swarming everywhere.

"Despite the larger concentration I don't think that's happened yet. The book says swarms only split and form others every three to five years but again it also says a swarm usually stays at forty bugs max so that has me pretty concerned."

He swallowed, squaring his shoulders, turning back to the others.

"We really need to get this sorted and get it sorted now." He shifts, gaze slowly slipping around the psychedelically illuminated clearing, taking in the jumbled mess of swirling, shimmering light trails that seem to cover near every square foot of the area.

Oh good lord...there's SO many! They're everywhere. How are they ever gonna make any kind of sense out of this tangled mess of shimmers? It's like trying to untangle a jumbled ball of Christmas lights.

He shakes his head faintly, sighing in faint exasperation. He can see trails dancing through the branches of the trees, slipping in and out of the climbing vines of the honeysuckle and wild roses. At the head of near every trail he sees dozens of shimmering lines slipping down the paths. There's a pretty high concentration around the small creek slithering through the middle of the clearing...they're everywhere. It almost seems li-oh...oh wait...

He freezes as his eyes land on the trail head almost directly across from them on the opposite side of the clearing. It is absolutely glowing, seems to be near pulsating with the shimmering, swirling lights. The entire corridor shimmered; there were so many light streams it nearly looked like a wormhole or a doorway to another world.

He swallowed, trying to clear his throat.

"Umm...T-think I see it." he held his hand up, pointing cautiously across the clearing at the swirling, pulsating Stargate looking path.

Beside him Blake gulped, holding up a finger, gesturing towards the pulsating, shimmering vortex.

"Uh-t-that's where we're going? You know Becky and Greg's six-month-aversery is seeming better by the moment."

Divya laughed, brow quirking, shaking her head.

"Oh please, two minutes into it you'd be jumping into that just to escape. You know it and so do I." she beamed, slipping her arm around the other girls shoulders.

"Come on, let's go. We found the path to the nest. Like Simon said that'll be the hardest part. Hardest part done! We basically have a neon sign leading us towards the nest. We got this."

Blake scoffed, shaking her head, gesturing at the other teen.

"No, you got this. I'm just a kidnapped idiot really wishing she had other plans for a Friday night."

"But you don't, so here we are." Divya chuckled, smiling brightly, glancing over at Simon and Raphael.

"Hey can we carry the crystal?"

Simon blinked, head tilting, glancing over at Raphael, catching his eye, giving a faint shrug before shifting back to the teens.

"Sure why not." Raphael huffed out a faint chuckle, holding the wand like crystal out to Divya.

The girl practically beamed, reaching over, grabbing the crystal before flashing an impish grin, turning, holding it out to Blake. The blonde teen blinked brow quirking, folding her arms.

"And... you're handing that to me, why?"

Divya huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Because this is your first official supernatural outing! We're jumping into the deep end."

She huffed out a faint laugh, holding up her hands.

"Uh, yeah, no. I'm more the wade into the water slowly, adjust as I go type."

Divya snorted right back, rolling her eyes, waving her off.

"Oh we've been doing that the last two weeks. We've waded enough, now's the time to just cannonball in. Here, take the crystal, lead the way." she moved closer, reaching down, catching Blake's hand, firmly placing the crystal in it, closing Blake's hand around it, kind of shooing her along the perimeter of the clearing.

Blake huffed, shaking her head, giving a totally heatless glare.

"Again really starting to regret not going to the six-month-aversery thing."

Divya chuckled, brow quirking right back.

"Oh man do you suck at bluffing."

Simon chuckled, shaking his head at the teens, shifting further, flashing a faint smile at the blonde, giving a bit of a shrug.

"Sometimes it is better just to dive in head first, it really does help to just jump in and immerse yourself in it. Think of it like learning a new language. It can take months or even years to learn just through classes and lessons but if you go to a country and immerse yourself in the culture you can be fluent in a matter of weeks." He smiled again reassuringly at the teen, gesturing towards the path on the other side of the clearing, giving a bit of a fluttering wave.

"Thinking this is your immersion. You're gonna be fine, and this really does seem pretty clear cut by now. Like Divya said we practically have a neon sign to show us the way. We'll all just stay on the path. We'll just work our way along the trail and hopefully follow it right to the nesting sight." He paused, shifting, looking over the others, taking a deep breath, standing up straighter.

"Alright, everyone stick close together. From what it said in the book it should be pretty distinctive. They like areas high off the ground with a lot of cover, usually in tall trees with lots of coverage or high outcroppings and caves on rocks faces and cliffs.

There's a lot of trees here but nothing that really jumps out as a central location. Logically that's where the bugs spend the biggest amount of their time so likely with this amount of bugs it's likely gonna look like the entire tree glows. Thinking we'll definitely know it when we see it.

No matter what stay on the path and stay close to each other.

I know we'll be looking and something seemingly just a tiny bit off the trail might not seem worth calling to the others but with the possible effect of the bug trails we could be less vigilant than we normally would. The way we're gonna preemptively counteract that is by being as cautious as possible.

Stay on the trail, stay in view of the others. If you see something, anything; a bug, a weird flicker, something odd that you don't really know why but it catches your eye, anything –let the rest of the group know before starting off anywhere. One person starts down a path we all do.

Everyone got it?" he paused, looking over the others sharply.

They all nod, Divya flashing a smirk and a playful salute, standing at fake attention.

"Yes sir."

Simon snorted, rolling his eyes at the teen, waving her off.

"Hey I'm just trying to keep this on track. The last thing we need is for someone to stumble off alone, get distracted and this end up a search for a missing person. I already dealt with that once today, really not too keen on doing it again thank you very much.

Kinda thinking the demonic lust bug hunt is more than enough excitement for the evening. Better to be overly cautious than trying to scramble and catch up after the fact."

Divya laughed, nodding, giving a slight shrug.

"No, totally. I agree a hundred percent. Sounds like a really good, very well thought out plan. It's just kinda interesting seeing you in like 'detective' mode; I'm used to babbly, flaily fangirl mode, bit of a contradiction."

Simon chuckled, shrugging.

"Hey I'm very complex and great at multitasking; totally capable of pulling off both competent, shrewd detective and babbly, flaily fangirl at the same time."

Raphael hummed, sliding up close to him, slipping his arm around him, leaning over, pressing a soft kiss just beside his ear.

"And you do it flawlessly Amore."

Simon gave a soft little breath of a laugh, momentarily settling closer, leaning into him for just a moment.

"Thanks."

He shrugged, smiling, catching those warm, beautifully deep brown eyes.

"It's just the truth."

Simon gave a soft, contented little sigh, reaching over, catching his hand, entangling their fingers, squeezing faintly, again catching those warm bright brown eyes, smiling soft and grateful before starting faintly, catching himself.

"Ahem-u-y-yeah, sorry, kinda distracted...anyways, stick close, stick together, be conscious of both your surrounding and your feelings and if anything seems off even the slightest bit let the rest of us know immediately. One of us goes one way, we all go that way..." He paused, glancing over at the blonde teen, giving a bit of a wave.

"Well Blake, looks like you're leading our charge, you ready for this?"

Blake scoffed, shaking her head.

"Not even a little bit."

Divya laughed, clasping the other girl on the shoulder, patting firmly, flashing a bright, eager smile.

"That's the spirit, Let's get going!" She laughed again, bounding ahead of them a bit, making her way across the clearing heading for the ominously glowing path. Blake sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes at the other teen.

"Damn I miss being a loner." She muttered, once more rolling her eyes, sarcastically holding up the crystal like a magic wand, starting along at a somewhat slower pace behind Divya.

Simon couldn't help a faint chuckle at the teens, shaking his head in amusement before sobering faintly, settling closer to Eli and Kevin, the trio beginning to make their way towards the path as well, his sharp golden brown eyes vigilantly scanning the trees, watching for any flitting, Barbie pink sparkles or dancing lights, half expecting to see them lurking in every tree and shrub.

Going by the portal looking path that's entirely possible. It looks like the woods are all but infested with the damn things.

Oh man how are they gonna do this?

Forty bugs sounded like a lot in the book, this swarm's easily double that!

Why are there so many?

Is the swarm big enough for the vapor trails to affect them?

Can the vapor trails affect the others or is it just him that'd be susceptible?

How will he be when they get closer to the nest?

How close can the safely get?

Oh man there's so much more than he was expecting here...

This really is insane...

Well...on the plus side at least he has something besides his own personal supernatural outing drama to spiral about for a while.

If anything it's a nice change of pace...

{*_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_*}

*****EndOfChapterNotes*****

{*_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_*}

Oh thank god finally!

}Apologies in advance- I need to vent a tiny bit- feel free to skip to actual notes{

Rant/Vent/Explanation on insanely long wait

SO sorry for the wait on this one guys; I know it's been forever since I posted anything. Really do apologize, everything has been working against me. I spilled coffee on my new computer so I had to transfer everything to my old computer. Works been insane – for the last month we've been getting ready for an inspection and my idiot bosses were trying to cram what we we're supposed to be doing over an entire year and a half into like three weeks so I've been running around like a headless chicken and ending my work days really wishing we had a heavy bag I can hit {I think every retail/customer service business should have one somewhere onsite for employees it would do wonders} when I'd get to a day off I just didn't have anything in me to write.

Then I had some family things; my uncle is sick, his liver is failing and he can't seem to get a primary care doctor because either they keep leaving or his insurance won't cover it and my cousin had a baby- risky pregnancy, babies been in hospital since he was born. He's three months old now and got to come home finally but he still has another heart surgery in October- still he's doing much better and things look like they're turning for the better so thank goodness}.

So now the baby is okay, I know he's gonna make it and that's a relief and there's just nothing we can do for my uncle so I'm just trying not to focus on that too much and work is finally slowing down to manageable and I feel like I can write now.

Only now my computer has begun being an issue again. my old computer that I transferred my stuff to tends to overheat pretty easily especially in hot temperatures and it's been triple digits for the last few weeks {We just have a swamp cooler so if it's over 100 outside odds are the house is easily 85 or higher.} I had a cooling thing for it to set on but that stopped working so now I have a small fan I can kind of balance it on and that's kinda helping. Then the cord started to mess up last month so it wouldn't stay charged. I thought it was the cord, bought a new cord but apparently it's the jack inside the computer that's loose so that didn't really do anything except waste forty bucks but with any luck the next computer I get will use the same kind of cord and I'll just have a backup.

For the last about month I've been making it work by putting a hair clip on the side of my computer to hold the cord in place and it did work pretty decently for a while but it'd still come unplugged and the power would drop fast as it's old and only holds a charge for maybe an hour or two before running out. The last week and a half that no longer really held it- hence why I bought the new cord- but it's about the same as the old one and it got to the point where I was literally having to hold the cord in firmly with my hand to get it to charge and as you can probably imagine it's a bit difficult to type one handed while holding the cord into the computer so that really screwed up my ability to focus {And as I have ADD that's already hard enough for me to do}.

So now I have basically just duct taped the hell out of it to the side of the computer. It looks bad and I feel like there's some kind of redneck joke there but whatever, it's working. My computer has actually stayed charged all day and it's been hovering between 5 and 15% before this so this is leaps and bounds ahead of what it was doing.

Sometime in the next month or two I am gonna be getting a new computer but in the meantime the standard redneck fix of 'if all else fails; duct tape' seems to be working...and if it stops I'll just add more lol.

Anyways all of this was to say I really am sorry for how long this has taken and I really haven't just been blowing it off or lost interest or anything. Everything was just a chaotic mess and while my general state can usually be summed up as organized chaos this was a bit more chaotic than even I could handle, Thank you so much for being so patient and not giving up on me. I really do love these stories and I love writing it really makes me happy but sometimes life and technology seems to work against me. When it does just know that I'm not going anywhere, I will be back just as soon as I can fight my way through all the obstacles life is throwing in my path.

Okay rant done, onto the actual chapter {If you're skipping the rant start here}.

Yay! Another chapter down! Just two to go in this verse.

Honestly this one kinda got away from me, I really intended to cover a lot more in this one but it was getting so long I ended up having to just stop the chapter and save the rest for in Chapter 11.

As we're into the last 3 chapters of this story I'm not gonna be jumping to any of the others, I want to get this story finished. Between this week and the next I hope to get chapter 12 done {I always try to have the last chapter done before I'm actually to it as I want extra time to proof the ending}. So once I get 12 done- which I have a good portion of worked out in my outline- I'll jump back and write chapter 11 and then I should be able to post both 11 and 12 the same day or very close to it.

I know we didn't have a whole lot of progress with this but we do have exactly how we're gonna deal with the swarm, we have the plan and we're on the path to the nest so I think we're all set up to jump right into the action in the next chapter.

My plan is to alternate between the remaining chapter 9's I have, going through the final 3 chapters of the ones already there and sprinkling in the new stories to give me a little breath of fresh air.

So here's my 'plan'.

*Devil Went Down To Jersey {V5 –ch1}*

*Death Was Just The Beginning {Verse 3 {Ch9}*

*Love Bug {Verse 2} {10-12}*

*Love Bug {Verse 2} {11 &12}*

*You Can Go Home Again {Verse 1} {Ch 9}*

Nosey Neighbors {Ch9}*

*Devil Went Down To Jersey {V5 –ch2}*

*Picture Perfect {Verse 8} {Ch9}*

*Death Was Just The Beginning {Verse 3 {Ch10-12}*

*Trust Is A Tricky Thing {V7-ch1}*

*The Demon In The Mirror {Verse 4}{10-12} *

*Opposites Attract {V6-ch1}*

Nosey Neighbors {Ch10-12}*

*Picture Perfect {Verse 8} {Ch10-12}*

*You Can Go Home Again {Verse 1} {Ch10-12}*

It's honestly pretty soft formed, I don't know how close I'll adhere but it – I keep going back and forth if I want to work on V1, V5 or V9 Next. V9 has been waiting longer but V1 has recently ran away with my mind and I just recently finished the entire outline for V5 And it's just the 2nd chapter there but I'm really excited about it {I thought I'd lost my outline but I ended up finding it in my Emails so YAY!

In any case this feels like a good starting order. I like mixing up finishing stories with a one chapter of the remaining ones and having the beginnings of the new stories to spice it up a bit.

So what do you guys think so far?

*~Page 32 of 32~*

{*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^2-*Supernatural Sleuths Verse*-2*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^}