Author's Note: Hello, my earthlings. I have to admit, my one year absense was uncalled for, but at the same time, a lot of events have occurred and thus, my writing momentum has been shattered to pieces. Now that the problems have cleared away, I got my motivation back, and ready to update like crazy. So look out for any upcoming updates.

Anyway, let me just start the chapter or else I'm going to keep blabbing.

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

Tattoo

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Chapter 8: Friends and Enemies

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

His brain was like an internal clock; he could somehow sense it was morning. He groggily turned and cracked an eye open. Indeed, he was right. Sunday morning finally claimed the sky, with the bright sun. It was probably 7 or 8 AM. Strange how he holds the ability to wake up early in the weekends but not in school weekdays. His body was weird. First, it wouldn't grow a merman tail and now, it wakes up early in the weekends. He yawned and his head flatly fell in his pillow.

Spud forced his eye closed and moved his body a bit, attempting to get himself comfortable, but it was pointless. He sighed in defeat. Once he was awake, sleep was gone for good. So far for his sleep-in. His eyes found themselves open and he sat up, brushing his brown mess of hair with another yawn. His mind was registering a schedule for him to do today, but all it could think of was nothing. Okay, maybe not nothing. He was thinking of making himself a ham and cheese sandwich, but that was beside the point.

He could maybe hang out with Stacey - oh wait; she was still at her grandparents'. His mind tried to register a list of people he could chill with and, again, all it could find was nothing. He scratched his chin, stomped. As a matter of fact, Stacey was the only person he hung out with. He bit his tongue, thinking hard. It couldn't just be Stacey, there had to be someone else he knew and befriended with.

Horror struck him. Am I a loner? I mean; I have people I chill with, like…like that librarian. He grimaced to the thought as a quick memory popped in his mind. On second thought…no. She's still sore about that last magic trick I did to her. Her hair still hasn't grown back. He swung both his legs over the edge of his bed and stood on his feet, dragging them towards his bathroom.

He could maybe call Jake to hit up the skate park, but then again, that'd be awfully awkward. They hadn't talked to one and another for 3 years due to a certain promise they had made together. Besides, Jake was probably with his girlfriend by now, doing…each other. Spud laughed to himself. Yeah. That was for sure.

In the very back of his brain, he wanted to call his other old best friend, but that'd be a bad idea. It was almost the same situation as him with Jake. He and Trixie hadn't talked to each other for 3 years, and it'd be weird of him to pop out of nowhere, all smileys, and say hi to her.

Their last conversation, which was a few weeks back, proved his theory. To this day, he still didn't understand why he felt static when their hands slight brushed past each other. The energy that sparked from the small contact was warm, welcoming and…fuzzy. He hadn't felt that in years and he desperately wanted to forget it, and fast too, because he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Bad, bad Spud. He brought his right hand up to his face and hit himself against the forehead, repetitively, if he must add. Don't do this again! Remember the promise – the promise! He was right about to thump himself against the forehead once more, but his eyes stared at the witchcraft-like tattoo, still there, in the middle of the palm of his hand.

He narrowed his eyes into slits, his glare never leaving the damned tattoo. Yesterday, as soon as he had discovered the witchcraft-star on his skin, he immediately went back home and tried to take it off with everything; soap, eraser, lotion, everything. He even tried his magic skills…okay, it was obvious from the beginning it wouldn't work, but hey, let a guy hope. He outta talk one day with Jake about this.

Deep from within, he was kind of happy to have found an excuse to talk with his old buddy. Now, he wished the same for Trixie…

He was contemplating so much about the matter, he failed to notice the bathroom door standing before him, and he only noticed it now because he accidentally banged his head against it as he took another blind step. "Ow," he groaned, slightly rubbing the pain away. Shit. He needed to keep it together. He really didn't do mornings, did he?

After a swift, clockwise turn of the doorknob, his footsteps on the floor tiles vibrated from the walls. He came face to face with the mirror and tiredly scratched his behind. It took him about 3 slow seconds to finally understand what he just saw before his eyes – his poor, confused eyes. They blinked, then again, and again. After all the blinking, the image before him didn't blur away. As a matter of fact, the aforementioned reflection smiled mischievously.

"Hey lad."

Spud couldn't do anything but freeze in shock. His fingers twitched as his a shiver crawled on his spine. He really did try to remain calm…but man, did he fail. "WHAT THE HELL? Trixie!" he yelped, a shaky finger pointing towards the mirror. Infinite questions poured into his head, one by one, making the world around him spin like a carnival ride. "How did you get there, in the mirror? Why are you here? Why are you wearing a dress? I thought you hated dresses?!"

The said Carter smirked, narrowing her eyebrows in a way that'd make anyone receive goose bumps. "Nice morning wood, by the way."

Eyes both wide, Spud looked down on himself, and then looked back up to the dark wizard. The only possible way the boy could answer back to her sentence was by fainting.

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The Manhattan streets lacked its habitants as a few taxis cruised by, the noise of their engines unable to fill the faint void of silence. It was normal for the neighborhood to be quiet. It was Sunday, the last day of the week, the only time where you could rest at home in peace with some coffee or go visit the Lord's house.

But Trixie Carter had different plans, which involved training.

Grumbling, she bent down and tied her shoes, little of her curls attempting to block her view. She was grumpy and still sore from yesterday's training with Jake. If she could remember very clearly, she had trained with him for 7 hours in total, and that was only for a day. She was going to have to train every weekend with him. She opted to get stronger, in hopes of getting accustomed to this type of endurance, so she decided to go through the Asian-American's suggestion; doing morning exercises.

She straightened herself up to a normal stance and stretched her arms out. Okay Trix, you can do this. All ya have ta do is run a couple lapse around the community park and do some jumping jacks. Okay, maybe it ain't much, but it counts as training, she mentally encouraged herself as her fists pumped the air, her eyes burning with willpower. Go Trix, go!

And just like that, Trixie started her morning run. Her feet both kept a decent pace through the sidewalk, taking her to the community park. She relaxed as the breeze whooshed on her face, bringing a cool sensation. Wow. This wasn't so bad. She thought morning runs would bring the death out of her, but it was doing the opposite. It brought her…tranquility.

She smiled. I could get used to this, she thought, taking a U turn around the park. Absentmindedly, she observed the park, the place where her friendship with Jake took a start. It was a wonder the park was still in its' stable state. She could recall how they'd first talk to each other; him purposely spilling purple Kool-Aid juice all over her sand castle and her throwing him in the nearby fountain, out of frustration. She sighed, ah good memories.

She completed her first lap around the park, and surprisingly, it wasn't enough. She wanted to keep going, and so she took a sharp turn to another street, her high ponytail swinging to the movement. She jogged a normal pace, not too fast and not too slow. She didn't want to tire herself easily; then again, the whole point of this morning routine was to build endurance. Enh, whatever. She whistled, swiftly taking a right turn to another street, only to bump into someone and fall flatly on the ground, her running momentum shattered.

"Shit," she moaned in pain, rubbing her bottom. She looked up, seeing a familiar face. "Rose?"

Rose Tyler stood under the sunlight, her oversweet smile and aquamarine eyes practically glowing, making Trixie feel small. "Hey Trixie, long time no see," she held her perfectly manicured hand out, to help out Trixie. But the African-American rudely declined it with a swat of her hand and got up from the ground, all the while dusting herself. Rose awkwardly brought her hand to the side, her smile still in place.

"H-hi," Trixie awkwardly helloed and bit her left cheek.

She wasn't ready to see her again after she had witnessed her purple fiasco in the school hallways, a few weeks back. Plus, there was that bad, self-conscious feeling that came to haunt her back again; she only got it when she was around the blonde. She could feel her ball of confidence deflating as her eyes observed Rose from her head to her toe. She wore a pink high low chiffon dress, showcasing her slim legs in the front, along with a pair of brown gladiator sandals and a mix of brown and gold bracelets hanging around her arms. Her straight blond hair hung low in a long braid, touching the small of her back. Her face was perfectly made up.

Rose nervously scratched the back of her neck, "I'm sorry for being…so speechless. It's just the last time we've seen each other was two weeks ago…when that iPhone incident happened." Trixie's head perked up as the memory dawned on her. Oh my god. She forgot about that. Because of her inability to control her plasma beams, she broke the girl's phone. Oupsie-daisy.

"Oh yeah," Trixie apologetically held her hands up. "I'm so sorry for breaking your phone."

Rose chuckled as she shook her hands, "It's okay, don't worry. Besides, I got myself a new phone anyway," she pulled out her aforementioned object from her brown suede backpack and waved it. "An LG Nexus 5 too," she winked teasingly.

"Cool," Trixie casually praised the calling object, "Them phones' good with sounds and volume."

Rose averted her eyes elsewhere, "Yeah…it sure is."

"Yup," Trixie also averted her eyes, a nearby tree seeming slightly interesting.

And there came the awkward silence.

The two girls both fell into a lapse of silence, Trixie stealing a glance whenever Rose turned. Her and the awkward silence. Seriously. She was starting to question if her mystical identity was involved into these type of situations, because she constantly fell into wordless moments when talking to people, especially those to whom she wasn't really fond of, such as the ex-huntswoman.

There was nothing bad with Rose, which was the reason to why Trixie couldn't cooperate with her in the first place. She was the definition of perfection. Elegance radiated out of her body like heat from the sun. Her optimistic personality always succeeded to attract everyone, including Jake, which from the sour taste that lingered in her mouth kinda bothered Trixie. You'd find it unbelievable that she was once a cold, heartless huntswoman, hunting down for dragon blood.

"So…" Rose started, desperate to break the silence. But from her curious tone, Trixie could tell she had been meaning to ask a question, one that had been bothering her for a while. "How's it going with your…purple power issue?"

"Wait…what?" Trixie inclined her head, her eyes blinking in slight confusion. Da hell? How did she know they were her powers? Okay, it was a bit understandable. She was there when the purple beams were shot from her hands. Still. It was strange how she didn't stop to wonder if she had been possessed by some other mystical creature or such. The newly wizard jumped a bit as her mind reached a conclusion. "…You know about…my mystical identity, do you?"

Rose nodded then wildly shook her hands as she sensed the African-American's worry. "Don't worry, I found out by myself," she explained herself. "I kinda had a feeling you were linked with a mystical creature. I dunno, you just seem…special." At that said, she walked past the slightly shocked Trixie, but at the same time, she turned backwards in order to face her. "Anyway, I gotta go see Jake, so see ya later," she waved a bye, before turning and disappearing into another street.

Her feet both frozen, Trixie lifted her hands up to her view as they faintly glowed purple, but this time, the energy was warm and welcoming. A waved of confidence washed over her. Her…special. No one had ever said that to her. Wow. Her lips twitched into a small smile. She sincerely thanked her for boosting up her self-confidence. She still hated her; less than before though.

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He groggily woke up and took a brief look of his room. There was nothing weird in his room. He didn't really see Trixie in the bathroom mirror, after all. His tired expression slipped away and a smug smile played on his lips. Whatever thought or images of his old-best friend being a magical mortal must'd been a crazy dream. No doubt it came from his last midnight snack - tacos, sour gummy peaches, orange soda, cookies and a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream, sprinkled with shaved nuts.

Spud sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He froze his feet midair and a wave of fear washed over him. It wasn't a dream. Trixie, or whatever she was, was standing by his side, smirking. It was exactly the same Trixie he had seen from the bathroom mirror. She was Trixie, but at the same time, not so much. The vibe he was feeling from her affirmed so. "You're finally awake."

He looked up in the ceiling, "Aw, come on?! Couldn't this have been a dream?!"

"That's not how life works Arthur," she mocked. Her hand softly fell on his shoulder, attempting to give him a friendly pat, but it only made him straighten up and freeze, out of fear. He didn't know exactly how to react to this type of situation. It wasn't everyday that you find the clone of your old best-friend in your room.

"...W-what are you?! I know you're not the real Trixie!"

She bent over to face him, her violet eyes boring through his brown eyes. A sudden chill came to him. He felt naked under her gaze. It was like she could see everything from him, maybe even his soul. Her slender, cold finger touched his chin, following the outline of his jaw. "Interesting, you're not as dumb as I thought you'd be," she hummed thoughtfully. "And call me Inner."

Spud slapped her finger away from him in horror. "Don't touch me!"

Inner stopped and straightened up and pulled herself away, very slowly. She stared at him, with the same sinister but emotionless look as before. However, there was a faint sign of incredulousness and the sight of that got Spud crawling away from her, his heart whacking against his ribcage. "Wow..." Her voice was low; easily mistaken for anger.

Spud felt himself shrink and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come. He angered her; she was probably being vengeful and planning a way to get him back. Welp. This was it. He was going to die right now. At least I'm not dying as a virgin, he thought and mentally whacked himself on the head for even thinking of such nonsense at a time like this.

She snorted, but it wasn't vengeful nor vicious, but playful. Wait? Why am I not feeling pain right now? Spud thought, and risked an eye open, then did the same with his other eye as they both witnessed Inner clearing the mess on the floor with a wave of her plasma-covered hand.

"I didn't even do anything to you and you're already cowering in fear," she picked on him and sat on the floor, cross-legged. "But I still want you as a friend," her lips curled around the last word of her sentence.

Everything in his mind crashed. Friend? She wanted to be his friend? "What the hell?" It was all he could utter. He wasn't one to rudely decline a friendly offer; he himself was looking for someone to momentarily erase that mere feeling of loneliness when his girlfriend wouldn't be by his side; like now. But, all of this seemed...freaking weird, and that was coming from him.

"Ouch, you hurt my feeling, Spuddy." Her mocking tone was getting on his nerve, and he was smart enough to not show it. She still scared him and he was contemplating whether or not it was too late to run for the hill. "But seriously, you're going to be my friend whether you like it or not."

"No."

She blinked passively, "A big of a pardon?"

"I said no," he repeated, crossing his arms. "I don't even know you; you're a magical creature who looks like an old friend of mines. I don't even know if you're here for the wrong reasons; like taking away my skateboard or taking away my Hot Cheetos stach!"

Inner deadpanned. Whatever happened to the fear of her possibly taking away his life ? "Look Spud, I get it, you don't trust me-"

"No shit!"

Inner pressed her lips together and outward. She'd been Trixie's magical conscious for her whole life, even when she'd hung out with her old friends. So, she had witnessed Spud's behavior, but never had she seen his behavior when he was stressed out. She never remembered him saying so many bad words in a span of 30 seconds. He clearly got that habit from his girlfriend. "As I was saying, it's natural for you to not trust me, especially after what I'd recently done to Trixie."

One second. It had only took one second for Inner to receive a pillow on the face. It bounced off the woman harmlessly, rather the plasma shield that materialized in front of her.

"Is that really a way to talk to your new friend?" Her tone sounded teasing, but her face didn't show it.

"What did you do to Trixie?" He hissed.

Inner sighed; dealing with a stubborn child. He didn't need to know that little detail. It didn't bother her to say what she'd done to the inexperienced wizard, but at the same time, it was a waste of her breath. She'd rather just get to him compiling with her already. Her patience was at stake. "I stabbed her through the chest."

Spud's jaw fell, his fists shaking as they turned red. He couldn't believe his ears. "No...it can't be true. Y-you killed Trixie?"

"Calm down. She's still alive...probably in the arms of Jacob by now," she failed to keep her smirk at bay.

Spud crinkled his nose. "Are you even telling the truth?!"

"Do I look like someone who lies?"

"Yes!"

She ticked her tongue and shook her head. Was he always this sassy? "Look, I don't care if you think lowly of me. I just need you to be my friend."

In all honesty, Spud didn't even pay attention to the witch. His mind was stringing around the fact that Trixie and Jake finally talked, which meant one thing: Jake broke his promise. So, that meant the boy can also break his promise too.

He could finally talk to Trixie.

Zap.

Startled by the slight sting, he jumped and rubbed his sore arm. "Ouch!"

Inner glared right back at him. It took her everything to hold back from compelling him into whacking himself in the head. "I do not tolerate those who refuse to listen to me."

Spud tsked, "And I don't tolerate bitche-"

Purple filled her eyes, "I dare you too finish that sentence."

He glared right back. He might not had some kind of plasma beam to demonstrate the anger he bore towards the evil witch, but the intensity of his glare was at its peak. There was a reason as to why nobody invited Spud to sleepover parties that consisted of truth or dare games, and that reason was because he had the guts to do dares that could put his life in jeopardy. "I accept the dare, Ms. Fake Trixie. I said, I don't tolerate bitches."

"You shouldn't have said that Arthur..." she dangerously trailed off. Her hand was lifted up in the air for the puzzled teenager to see. He gulped as he watched her hand get engulfed in a sphere made of a purple beam. "A tongue like yours can get you killed..."

Just before Spud could let out a scream, there flew the beam...

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A small smile crossed her lips.

It was weird how things never turned out how people planned them. A visit to his place would normally lead the couple into going out, chilling or doing…you know what. But today, it was different in a good but shocking way.

He was finally reading.

For the past hour, after Rose had gotten to his place, Jake focused solely on a book (which she assumed was magical, from how a green light emitted from the pages). She was observing him the whole time, still surprised.

Jake was still going at it, never taking breaks. He was not one to read, especially when it came to thick books such as the one that sat on his lap. She had been trying to get him to at least read at least a picture book for years in no avail. It was kind of a relief she didn't have to force her boyfriend to read anymore.

Rose felt a familiar presence walking by behind her. It was almost impossible for anyone to hear his footsteps, but with her along her instincts of a powerful huntswoman, it was otherwise. She peeked over her shoulder and just like what her instinct had confirmed, Lao Shi stood by, shaking his head with his eyes closed.

"I know young one, me too, I never thought there'd be a day where my grandson would read a book," he commented. In his usual, graceful fashion, he continued his way towards the kitchen. Rose swore she heard him mutter something about losing a bet to Fu Dog, but dismissed it anyway.

She turned back to face Jake. He still hadn't left his eyes from the book, engrossed on the little, bolded words. He turned a page while she casually played with the end of her long braid. "Come on Jake, you've been doing nothing but reading. What's up?"

Jake jumped. He was obviously awake from his little world of literature. "Huh?"

"You silly," Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't even try to pretend to be oblivious with me." She scooted closer and took the book away from his grasp, ignoring his whine of protest. "All this reading has to do with Trixie, right?"

The size of his eyes doubled and his mouth fell, agape. "How did you kn-" Rose smiled, her tongue teasingly pulled out.

"First of all, if you're trying to hide information from people, you shouldn't write them down and leave them out in the open," she pointed towards a sheet of paper that lied on the coffee table. Jake sweat-dropped, kinda embarrassed. It was a plan of how his training with Trixie tonight would be like. "Second, I was there when she blew up my phone. I knew you were going to worry for her well-being. Worrying is your second nature Jake, and last of all, I knew she was a dark wizard," she concluded with a wink. "Again, I saw her shoot my phone with plasma. Shooting plasma. Only a wizard or a witch can do that."

Jake didn't budge a muscle. The pumping feeling of shock disappeared, leaving him in a blank state. He didn't know how to react. To be honest, he expected the news to get out in a few months - not now. He wasn't ready to include Rose into all of this. He wanted to keep this as a secret, between him and Trixie.

Deep in his gut, he wanted the secret to keep going just so he could hang out with Trixie. Was it selfish of him to think that way? He didn't know, but he just felt that way. "...O-oh."

"But don't worry, I won't tell her," Rose assured, and Jaked sighed in relief. "She already knows that I am aware of her secret. She's fine with that."

He quirked a dubious eyebrow. "Really?"

The light in her blue irises darkened, for a second. "Trust me, she is..."

Author's Note: Is Rose nice or evil? What the flipping heck happened to our little Spud? Will Trixie gain strength from her training? Will Jake ever read again? Find out on next week's update lol...

I understand that the chapter was a bit small, but I just wanted to set the mood for the next upcoming updates. And plus, I feel that I haven't given Spud enough "screen time" in this story :P

Anyways, see you all next week :)