Game of Monsters - 202

All We Need Is a Spark

[Eliphas Levi]

“You ready?” George asked and he just looked at him helplessly. In turn, that earned him a somewhat exasperated, somewhat amused expression right back. “You’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know-”

“Professor Davis wouldn’t leave his classes to you if he didn’t feel you were ready,” Dion interrupted mercilessly, speaking with steel in her voice the same way she did whenever she had to order around people lower in the ladder than her for her spells. “You’ve been helping him plan classes for a while. Wasn’t this the end goal of it all? For you to take over his classes so his work load would be reduced?”

“It was, but-”

“Levi,” Karin said, apparently deciding it was her turn. Or deciding that she could help the most, with her kind and soft demeanor. She reached for his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “We’re here if you need help and so is Ravel,” she told him, glancing to the side, where the aforementioned devil was going over something on her notepad. “Professor Davis believed in you, so believe in him.”

It didn’t feel that simple though.

This was an opportunity that had been way beyond his wildest dreams. Once, he’d thought the highest he could reach with no magical talent whatsoever would be as an assistant of some other magician, probably a mediocre one. After all, why would someone with actual talent give him the time of the day?

So, when the magician turned his attention on him and gave him not only a chance, but opportunities, resources, support? Levi didn’t want to fail, he didn’t want to prove all those people that had looked down on him right, he didn’t want to have wasted all that Professor Davis had given him. More than anything though, Levi wanted to prove that he deserved what he’d gotten.

Because if he couldn’t… then what had been the point? Why had he tried so hard and worked so much, if all he amounted to was failure? Why had he persevered and dreamed, only to fall short in the end?

He couldn’t bear to go through that.

He just couldn’t.

“You are a Star, Levi,” Meredith told him, stepping up and proving why she was the first. She almost reminded him of Professor Davis then and there, with that casual confidence, like it was all normal, inconsequential. “You’ll do well,” she told him, patting him on the shoulder before simply walking past him and into the classroom. The rest of the Stars did much the same, giving him passing glances and supportive whispers.

A moment later, he was left outside the classroom with only Ravel, who waited patiently behind him. The students had long since arrived and were now waiting, as always. He’d have normally been one of the first, together with the other Stars. Now, they were the last, because it was his turn to teach instead of Professor Davis.

“They will poke at you,”  he remembered his teacher telling him, one of the pieces of advice he got when it was official that he’d take over, even if only momentarily. “They will send glances, make faces, hiss comments. They might even speak out. You’ve seen them do that to me, so they will do that to you. You can leave it to Ravel if they do, she knows what to do. Or you can do as I did. You can even do your own thing… but never let them get away with insulting you.”

How long had he done exactly that?

That was the question in Levi’s mind when he turned the door knob and walked in. He took a deep breath in and glanced to the side, Ravel walking in after him and making way to her little desk while he… He walked to the front. Making his way to the teacher’s desk felt like too much, something he wasn’t worthy of.

“You are smart, Levi,” Professor Davis had told him. “Don’t do something as stupid as letting others look down on you. And if you don’t feel like you can manage, remember that I’m the one putting you there,” was what he’d been told, as if his teacher knew exactly what had been going on through his mind. “If they look down on you, they look down on me. Are you going to let them call me an idiot by calling you an idiot?”

“What are you doing, Levi?” someone asked, unimpressed. Levi could see it, the way he smelled blood. It was the same as when he was found alone in the library or in other classes, when he didn’t have any of the other Stars to back him up, or his teacher.

This time though-

“I’m going to be teaching this class in Professor Davis’ stead for the foreseeable future,” he started with, simply but as confidently as he could manage. “Professor Davis took this decision himself, so if you have any arguments, do bring it up with House of Water authorities or with Miss Phenex. I’m sure they’ll either assuage your worries or bring the issue up with Professor Davis,” he said, gesturing towards the devil behind him and squaring his shoulders. “I’m Eliphas Levi. You can call me Professor Levi, or just Levi.”

He saw it, the doubt, the dismissal, but that was fine.

At least, he told himself that it was fine.

“Last bit, Levi, and then you can go and plan your class,” Professor Davis had told him, even though Levi had no desire to just leave. He felt like he needed a thousand more sessions like that just to get through the first class. “Your mind is a magic of its own, so use it and be proud of it,” his teacher had told him. “Because none of my Stars are bad at magic.”

He had doubts of his own, but Levi would try anyway.

“Professor Davis believed in you, so believe in him.”

Karin had been right about that.

He’d believe in Professor Davis.

As always.

[}-o-{]

[Kunou Davis]

“You can talk to him, you know?” her mother asked, a little amused, but her voice was mostly just soft. Not only that, but Kunou could feel the reassuring life energy that her mother was weaving around her, like a warm cover. “You know sometimes he gets a little absorbed, but he’ll be all smiles once you approach him.”

Kunou knew her mother was right, she really did.

Her classes had ended a while before already and her father had already welcomed her with open arms – sometimes literally – at other times like that, even though he was busy. Despite her initial reaction though, or maybe because of that first day, Kunou didn’t want to interrupt his tinkering. He’d always made time for her, always reassured her and made her feel better when she was having a bad day. He’d talk to her mother and her teachers when she didn’t feel good and gave her free days to cheer her up.

On top of everything, he was now the father Kunou had never had and he’d made sure to help her mother have some free time so that Kunou could have her more than she had in the past. He’d given her a father and a mother, really. So, she felt bad by taking more from him, even though that didn’t stop her most of the time anyway. It was selfish, she knew, but if Joshua wanted to give all that to her…

Except this time, because she might be a child, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew this was Important, with capital I. She’d never seen Joshua work that hard before. She’d never seen him cut off so much stuff from his life to work on something.

And yet, he was still making time for her despite everything else. It was kind of funny, in a weird way, that it only made Kunou want to let him have that time to work more. There were times when she’d wished she could make her mother give her more time. She’d cried for the chance to be with her mother even when she was busy.

Now there she was, thinking that she wanted her father to focus on what mattered, what was important, instead of indulging her selfishness.

“I know,” she admitted, whispering, as if there weren’t spells blocking out the sound anyway and Joshua could hear her. “But this is very important, right?” she asked, turning towards her mother. She hadn’t been told much about what was going on, only that it was serious and that Joshua had to work on something, again.

“It is,” her mother confirmed and Kunou nodded slowly.

“I don’t want to take up his time,” she mumbled, lips pursed and shoulders withdrawn.

“You don’t want to or you feel guilty if you do?” her mother asked and she thought about it for a bit. She would feel guilty, yes, for being selfish and inconveniencing him. However…

“I don’t want to,” Kunou answered and she was witness to one of those rare moments when her mother was surprised. She’d only seen it happen a handful of times, most of them caused by Joshua. It was nice to know she could do it too. “This is important, so I want him to be able to focus on that,” she explained simply.

That was the best explanation she could give, truthfully. Kunou herself couldn’t really put together anything better, even in her own mind. Joshua was always there, helping her and supporting her, so… She guessed she wanted to do what she could, even if that was just stepping aside so that he could work in peace.

The part that surprised her though was…

“I don’t feel bad about that,” she commented then, turning to smile at her mother. “It’s a little sad, that I can’t spend time with him now, but it’s not… It’s not like before,” she said, finishing with a mumble. She never felt good talking about back when it was just her mother and her, when she was too busy and Kunou was too lonely.

It always caused her mother’s energy to spike, sad and hurt and guilty.

“Why is that?” was the question Kunou got in response to her words and she had an answer already, without having to think it over.

“Because we’ll be back to spending time together soon,” she answered, having come to that realization not too long before. It had been a huge relief at the same time that it had been just… wonderful. Almost as good as when Joshua agreed to be her dad or she was shown the papers that made that more official. “This will only take a bit and then I’ll have my dad back.”

“... The opposite of how it was with me, right?” her mother said and she flinched a little. She’d spoken too much. “Joshua will be busy for a bit and then be your father the rest of the time. I was your mother for a bit and then I was busy the rest of the time,” her mother summarized and Kunou didn’t know what to say to make the mess any better. However, before she could come up with anything, her mother placed a hand on her cheek and smiled at her softly. “It’s the truth. You don’t have to feel sorry for speaking your mind, or for how you felt or feel. I’m sorry, Kunou, for making you sad.”

Her mother had apologized a lot, even back before things changed. Once, the apologies had felt hollow, empty, meaningless. Like an illusion, they were there, they might even be able to do things the real deal could, but they were, at the end of the day, not real. Nothing would change, even if her mother was sorry. After Joshua and everything else, however, she knew those apologies were real, because things changed.

And maybe that meant that Kunou could be less selfish.

[}-o-{]

[Georg Foster]

With three demons around him, he was feeling rather scared, he’d admit.

On one side, there was the flame demon, with the purple fire dancing in her palm. She looked at Georg like she was asking him to do something so that she could torch him. She was intense, staring at him, resolute. She never looked away, barely moved, like a soldier standing at attention, almost.

On the other side was the mischievous demon, playing tricks and weaving illusions to get reactions out of him. She made Georg feel like a mouse with its tail trapped under a cat’s paw. She’d poke at him, giggle and then poke some more, like he was a fascinating little thing and nothing else.

And then there was the last demon, the one that scared him the most.

The eye demon, with a gaze that froze him in a way that had nothing to do with its abilities. The gigantic serpent coiled and looked at him from time to time. It wasn’t constant, but every single glance made his soul shiver. Those ominous, disturbing yellow eyes would haunt him forever. He’d never forgotten them since they trapped him in that house, back when he didn’t know any better. They had only grown more nightmarish with time, evidently.

“Georg.”

Ah, if those three were demons, then the one that had just spoken…

“You ready to go again?” the demon king asked and Georg could only nod.

“Of course,” he replied, calm as he could be considering the circumstances.

Ironically, it had been better when he was trapped in that dungeon. At least then he knew what to expect. It was all darkness until Davis came in to torture them for research purposes. Nothing more, nothing less. It was a nightmare of its own kind, for sure, but it was a simple one.

This new terror Georg had been taken to was an entirely different beast. He didn’t know what to expect. His guards didn’t seem to decide on what they wanted him to do and Davis… Davis took him to the Dimensional Gap. Even Georg, with Dimension Lost and all, didn’t like that accursed place.

It was unnatural and dangerous.

But there was no way around it. He could have tried to run away, escape Davis, maybe even leave Davis in the Gap and see if he died… The problem was, what if he didn’t die? Even if he did die, Georg had no delusions on what’d happen to him. No, down that path there was only a painful fate.

So, he just did as he was told and took Davis to the Gap. Once there, Georg did his best to keep himself safe and not pay too much attention to the horrifying surroundings. ‘When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you,’ Georg mused to himself, warily. Because he’d looked into the Gap once and he’d never been able to forget. The place left a mark on people that saw it.

‘And this crazy bastard is researching the thing?’ he thought incredulously, focusing his eyes on Davis. They’d gone to the Gap a number of times already, but he still couldn’t wrap his mind around that. He wasn’t there to try and understand Davis, of course, but he had to think about something to distract himself from the Gap.

That was why he tried, but it was a futile endeavor. He had no idea what had possessed Davis those days. There were no clues that he could see as to why he took out Georg so that he could examine the Gap nor why he’d gone to take True Longinus. Unless the guy wanted to try and kill Great Red – which was crazy – then he had no idea what was going on in Davis’ mind.

In a way, he wondered if he really wanted to know.

“Let’s go back,” Davis said and he nodded, immediately surrounding them with Dimension Lost’s mist and getting them back to where they’d come from. This time though, the man didn’t move away to continue whatever he was working on. Instead, he turned his steely blue eyes onto Georg, making him stiffen. “... You haven’t tried anything since I got you out,” he pointed out and he felt a chill run down his spine. Had that somehow earned him suspicion? “Not even a word out of place,” Davis continued, stepping closer to Georg and looking at him as if he were trying to decipher some kind of code. “Why?”

“... Because I’m not suicidal,” he answered, almost definitely failing to keep the fear out of his voice. “I know what’ll happen as soon as I do anything, so I won’t,” he explained simply, and it really was that simple. What corner of the world could he hide in that would protect him from this man? Even if there was such a place, somewhere that the Youkai, the Egyptians, the devils, Heaven and Grigori wouldn’t be able to find?

There was no way he could run forever.

And he knew that, very well.

“You’ve gotten smarter,” Davis pointed out and Georg grimaced. He’d underestimated the man once; he would never make that mistake again. ‘What kind of fool makes the same mistake twice?’ he asked himself.

“Thank you,” was all he said in response, earning a raised eyebrow from his fellow magician. What did he expect? Annoyance? Fear? Anger? Georg had learned his lesson. Now he just had to deal with the consequences that said lesson carried. Maybe he’d never escape Davis’ clutches, but he had a better chance trying while listening to the man than he had by rebelling.

The man had defeated Cao Cao, Kokabiel, the Satan descendants and many more. Probably some of which Georg didn’t even know about. As far as he was concerned, he stood no chase trying to actively work against Davis.

Now, on the other hand, he knew that the Cat and the Fallen had once been enemies with the man.

That gave Georg ideas.

He needed to prepare.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

He found himself immensely grateful for Margalo.

The bird’s singing was a boon that he’d never take for granted, but especially so after those days. With his whole body feeling tense and heavy, the songs she sang might as well have been lifesavers, really. He had no doubt that he wouldn’t have been able to think half as clearly as he did when she was there to calm his mind, to fill him with confidence he didn’t have and to generally make all the bad feelings he carried go away.

The soft, sometimes calm and sometimes cheerful tunes gave him peace of mind. They washed away worries and fears and let him focus on what he actually needed to do. Granted, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to let him get work done.

That was all Joshua needed.

It was also very much something that Friday needed too. The spell hadn’t recovered from the encounter with Ophis yet, still kind of twitchy – emotionally, that is – and very sensitive. Which was saying something, considering the living spell was already kind of like that, considering how young she was.

Joshua and the rest of his familiars were managing to keep her calm and helping her recover, but it wasn’t easy. It was certainly an inconvenient time for her to be like that, but he could hardly blame her. Joshua just wished he had the time to properly give her the attention and effort she needed and deserved.

As it was, he’d have to hope that the rest of his familiars – and occasionally Kunou – could make up for what he couldn’t do.

Idly, as he pondered that, he felt Friday reach out through their bond, nudging him affectionately. She sent reassurance and other emotions that were supposed to make him stop worrying, he was sure. She kind of only achieved the opposite though, since Joshua could see right through her attempts.

‘I worry, girl,’ he told the living spell, who let out her version of a whine. He would have pressed, reassured and spent some time with her, he really would have. Unfortunately, he didn’t have infinite time in his hands. ‘What do you say we spend some time with your sisters later when Kunou’s done with her classes?’ was the best that he could offer at the time.

He felt bad, he really did, but he had to manage his time well. Everyone depended on that, after all, Friday included. With a threat like that hanging over their heads, Joshua didn’t have a lot of options. It was already kind of risky that he was giving any time to other things at all, but he didn’t want to turn away from his family and friends entirely.

And besides, a break here and there could help. Hell, his biggest breakthrough had happened because he hadn’t pushed everyone away while he worked. If not for some idle chatter, he might not have a single clue what to do…

Not that he was in a much better spot then, admittedly.

‘This would be a lot easier if there were a single thing that made any sense in the Dimensional Gap,’ he mused to himself with a sigh, reaching out and scratching Margalo’s neck where she liked it. ‘Still have no idea how to make whatever weird element fills that space, or how to achieve the level of Nothingness that causes it to be the way it is.’ He didn’t even know if any of those theories of his were any closer to being the reality of the Dimensional Gap.

He’d visited the place – It felt weird to describe the ordeal like that, admittedly – a few more times and each gave him as much info as the first time, which meant he got a whole lot of nothing. That made him worry, he’d admit. Because if he found very little, that’d have been something. Slow progress was better than no progress.

Alas, he was starting to think that he might need to go through some other kind of breakthrough in order to make more progress.

“Can help?” Friday whispered in his mind through the bond. He hadn’t yet gotten used to her way of communicating, but he was getting there. Odd as that was though, it didn’t make it any less adorable, especially when Friday was… Well, Friday.

‘You’re doing plenty, sweetie,’ he replied, not even needing to lie about that. She was already helping him look into things and trying to come up with something. Alas, she was as stumped as he was, which he imagined was what prompted her to ask if there was anything else she could do. ‘Thanks for offering though,’ he added, absently mentally patting her presence through the bond.

“Love you, Daddy,” the living spell replied, using her strange combination of thoughts, images and other things to emulate… what she wanted… to transmit…

‘Friday,’ he replied slowly, blinking as he processed that and then looked down at his notes. ‘I love you too. You’re great,’ he said.

At the same time, he went to his list of ideas, where he’d already written “emulate or create Gap element”, “emulate or create Gap void” and then noted down, right underneath, “emulate Gap feeling”. That still sounded like a nightmare, admittedly, but any progress was something he welcomed. If he came up with enough ideas, maybe he’d stumble upon something that he could actually attempt.

He could only hope.

“Thanks!” Friday exclaimed, evidently very happy, even if she couldn’t quite transmit that with her actual words. It was, regardless, easily gotten across by the emotions, traveling through the bond and to his… mind.

‘Friday, you’re the best,’ he thought, grinning widely as he wrote down yet another idea. It was this last idea that gave him pause too, because that?

That sounded like something he could actually try to do.

‘The best,’ he repeated, absently sending plenty of good emotions to the living spell.

And Friday loved that, even if she didn’t know why she was getting rewarded.

He had work to do though.

It wouldn’t be easy to try and cut a chunk out of the Gap.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

That’s a wide variety of PoVs, isn’t it? I feel like it is, at least. Now, some people might not like it, maybe, but through my time writing I’ve seen people enjoy this kind of thing a lot. So, I don’t think I’m crazy for thinking this is good.

Then again, I’m seemingly incapable of being confident in my writing so…

Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is that I hope you enjoyed the chapter. 

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What’s the last game you played? I got dragged into playing Dark and Darker by some friends last night.

See you.