Devour Me

by bumblvee

Summary:

Hermit High was a school known for it's amazing performing arts program, and especially known for its small band of students called 'Stage Revolution.'

As the band is preparing for a big concert, three new students arrive unexpectedly and steal the spotlight from them with their acapella group called 'Euphorica.'

But something is off about these three, especially when the members of Stage Revolution always seem ill around them.

***

This work belongs to me, @bumblvee, and only me. I reserve the right to this work. Any and all reposts of any kind are strictly prohibited.

Cross-posted on my Wattpad under the same username

Chapter 1

Fwhip groaned as he looked at the sheet Bdubs handed him. "What the hell is that strum pattern?" he whined, tapping his foot and fingering the chords on his guitar.

Bdubs glared at him. "Deal with it," he sneered before turning back to Zedaph. "Xisuma wanted to play it."

Xisuma was practically squealing, bouncing on his toes impatiently with a smile as he waited for Bdubs to give him his music, which he took happily. "Oh, I can't wait to play this," he said.

"Uh..." Scar stared down at the paper in his hands. "Why do I have a back-up part?" he asked like Bdubs was stupid for giving him that part. "I'm the lead. L-a-d-e, lead."

Joel snorted from behind the drumset. "Not how you spell lead, buddy," he teased. "It's l-e-a-d."

"That's literally what I said."

Bdubs sighed. "This is a, uh... screamy song, so Xisuma's on lead for this one," he explained. "I'm doing you a favour, Scar."

Scar huffed. "Whatever." He looked back down at the paper, skimming over the lyrics. "Wha- A Match Into Water by Pierce the Veil?!" he shouted, holding the papers out in front of him with a shocked (and almost angry) expression. "The emo band?!"

"What's wrong with Pierce the Veil?" Xisuma said with a frown.

"I think it's a great song," Fwhip interjected. "Just... not for acoustic guitar." He shrugged. "Cool song choice, though. Can't wait to hear you scream." He added a playful wink at the end that Xisuma rolled his eyes at.

"You can save the flirting for Sausage, thank you," X said as he adjusted the tuning pegs on his instrument. "It's been a little while since I've actually screamed, but..." He sighed and stretched his arms over his head, letting his guitar hang from over his shoulder. "We'll see how it goes."

Joel straightened his posture. "Wait, we're playing now?"

Scar sighed. "I guess."

Just before Xisuma started playing to cue in the rest of the band, the door to the practice room opened and Impulse backed into the room giggling as Tango chased him with kisses all over his face. They stopped when Impulse hit a table and stayed there to start to make out before quickly Bdubs got frustrated.

"Seriously, Impulse?" the keytarist shouted. "You skipped practice to make out with your boyfriend?"

Impulse and Tango both jumped, faces bright red.

Zedaph let out a hmph. "And without me, too," he pouted teasingly.

"I-" Impulse blinked. "Scar said we weren't having practice today, though."

Everyone turned to look at Scar, who was typing on his phone and smiling.

Bdubs rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to what Scar says," he murmured. "He's an idiot. Are you going to practice with us or not?"

Impulse gave a nervous smile as he backed up toward the door, dragging Tango with him. "I'm just... gonna go," he said slowly before bolting out the door laughing with Tango.

"So much for a full attendance practice," Joel said. He picked up a stick and tossed it in Scar's direction, not hitting him but getting close enough to startle the other. "Get off your phone."

Scar scowled. "Fine."

Xisuma's watch beeped and, as if cued, the PA system dinged, a female voice saying, "Xisuma Void, please report to the main hall."

"I almost forgot about that," he murmured as he pulled the guitar strap over his head.

"Where are you going?" Zedaph asked curiously.

Xisuma turned off his amp and set his guitar on its stand. "There's some new students and I offered to show them around school," he said. "Go ahead and practice another song while I'm gone. See you guys later!"

"Bye," Zed said happily as he waved, followed by the rest of the group saying their own goodbyes.

 

•°•

 

When Xisuma turned the corner, he could hear some people talking. He assumed it was the new students, but he thought he'd wait until they were done murmuring to each other.

"But what if you're wrong, Xel?" a Scottish accent asked. "This would be for nothing."

"When have I ever been wrong?" another person sneered. The voice sounded just perfectly in between feminine and masculine that Xisuma couldn't tell what gender they were. "Just trust me, Aemor. I've never let you boys down before."

There was a sigh. "Fine."

Xisuma stepped out now to find a very tall boy with short blonde hair, another slightly shorter boy with bright blue hair that was about shoulder length, and a very short girl with dirty blonde hair that was just a bit shorter that the cyanette's. "Hello," X said shyly, waving. "You're the new students, right?"

The girl smiled at him, a contrast from how annoyed she looked just a moment ago. "That's right," she said cheerfully. She held out her hand for Xisuma to shake. "I'm Xe- Er, Grian. I'm Grian. He/they, please."

Xisuma's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a girl," he apologized as he took Grian's hand. "I probably shouldn't have... assumed..." He blinked a few times, his head spinning as a sudden wave of dizziness and exhaustion hit him. Letting go of Grian's hand, he stumbled backward slightly. What in the-?

"Um... are you okay?" the blonde boy behind Grian asked.

Xisuma shook himself. "I'm fine," he fibbed with a smile.

The boy gave him a weird look before shrugging. "I'm P- Jimmy," he corrected himself when Grian elbowed him in the stomach. "I use whatever you want to call me. People normally just use he/him, sooo..."

"Scott," the third boy said, distractedly examining his nails. "They/them. It's not a pleasure to meet you." Dammit it, another gender I got wrong.

Xisuma nodded slowly. "Duly noted." He noticed brightly coloured gems having from strings around their necks, Grian's red crystal seeming to glow. "Those are very pretty. Can I see-"

"No," Grian snapped, then his eyes widened and let out a small chuckle. "Sorry, it's just that these are very special to us." He lifted a hand to cover the gem. "I'd be devastated if something happened to them."

Scott and Jimmy almost looked like they were glaring at X, making him slightly uncomfortable.

"Got it," Xisuma said, stifling a yawn. "Well, if you follow me, I can show you around."

 

•°•

 

"This is one of the science labs," Xisuma explained as he showed the boys around. "Oh, and this hallway goes down to the performing arts wing." He paused to point excitedly down the hall before leading the three toward the wing. "The arts programs here are the best in the nation." They passed portraits and cases of sculptures as Xisuma talked. "There's tons of options if you're interested in any of it. There's traditional 2D art, 3D art, choir, orchestra, symphonic band, and there are several rooms for extracurricular musical ensembles to use."

Grian glanced at Scott, grinning. "There wouldn't happen to one of those rooms available, would there?" they asked.

Xisuma hummed. "Not sure," he said. "You'll have to check in with the choir instructor or the dean about it."

Jimmy gave Xisuma an odd look. "What's a dean? Oof-" He cut himself off when Grian elbowed him hard in the stomach.

"What Jimmy meant to say, was we'll look into it." Grian smiled brightly, the gesture feeling slightly ungenuine. "We do a bit of singing once in a while."

"That's cool," Xisuma said. "Are you guys an acapella group?"

Grian blinked. "A what?"

Scott scowled at X. "What kind of magic is that?"

"Um..." Xisuma shifted. "It's a group of people who sing," he explained uncomfortably. "I guess you could call it magic? I mean, acapella groups are pretty cool. They sound really nice."

"Oh." Scott's cheeks turned slightly red as they looked away. "Never mind, then."

Grian sighed. "Yes, we're an... ape-cello group."

Xisuma snickered at the smaller's pronunciation of the word. "Got it. We could go see if there's a room empty if you want," he offered. "You could even peek into my band's practice."

Jimmy's eyes lit up. "You have a band?" he asked excitedly, and Scott gave him an annoyed look.

"Yeah, we're called Stage Revolution," Xisuma said, matching Jimmy's excitement. "I play electric guitar. I, uh... I also sing sometimes, but it's not often." His cheeks turned a bit pink. "I'm not very good, but my friend Keralis says he likes my singing. I also-"

"That's lovely," Grian cut in, "but can we see those rooms now?"

Xisuma paused and nodded. "They're this way."

X led them down to the end of the hall toward the practice rooms. As soon as they turned the corner they could already hear music coming from Xisuma's band's room.

"Ugh, what is that horrific noise?" Scott asked incredulously as they covered their ears. "It makes me want to kill something."

Grian looked like they were glaring at Scott. "It's music, Ae- uh, Scott," he said. "Rock, to be exact. It's very popular, but it is..." He grimaced. "Very awful."

Xisuma shoved down the feeling of disappointment hearing that they disliked that style of music so much. Rock was his favourite genre and probably the best thing to ever happen to him. Hearing it being dissed like that hurt. Then again, everyone has their own tastes.

"I think it's cool," Jimmy said with a shrug, making Xisuma feel a little bit better. "Sounds funky."

"You sound funky," Scott sneered.

"Oh yeah? Well, you-"

"Enough," Grian snapped. He flashed X a gentle smile. "You'll have to excuse their idiocy."

Xisuma nodded slowly, then looked over at the closed doors from which the music was coming. "This is it," he said before opening the one of the doors.

Scar was up on the stage singing as Joel was having the time of his life on the drums and Fwhip was squinting at his sheet music as he played Impulse's electric guitar instead of his own acoustic. Zedaph was the first notice them, pausing his playing to wave quickly at them.

But Zed's choosing to stop playing threw Joel off, ending in everybody creating a mess of tempo-less sound.

Xisuma winced at the sound.

"Sorry," Zed apologized with a soft laugh. If Impulse were there, he would've been swooning over it. "Are you guys the new students?"

Grian gave Zed a large smile. "Yes!" they said happily. "I'm Grian, this is Jimmy and Scott."

"They/them," Scott said. "Please try not to misgender me."

"I'll do my best," Zed assured them. "Are you an ensemble?"

Scott blinked and murmured something to themselves about this world having strange magic that left Xisuma very confused.

"We're... um, we're an apa-capa-pillar group...?" Grian said. Xisuma felt bad for wanting to laugh at how he struggled to pronounce the word. "Ape... Ape-cello... No, ape-"

"Acapella?" Bdubs finished for him, smiling when Grian nodded. "That's cool! I used to be in an acapella group, but I had a hard time harmonising so I kinda just quit and joined this band."

Scott snickered. Grian stomped hard on their foot, and they let out a high-pitched squeak in response.

Jimmy, looking around the practice room, seemed totally detached from the conversation as he admired the messy-but-homely room.

Joel set his sticks down on the snare and stood to stretch his arms over his head. "So are we just going to stand here silently or what?" he asked when he brought his hands down to his sides again.

"Oh, I was just going to look and see if there was an empty room for the, uh..." Xisuma paused. "Do you guys have a band name?"

"Band name?" Grian echoed, tilting his head.

"Like, what you call your acapella group."

Grian and Scott looked at each other, then Scott looked back at Xisuma. "Euphorica."

The other boys all smiled and around the room went a bunch of 'ooooh's and 'aaah's.

"That's a really cool name!" Zed said, smiling.

"Our's is cooler," Scar said absently as he typed away on his phone. "And it's better because I thought of it."

Joel tossed his empty water bottle at the other brunette. "I thought of it, dummy," he teased, and Scar stuck his tongue out at him. "And would you stop texting Mumbo for one second to say hi to the new students?"

Scar sighed and pocketed his phone. "Actually, I was texting Cub, thank you very much," he huffed, then turned to Grian, Scott, and Jimmy. "Hi, I'm Scar."

Scott stared at him blankly while Grian's eyes widened, his cheeks turning pink.

"Hi," Grian breathed. "I'm in love-" They paused and shook their head. "S-sorry, I'm Grian," he said, and he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, smiling. "It's wonderful to meet you."

Scott's eyes widened now and they looked down at their friend, who was staring at Scar. "Grian-"

Grian blinked and their face flushed. "W-well, we should going," they said frantically, turning to push Jimmy and Scott out of the room. "We have to, uh, take to the- the bean about that room, you know?" He let out a nervous chuckle as he left, slamming the door.

Bdubs blinked. "Did they say they were going to talk to the 'bean'?" he asked, whispering in case Grian might hear through the door.

"I think he means the dean," Xisuma said with a small laugh. "I think their first langauge might... not be English?"

"They act like their first planet isn't Earth," Scar said with a quirked brow.

Zedaph poked Scar's arm. "Be nice," he scolded. "They're all probably from another country. They all have accents."

"All of their accents are different, though," Joel said. "Scott has a sort of Scottish-English accent, and Grian and Jimmy have different English accents."

Bdubs groaned. "Can we stop talking about the weirdos and get back to practicing? We have a gig this weekend and someone keeps coming in too early with his drum solo." He gave Joel a sideways glare.

"Not my fault you guys drag the tempo," Joel yawned. "I'm just getting you guys up to speed."

Zed scoffed. "At least you guys get solos," he murmured.

"Stop complaining," Bdubs sneered. "You chose to play the most useless instrument known to mankind."

"Useless?!"

Xisuma blinked, watching in confusion as the band began to argue, yelling and shouting and throwing out rude names to each other. He was in complete shock at how mean they were toward each other, especially Zedaph. Each and every thing they said to each other seemed to fill the air with a thickness that had X fighting for oxygen.

"Guys!" Xisuma shouted, then gasped again. The air felt slightly thinner once they'd stopped. "What are you arguing about?" he asked, his chest heaving as he regained the oxygen his body was suddenly deprived of. "And why?"

They all looked at each other, exchanging guilty looks as Xisuma gave himself a moment to catch his breath. They all started to apologize.

"I don't know what came over me," Zed admitted shyly.

"Me either," Bdubs murmured.

Zed sighed. "I'm really sorry for what I said, Bdubs," he apologized.

Bdubs smiled at him. "I'm sorry, too."

"I'm also sorry," Joel said, raising his hand from behind the drumset. "Just to... let ya'know."

Bdubs snickered. "Thanks for telling us," he joked.

Zedaph yawned. "I'm feeling pretty tired," he said. "Can we cut practice short and just hang out for a while?"

Xisuma shrugged. "I'm down for that."

Bdubs pouted. "Sure."

"It's okay, Bdubs," Scar said, "you can practice your funky synth parts while we have snacks."

The entire group erupted into laughter.

Chapter 2

Notes:

Trigger warning for mentioned abuse

"Xel, what was that?" Scott demanded when Grian pushed them out of the room and shut the door.

"Stop calling me that," Grian growled. "If someone hears you-"

Scott scoffed and crossed their arms. "Relax, there's nobody in this hallway. Who could possibly hear me?"

Grian gave them a blank stare before gesturing angrily to the closed door. "The band maybe?!"

"Well, if you're shouting like that-" Scott shut their mouth when Grian's eyes flashed a bright red.

"Remember, Aemor," Grian started lowly, "you're alive because of me. Watch yourself."

Scott shifted uncomfortably, and Jimmy was covering his mouth and snickering behind Grian.

"So, um..." Grian blinked and looked both ways down the hall. "Does anybody were the bean is?"

 

•°•

 

Zed giggled as Impulse picked him up and put him on his shoulders, Tango watching them fondly with his arms crossed over his chest. In the booth next to them was Bdubs and his boyfriend, Etho, murmuring to each other and snickering as they munched on chips, Scar and Joel sitting across from them and giving them disgusted looks.

Xisuma laughed and leaned into his best friend, Keralis, as he watched his friends from the table across from them. "They're so funny," he said, giggling and dipping a chip into his chocolate milkshake.

Keralis gasped. "Shashwam-"

"Oh!" Xisuma pulled the chip out of his milkshake, frowning while Keralis struggled to hold in his laughter. "Are you kidding me?"

Keralis took it from X and leaned his head back to drop the chip into his mouth. Xisuma was the one to gasp this time.

"Keralis!" Xisuma snorted. "That's so gross!"

Keralis shrugged and reached over to grab a chip from X's tray, getting impossibly close to the latter's face. Xisuma blushed when Keralis didn't back away to eat the chip, smirking at the smaller boy.

Xisuma scowled in an attempt to hide how flustered he was and weakly shoved Keralis, making him throw his head back laughing. "Jerk face," Xisuma grumbled, though he wasn't angry in the slightest. He glanced at Keralis, who was clutching his middle as he laughed. "Oh, come off it, it's not that funny!" X whined.

"Oh, Shashawmmy," Keralis sighed as he finally started to calm down. He leaned over to wrap an arm around the smaller's shoulders and pull him close. "You're adorable."

Xisuma blushed again. "Oh, stop it," he mumbled.

The door to the restaurant dinged and Zed gasped. "Look!" he said, pointing. "It's Scott, Grian, and Jimmy!" He hopped off of Impulse's shoulders and waved them over, to which Grian happily obliged.

"Hi," Grian said happily, but Scott, who was trailing not too far behind, didn't seem happy at all.

Zedaph smiled brightly. "Hello! How are you guys?"

"Awful," Scott answered simultaneously with Grian's answer of, "I'm great!" The looked at each other, Grian scowling and Scott looking totally unphased.

Zed let out a small, nervous laugh. "Wow," he said. "Did you guys coordinate that on purpose?"

"No," they said in unison.

Grian sighed. "Scott's been... difficult lately," he said, glaring at them. Suddenly, he smiled. "But that's fine. They always learn." Before Zed could question that and how Scott's glare turned into a nervous expression, Grian was pushing past him to sit next to Scar.

Zed leaned against the table X and Keralis sat at, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Are you okay, Zed?" Xisuma asked.

Zed blinked and nodded, though he didn't exactly look okay as he sat down and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "'M fine," he murmured.

Impulse seemed to notice and walked over, rubbing his boyfriend's back. "Hey," he said gently in Zed's ear. "What's going on?"

"Tired."

"Do you want to leave?" Zedaph shook his head. "Are you sure?" He nodded. "Alright." Impulse stood up straight after kissing Zed's cheek. "Let me know when you do."

"M'kay..."

Impulse walked away with a worried look.

Scar and Joel jumped when Grian suddenly showed up and sat in the booth with them. "Hey," Grian said, more to Scar than anyone else. He seemed like he wanted to be careful not to touch him.

"Oh, hi, Grian," Scar said with a smile that Grian beamed at. "How are you?"

Grian rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand, staring fondly at the brunette. "I'm good," they said with a small giggle. "What about you?"

"I'm alright," Scar said with a shrug. He looked over at Bdubs and Etho and so did Grian. "Those two are grossing me out, though. They're too lovey-dovey." He stuck his tongue out and Grian straightened their posture. Scar had continued to say something, but Grian was distracted with trying to touch their foot to Bdubs' underneath the table.

"Stupid, tiny, human legs," Grian grumbled, not realizing he was talking out loud.

Joel let out a surprised laugh. "What?" He was smiling, yet giving the dirty blonde a confused look.

Grian looked up. "Hm?" Even Bdubs and Etho had stopped giggling to each other to give him funny looks. Nobody looked judgemental, though.

"'Stupid, tiny, human legs?'" Bdubs questioned, struggling not to laugh.

"I'm short, okay?" Grian pouted, giving up on trying to reach Bdubs' foot. He slumped in the seat as everyone laughed. But it was weird. Nobody was being mean, and Grian didn't feel made fun of in the slightest. "You're all weird," they huffed with crossed arms. He noticed a glass full of a brown liquid and some white, fluffy stuff on top. "Hey, what's this?"

Scar gave Grian a confused look. "The milkshake?"

Grian reached over for it, nearly jumping out of his skin when the glass was freezing cold. "What in the Heavens is that?" they sneered, looking almost like an upset cat as they judged the drink.

"It's really good," Scar said. He picked up the glass and another straw to hand it to the smaller. "Try it."

Grian looked at the glass, then at Scar, then back at the glass again. "Okay..." They took it, holding it closer to the top where it wasn't as cold. "Oh-" He looked at his finger, finding he'd gotten some of the white stuff on top on it. Hesitantly, he licked it off. Their eyes widened. "It's sweet."

"Have you never had whipped cream before?" Bdubs asked.

Grian shook their head before taking a sip of the milkshake. His eyes got even wider, and he continued to drink it. "This is incredible," Grian said in total awe of the dessert drink.

"I can order you one," Scar offered, and Grian nodded frantically.

Xisuma sighed and leaned further into Keralis' side. "I think Grian likes Scar," he said before munching on another chip.

"Definitely," Keralis agreed.

"What the hell?!"

Both X and Keralis sat up straight when Bdubs shouted at Impulse, who look slightly confused.

"I'm sorry-"

"Yeah, of course, you're 'sorry'." Bdubs rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'm leaving."

Impulse sighed. "Wait, Bdubs-" He reached for the other's hand, but ended up getting smacked in the face.

"Don't touch me," Bdubs sneered, and they both stood there for a moment, just staring at each other, before Bdubs huffed and walked away.

"What happened?" Xisuma asked, and Impulse sighed again, shaking his head.

"I think I'm just gonna go home," Impulse said.

X frowned. "Come on, you know Bdubs is a little bit... dramatic," he said. "Don't leave just because-"

"Yeah, I know he's dramatic," Impulse cut him off, "but I also know that he just slapped me because I apologized for stepping on his foot!"

"Well, maybe he had a bad day-"

Impulse let out a loud groan, running a hand down his face. "Why are you always excusing everything?" he said. "Whenever somebody does something wrong, you always come up with some little smart-ass comment about their home life or if they had a bad day or not."

Xisuma shrank against Keralis, who wrapped an arm around his waist. "It's important to consider," he said meekly.

"What about the people who end up hurt because of it, Xisuma?" Impulse asked, and the former lowered his head. "Their home life or how their day went or how they feel about themselves is not an excuse to be hurtful. They can learn to deal with it in other ways."

Xisuma's face felt hot and he wanted to cry. He struggled a lot with his own self-image and with his parents at home, so he always wanted to take into consideration that people who were rude or mean might be struggling as well. And he'd thought it was a great way to deal with things, but he supposed he never realized that it made others upset.

"Look, just because that might be the case," Impulse continued, "doesn't mean it is. And it's still not a good reason to be rude to people. Get that inside your thick skull."

X squeezed his eyes shut and begged his throat not to make any noise. He didn't doubt that he was visibly shaking, but nobody needed to know he was actually crying.

"Yeah, you're saying all of this," Keralis said, "but you're using being upset as an excuse to be rude to Shashwammy."

"This is different."

"How is it different?" Keralis let go of Xisuma to stand. "Why does what you're saying not apply to you, when it's the same situation?"

"Keralis," Xisuma managed to whisper without sobbing, but it didn't seem like he was heard.

"I have a right to be upset that Bdubs fucking hit me," Impulse retorted.

Keralis scoffed. "Yeah, but you don't have the right to tell my best friend that he has a 'thick skull.' I don't care if you leave or stay, but you better watch yourself before you go around preaching shit that you're not even exercising yourself."

"Keralis," Xisuma tried again, and he heard Keralis shift next to him.

Impulse sighed. "Whatever. I'm leaving. Tango, Zed, are you coming with?"

Zed nodded tiredly. "Yeah, I think I want to get some sleep."

Tango hesitated before nodding as well, though he didn't say anything.

Grian shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Uh, Scott and Jimmy, can you... accompany me to the restroom?" they said quietly, standing up.

Joel snickered. "What, are you too short to reach the urinal?" he teased, and Grian shot him a shocked look which made him burst out laughing.

Grian huffed and turned on his heel to walk away silently, Scott and Jimmy following them soon after. They went over to a vintage jukebox across the diner and sort of hid behind it.

"Do they know where the bathroom is?" Scar asked, pointing towards where they stood.

 

•°•

 

"Did we do something?" Scott asked nervously when the two were mostly out of sight, wringing their hands. Jimmy looked just as nervous

Grian shook his head. "No, no," they said. They glanced back over to the group who'd gone back to goofing around and teasing each other lightly. "They have magic."

Scott's eyes widened. "Those guys are where that thing came from?"

"Yeah, and the big guy with- oh, dammit, what's his name?" Grian tapped his foot on the ground as he squinted and tried to remember. "Izzy- Er, Izzy-zoomer-something. That guy with him has a lot of magic."

"The one with the Polish accent?" Jimmy asked.

Grian nodded. "I've also noticed that our magic reacts negatively with theirs," they explained. "It sparks some kind of heavy, powerful energy. That Eggs-uma kid can definitely feel it, I can tell." He looked up at the other two. "We can use the fact that I can absorb their magic to our advantage to steal that magical energy for ourselves."

Scott grinned. "So, what's the plan?"

"We hang around them for a while," Grian said simply. "Let our energies clash, enjoy watching them argue and ruin their friendships, soak up all the magic we can, then continue with the original plan as normal. Easy as that."

 

•°•

 

"You didn't have to walk me home," Xisuma said as he and Keralis stopped on the front porch. The height difference between them was something Xisuma considered perfect, though he was rather short compared to his friend.

"I wanted to," Keralis said, fixing a piece of Xisuma's hair that had gone wonky in the wind. "Besides, I want to make sure your parents don't beat the shit out of you the moment you walk in the door."

Xisuma huffed out a laugh, but Keralis' expression stayed serious. "I'm sure they're asleep by now," he said.

"But, still-"

"I'll be fine," Xisuma hushed him with a reassuring smile. "I'll text you as soon as I'm finished getting ready for bed, okay?"

Keralis stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Right. Goodnight, Shashwammy."

"'Night, Keralis."

Keralis waited for Xisuma to be inside with the door closed and locked before walking away, just like he always did.

Xisuma sighed and leaned against the door. "Oh, Keralis," he murmured to himself. He was always nervous around the other boy, but he never knew why. They've known each other their whole lives, so it made no sense. His stomach always felt fluttery and his heart pounding in his chest whenever he even thought of him, yet he loved to be around Keralis. He always made him so happy.

X shook himself and started quickly for the stairs. All the lights were off and the windows were all shut, which meant he was safe as long as he was quiet. As soon as he reached his bedroom and closed the door, he felt himself relax. After changing into some night clothes, he collapsed onto his bed, rolled over onto his back, and pulled out his phone to text Keralis.

 

Zuma
Safe and in bed :)

 

He sighed and set his phone down to sleep, when it buzzed. He couldn't help but check it.

 

Keralis
Can you call?

 

Zuma
Better not. It's pretty late and if my father wakes up, it's gonna be hell

 

Keralis
Aww :(
Ok, sleep well Shashawm <3

 

Zuma
I'll try lol

 

Keralis
I'm serious. You better sleep tonight.

 

Zuma
I will, I promise. I'll take a few of those melatonin gummies you got me

 

Keralis
Good. Gn Shwammy <33

 

Zuma
Night!

 

Xisuma stared at his keyboard. He'd subconsciously typed the words 'Love you', but caught himself just before he sent it. He paused, chewing on his lip as he decided whether or not he wanted to actually send the text. On the one hand, it was nice and sweet because he did care about Keralis a lot. He was Xisuma's best and closest friend. But on the other he would probably sound really weird and clingy if he actually said that.

Grumbling to himself, he deleted the text and shut his phone off. He shifted so he was beneath his weighted comforter and laid on his side. He figured he was tired enough on his own not to have to take the melatonin and closed his eyes to sleep.

Chapter 3

"Are we seriously spending the night here?" Scott asked incredulously, standing in the doorway of their new, empty practice room.

Grian quirked a brow at them. "I mean, if you really want to go back to staying at the homeless shelter, you definitely. can," he said. "I could use the extra space for more useful things." Scott looked down at the floor. "That's what I thought. That sofa over there is for me. Poseidus, you can have that hammock. There's a couple blankets over there in the corner."

Scott furrowed their brows and looked back up from the ground. "But what about me?"

"Oh, you'll sleep on the floor."

"The floor?!"

Grian turned around, their eyes a flaming red. "I'm sorry, do you see a problem with that?" they asked with a tilt of their head. Scott shifted nervously and shook their head. "I'm glad that we're on the same page."

"...Why exactly do I have to sleep on the floor?"

Grian sighed. "You have been disrespectful to me and directly disobedient to my orders," he explained, keeping his voice low and quiet. "You've put us in danger more than once by using my name in public."

Scott scoffed. "You literally-"

"Taceo." At Grian's order, Scott's mouth closed on its own. "You listen to me and you obey, or there will be vast more consequences than having to sleep on the floor."

Scott nodded and kept quiet.

 

•°•

 

Xisuma yawned as he walked into his chemistry class. He was definitely wrong when he assumed he'd be able to sleep without the melatonin, so he took it much later than he normally would have. Did that mean he got at least some decent sleep? No, not really. He'd gotten enough, he guessed, but he was still exhausted.

He sat down next to Cub and yawned again, shaking himself to try and wake up some more.

"No sleep, huh?" Cub asked without looking up from what he was writing. He was probably finishing homework he didn't feel like doing the previous day.

Xisuma sighed. "I got some," he said, earning a snort from Cub. "I did! I got, like, three hours."

Cub looked up at him now, a subtle glad look in his eyes. "Really? That's great, at least compared to nothing."

Xisuma nodded, and they sat in silence as their teacher did whatever teacher-y things he had to do before he could start class.

"Hey, do you have the notes from yesterday?" Cub asked, and Xisuma was already reaching into his binder before Cub was finished asking his question. "Dude, you're a life saver."

"You'd be your own life saver if you actually took notes and did the work," Xisuma teased.

Cub rolled his eyes. "Now, where's the fun in that?"

"Not getting detentions?"

Cub pursed his lips awkwardly. "Yeah, you've got a point."

Xisuma giggled.

 

•°•

 

"What if you changed that C-sharp major to an F-sharp minor chord?" Scar suggested, looking over Fwhip's chord chart. "I think that'll sound better."

Fwhip hummed doubtfully to himself and quietly strummed the chords with the change. "I mean, I guess it might sound better with the rest of the band," he grumbled.

Scar grinned triumphantly. "See? I'm always right."

Fwhip rolled his eyes, but he was smiling all the same.

"Sorry I'm late," Xisuma said as he hurried into the practice room. He was tripping over himself as he had his guitar case slung over his shoulder, his coat hanging over the same hand, his backpack over the other shoulder, and folders in that arm. "I got caught up in tutoring. Scott doesn't take well to math and Jimmy's Spanish is a bit rough- Woah!" He stepped on his coat and slipping, falling onto his side. His guitar case hit the ground with a loud thud, and he could hear a string or two snap from inside.

Zedaph gasped and rushed over, Impulse following after. "Are you okay?" he asked as he took things from the boy on the floor so he could more successfully help him up. "You're not hurt, are you?"

X groaned whilst he sat upright with Impulse's help. "I'm fine," he said, then glanced at his band sticker-covered guitar case. "Not sure about my guitar, though."

"Well, the important thing is you're not hurt," Zed reassured him.

Impulse opened the case and let out an oof. "You might... want to invest in a new guitar," he said slowly and painfully. "It's pretty banged up."

Xisuma whipped his head around. "What?" Sure enough, Impulse was right. The high E string and the D string were both in two bits and there was long crack that zig-zagged unevenly down the middle of the fretboard that looked man-made. The body was also damaged, broken-in holes and scratches and dents all over. "How did that fall do all of this..."

"I don't think it did," Impulse said. "Did... Did your parents-"

Xisuma cut him off with a gasp, but he didn't say anything as tears built in his eyes. He couldn't believe that either of his parents would go as far as destroying his guitar, without even giving a reason as to why. He didn't have a slightly crappier one to replace it with while he saved up for a new one, either. And this one was special, too. Keralis bought it for him.

"Hey, it's okay, don't cry," Zed attempted to comfort X, hugging him from the side. "We can use the band funds for a new one."

Xisuma sniffled. "But we need that to get a kickdrum for Joel's set," he mumbled. "And you need a new amp."

"Well, yeah," Fwhip said from the small stage, "but we kind of need a lead guitarist."

"I have an extra one you can borrow until you can afford another," Impulse offered. "It's pink, but..."

"Why is it pink?" Fwhip asked.

Impulse sighed. "My dad thought that Gem was the one that wanted it," he grumbled, leading to everyone but Xisuma giggling.

Zed wasn't hugging Xisuma anymore, instead leaning against his side and resting his head on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, 'Zuma," he said. "Maybe you won't even have to get a new one, it might just need some repairs."

"The fretboard is split in two, Zedaph," Xisuma said, his voice nasally. "And look at the body... Keralis spent so much on this for it to be perfect and I ruined it."

Nobody said anything for a moment.

"You didn't ruin it," Zedaph said quietly. "It's not your fault." There was a knock on the door. "Impyyyy," Zed drawled, and Impulse rolled his eyes playfully before standing up to answer the door.

He let out a soft, "Oh," when he opened it. "Hey, guys," he said happily. "Did you need something?"

"We were just wondering if we could sit in and listen to you practice," a semi-quiet voice said cheerfully. Xisuma recognized it as Grian's voice. "We... also need some music stands if you have any to spare."

Impulse stepped to the side to let them in, Grian waltzing in happily while Scott and Jimmy bickered and poked at each other. "We don't have any extra stands, but you can totally watch us practice," he said. "I'll go grab a couple chairs from the closet."

Grian nodded, then noticed Xisuma on the floor. "Did something happen?" the dirty blonde asked curiously.

Zed looked up. "Oh, Xisuma's guitar is broken," he explained. "It was pretty important to him, so he's a little upset." He wrapped an arm around Xisuma and gave his hand a small squeeze. "He'll be okay, though, right?"

Xisuma nodded.

"Can I see it?" Grian asked, and Scott gave them an odd look.

"Sure." Zedaph moved the instrument to where Grian could see it in all of its broken glory.

Grian winced at the sight of it. "Damn. Who did that?"

Zed looked at Xisuma, searching for any kind of permission to tell Grian, but Xisuma was looking back at him. "Uh... Some bullies," Zed decided. "They're pretty mean to X."

"Hm." Grian stared concentratedly at the guitar. "Do you mind if I take it for a moment?"

Xisuma looked up now. "Why?"

"I can probably fix it with-" He stopped. "Um. I saw a similar-looking one in our practice room," he said with a nervous laugh.

Xisuma eyed Grian for a moment then glanced down at his guitar. He didn't know why they needed it to go get a different guitar, but Xisuma really didn't want to look at this broken one any longer. "Sure."

"Great!" Grian took the instrument carefully into his arms. "I'll be back before you know it!" He turned to leave, and Scott followed him out.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked when they closed the door.

Grian ignored them, setting the broken guitar onto a table.

"Xelqua."

"I'm fixing it," Grian huffed, stepping back slightly and holding their hands out. "Haereo," he whispered, and suddenly the guitar was outlined in red, hovering just above the table and putting itself back together in a way that looked like time was reversing.

Scott frowned. "You're wasting energy," they said, but Grian didn't respond. "Xelqua-"

"Quiet!" Grian shouted, and the guitar dropped onto the table. "Dammit..." It wasn't completely fixed; it still had some dents and scratches on it, but it looked good enough to at least be playable. He sighed and spoke over his shoulder, "If you're not out of my sight in the next two seconds-" They didn't have to finish before Scott was gone, and they hoped they had been smart enough to not go back to the other practice room.

Xisuma was still on the floor when Grian got back, but he wasn't crying anymore. He just sort of... sitting there.

"I'm back," Grian announced, holding up the (mostly) fixed guitar.

X looked up and his eyes widened, shining with fresh tears. "You fixed it?" he murmured. A smile grew on his lips. "You fixed it!" He got up and took his guitar from Grian, who was smiling brightly. "Oh, my- How did you fix it so quickly?"

Grian shrugged. "Call it magic," they giggled. There was a warmth blooming in his chest as they watched Xisuma examine his instrument happily. Strange. Must be a human thing.

"Thank you so much." Xisuma set the guitar down, leaning it against the door, to hug Grian. "Thank you so much," he repeated in a whisper.

Grian could feel his shoulder quickly becoming soaked, but he wasn't focused on that. He was focused on the massive amount of pure energy coming off of Xisuma. It wasn't like anything they'd ever felt before as it flooded into their body. He wanted more of it. He needed more of it.

Xisuma blinked as Grian tightened their grip on him. "Uh, Gri- Oh-" Grian tightened their hold again, as if trying to squeeze every last drop of energy out of him. "You can let go now," Xisuma huffed out a nervous laugh, but he sounded exhausted. "Grian-"

Grian blinked and immediately let go, taking a large step backwards. "Sorry, I don't know- why I did that..." They watched as Xisuma essentially passed out, everyone else in the room gasping. Uh oh...

"He probably got no sleep last night," Fwhip said, and Grian pursed his  lips. "The guy runs until he's so exhausted that he can't even function."

Yeah, that's totally why that happened, yep.

Zedaph sighed. "I'll take him to the infirmary," he said. "Hopefully they won't send him home."

"Why not?" Jimmy asked, sitting on top of a table in the corner. He was kicking his feet, too.

The band members exchanged awkward glances.

"Family issues."
"He's homeless."
"His house burnt down."
"His parents are bullies."

Everybody looked at each other again after they'd all spoken at the same time.

"Really, Scar?" Fwhip said. "He's homeless?"

Scar huffed. "You just said that his house burnt down," he retorted.

"I'm just going to go now," Zedaph said, pulling one of Xisuma's arms over his shoulders. "I probably won't be back for a bit. Go ahead and practice without me!"

"How exactly are we meant to practice without a bass player?" Scar deadpanned after Zed was gone. "Hey, that necklace is cool," he said, noticing Grian's glowing pendant. "It looks just like mine." He pulled out a black obsidian crystal as Grian hid his beneath his hand. "My grandma gave it to me."

Grian nodded. "That's... cool," he said awkwardly.

"But mine never glows like that," Scar continued. "Is it LED?"

"LED?"

"Yeah, like, it has little lights in it."

"Oh. Um... yeah, it's a DLE."

Fwhip blinked. "That's an autoimmune disorder," he pointed out, very obviously trying not to laugh. "It's LED."

Grian rolled their eyes. "Whatever, you obviously know what I meant," they huffed.

"What's an autoim- autoim-moon disorder?" Jimmy struggled to ask, making Grian sigh.

"It's, like... when you're sick," Scar answered, and Fwhip ran a hand down his face.

"It's when your immune system attacks your healthy cells instead of the sick ones," Fwhip said.

Jimmy paused as if processing the information, then shrugged. "I have no idea what that means."

"I think Jimmy and I have overstayed our welcome," Grian said suddenly with a smile that was little too bright. "Come on, Jimmy." Jimmy jumped off the table and started toward the smaller.

"But you didn't even hear us practice," Scar frowned.

"Uh... We'll come back another time," Grian said. "I need to find where that brat went."

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" Grian grabbed Jimmy's wrist. "We'll be out of your hair now." He pulled Jimmy with him, closing the door as they left the room. "Holy shit, they have a lot of magic," they breathed, staring down at their pendant.

Jimmy frowned. "But this place doesn't have magic."

Grian let out a low, menacing chuckle that made Jimmy shiver. "Oh, yes, it does," he said. "And I'm going to take all of it and make everyone adore me."

"You... you mean us, right?" Jimmy said nervously.

Grian rolled his eyes again, waving a hand. "Yeah, yeah, you'll get some, too," he said. "Be patient, will you?"

"Right..."

Chapter 4

"Oh, Bdubs!" The boy turned at hearing his name to face the choir instructor, who was waving a flyer at him. "You might want to take a look at this."

Confused, Bdubs walked over and took the piece of paper from her. His eyes widened as he read over it, a smile growing on his lips. "I can't believe it..."

 

•°•

 

"Ah, look who decided to show up for practice today," Zedaph teased as Tango walked through the door. "And you're early, as well."

Tango laughed. "Nice to see you, too, babe," he said, walking over to Zed to kiss him.

Zed hummed into the kiss before pulling away. "Did lacrosse get cancelled?" he asked, his gaze flicking to the other's cheek. He gasped. "What on Earth caused that?" There was a large bruise on the side of Tango's face, and a small cut that was starting to scab.

"I... got into some drama with the guys on the team," Tango admitted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Zedaph frowned and puffed his cheeks out, almost scowling at his boyfriend. He set his bass down and hopped off the small stage to grab his backpack. "The next time you get into a fight, I'm going to smack you," he huffed. He pulled out a first aid kit, then beckoned Tango over to the table. "Sit down."

Tango sighed defeatedly. "It's not my fault," he groaned as he sat down. "This freshman keeps talking down about you like he doesn't know I'm your boyfriend." He grimaced when Zed poked at his bruise.

"As much as I appreciate the whole knight-in-shining-armour act," the smaller boy said, "I appreciate a lot more when you don't get beat up every other day." He sighed. "And by a freshman, too."

Tango gasped. "Dude, you're supposed to be on my side!" he pouted, leaving Zedaph giggling uncontrollably. "Oh, yeah, yeah, laugh it up, cutie." He couldn't help but smile, though, seeing the joyous look on Zed's face as he tried to stop laughing. "What's so funny about a little bruise on my cheek from a freshman?" he asked in an almost teasing manner.

Zed wiped at his eye. "Maybe because you're this giant, beefy senior that looks like he takes candy from babies," he joked, reaching over to flick Tango on the forehead. He sighed, much more contently this time. "You're so silly."

"But you love it."

"Hmmm..."

"Huh?! What do you mean, 'hmmm'?"

Zed shrugged without saying another word and turned to walk away when Tango grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto his lap. "Oh-" He laughed as Tango kissed his cheek.

"Are you making fun of me?" Tango asked playfully.

"Pfft, nooo, of course not," Zed replied before bursting into a fit of giggles again as Tango began to tickle him. "T-Tango-" Zed looked up at Tango and gasped, though still squirming. "Wait, Tango, stop-"

Tango rolled his eyes, grinning. "Oh, you're not getting out that eas-"

"Tango, your hair is on fire," Zedaph interrupted, and Tango froze.

"What."

 

•°•

 

"I'm fine, Keralis," Xisuma said for the umpteenth time now as they walked down the hallway, sighing whilst Keralis checked him for injury - again. "I'm serious, they didn't do anything."

Keralis gave a look of disbelief, raising a single brow.

"Oh, my- Keralis, I'm fine," Xisuma said sternly.

Keralis still didn't look like he believed him. "You were late for school, first of all," he started. "Which is just ever so slightly concerning because you've never had a tardy in your life."

"Not true."

"Totally is true."

Xisuma smiled and rolled his eyes.

Keralis grabbed his hand to get his attention, but it really only made him blush. "I'm being serious about this, Shashwam," he said.

"And so am I!" Xisuma said. "I promise, they didn't so anything to me. The worst that happened was that my dad yelled at me for having to be picked up early."

Keralis groaned. "I hate your dad."

Xisuma sighed. "I mean, he has the right to be upset about having to pick me up early," he mumbled.

"Yeah, but the bastard doesn't have a job and drinks all day," Keralis said, but X wasn't really listening. He was too distracted by a faint screaming. "He has nothing to be upset about aside from having to get his fat ass off the sofa-"

"Keralis."

"-and actually do something with his life-"

"Keralis-"

"which is fucking pathetic because-"

"Keralis." The brunette in question blinked and stared at Xisuma in slight confusion. "Please tell me you can hear Zedaph and Tango screaming, too, and I'm not crazy," X said nervously.

Keralis took a second to listen, then made eye contact with Xisuma before both of them started running toward the practice room.

When they got there, Zedaph and Tango were both covered in foam, pressumably from a fire extinguisher, and shouting. It was difficult to tell who was who with their faces covered until they started saying actual words instead of just yelling.

"How are you still on fire?!" Zed shouted from on the small stage.

"I don't know!" Tango yelled back, his hair wildly aflame.

Keralis squeezed past Xisuma and grabbed Tango by the shoulders. "Breathe, Tango," he ordered, and Tango shut up. "Take a deep breath and relax."

Tango nodded and did as he was told, the flame on his head slowly dying until it was completely gone.

"Good." Keralis moved to wipe some of the foam off of Tango's head, but pulled his hand away when his fingers were burned. He mumbled something to himself that Xisuma couldn't hear.

"So, uh..." Xisuma stepped inside the room. "Why, or rather how, was Tango on fire?" he asked. "And how did breathing put it out?"

Keralis glanced at Xisuma then looked away again nervously.

Xisuma narrowed his eyes. "You know something."

"Do I?" Keralis said in mock innocence.

"Oh, you definitely do."

Keralis stepped away from Tango and pursed his lips. "Well-"

"Oh. My. God." The four of them turned to see Bdubs and Scar standing in the doorway, flabbergasted. "What the hell happened over here?" Bdubs demanded as Scar walked into the room and over toward the closet.

Zedaph sighed. "Too much," he said exhaustedly. He walked over to Tango and reached up to cup his cheeks, hesitating slightly at how warm the taller boy's face was. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Zed," Tango said softly. "At... least I think so."

"You're not in any pain at all?"

Tango laughed. "Surprisingly enough, no."

Zedaph frowned, but backed off. "If you say so..."

Xisuma poked Keralis' arm. "You know why Tango's hair was on fire," he said, his voice laced with suspicion, "don't you?" Keralis looked away in hopes that X wouldn't keep pestering him about it. "Keraliiiiiissss," Xisuma drawled, hugging one of the taller's arms and leaning into him. "You promised not to keep secrets from me." He batted his eyelashes innocently.

Keralis sighed. "I shouldn't really tell you, though," he mumbled, just loud enough for Xisuma to hear.

"I think you should."

"I should not."

"You totally should."

"Would you two boyfriends stop flirting and help clean this shit up?" Bdubs asked, making Xisuma flush. The keytarist smirked. "I see you all flustered over there, X."

Xisuma turned away to hide his face from Keralis so he wouldn't see him blushing. He was always teased for being so close to Keralis, but he really didn't understand why his friends joked about it so much. He didn't actually like Keralis like that, they were just really good friends. "Shut up," he murmured in embarrassment, causing everyone to laugh.

"Hey, what's this?" Scar picked up a piece of paper that fell out of Bdubs' bag and gasped. "We got a gig at the Swaggon Café?!" he practically squealed.

Everybody aside from Bdubs stopped what they were doing to look at Scar. "What?!" they shouted in unison.

"How long were you planning on hiding this very important information from us, hmmmm?" Scar questioned Bdubs, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did you just expect me to share that when the entire room is covered in fire extinguisher guts because Tango was on fire?"

Scar blinked. "That's a good point."

Zedaph gasped. "That's, like, where the best bands play," he said, bouncing on his toes.

"I didn't think we'd actually get the gig," Xisuma breathed, too shocked to know what else to say. "That's... that's amazing!"

"What's amazing?" Grian's very recognisable voice said from the door.

Xisuma looked over. "Oh, we got a gig at this really awesome place called the Swaggon Café," he explained as Grian came inside and sat down on a chair nearby X. "It's not an actual café, it's more of just a stage that serves concessions. All kinds of bands play there, and there's always huge crowds there every night."

Grian nodded slowly. "I see... Huge crowds are useful," they mumbled. "Maybe I could try to play there some time."

"Look, you guys," Bdubs sighed, "don't get too excited, okay? The gig isn't for another two weeks."

"Yeah, two weeks that will sneak up on us if we don't hurry up and decide what songs we're doing," Zedaph huffed, smiling.

Bdubs rolled his eyes. "Relax," he groaned. "You're always so excitable. It's honestly embarrassing."

Zed's smile faded and stepped slightly closer to Tango.

Scar frowned. "What the heck?" he said. "I hope you're not saying that you're not excited to play at the Swaggon Café? Because I think that's a lot more embarrassing."

"You're embarrassing, Scar," Bdubs scoffed, making Scar confused. "Oh, don't give me that look. You're so stupid, and you don't know jack shit about anything. It's so annoying."

Scar let out a frustrated hmph. "Your constant bad attitude is annoying," he said.

The two began to argue and Zed tucked himself against Tango's side, practically shrinking at Bdubs and Scar shouted at each other. Xisuma glanced over at Grian, who was watching them intently as if it was some kind of really tense and interesting movie they were watching. But it left X confused.

Scar and Bdubs never used to fight like that. They always got along so perfectly. Hell, they were just as close as Xisuma and Keralis were. What happened to them?

"You know what?" Bdubs said. "Fuck that stupid gig, I quit."

Xisuma gasped.

Scar huffed. "Yeah? Well- Well, I quit, too!"

Bdubs glared at me. "You can't quit, that's just copying me!"

"Is not!"

"Is, too!"

"Oh, my god," Zedaph groaned. "You guys sound like children!"

"I guess it's a good thing you won't have to deal with me anymore, then," Bdubs said, grabbing his bag.

Zed rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "I never liked dealing with you in the first place."

Bdubs didn't say anything before storming out the room, Scar following close behind. Even through the door, which Scar had slammed, Xisuma could still hear them bickering.

"What... just happened?" Xisuma stared at the door. "They didn't actually quit... did they?"

"I certainly hope they did," Zedaph grumbled. "I can't stand them."

Xisuma turned to look at him. "What is wrong with you?" he asked meekly. "You guys are friends."

Zed didn't respond, just pouting.

Keralis glanced over at Grian and scowled, though Grian grinned up at him slyly before getting up and plastering back on his typical happy expression.

"This feels like a good time for me to leave," they said, stretching their arms over their head. "I've got some things I need to take care of."

Keralis didn't take his eyes off of Grian as he waved and bid his goodbyes, earning cheerful responses from the other three.

Xisuma sighed. "This is a mess," he breathed. "We just got this gig, but we've lost two important members."

"I mean, I'm still here," Tango said. "I play synth, too, you know."

"I know, but Bdubs is just as important as you are," Xisuma said. "We're all important to the band. And now we're without a lead singer and a keytarist."

 

•°•

 

"Keralis definitely knows," Grian muttered to himself as he studied pictures of each member of Stage Revolution that he'd met so far, plus Keralis and Etho. "The white-haired guy definitely doesn't have any magic at all, so I don't have to worry about him. But Keralis..." They sighed. "He's going to be a difficult target. There's no way he'll let me touch him long enough for me to get much from him, and whatever magic he has isn't affected by mine. Neither is X..." He rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "They must have some sort of dark magic, then. Perhaps Void manipulation, but I can't say for sure." They narrowed their eyes at Keralis' picture. "He's definitely not human. Maybe an Eldritch being? Ugh, but what possible source of energy could you have on this stupid rock planet?"

Giving up for now, he set aside Keralis', Xisuma's, and Etho's pictures and turned his attention to Scar, Zedaph, and Bdubs. "These three are definitely affected the most," they noted. "They must have some kind of very pure light magic. It's obvious that Zedaph has a form of healing magic. There's no other explanation to what I felt the other night at that diner when I touched him. Bdubs is pretty sensitive, but I have no idea what he could possibly have. And Scar..." He sighed and leaned back in his seat, taking the picture of Scar into his hands and staring at it closely. Shaking his head, he put the picture down. "He's got to have enchantment magic," they said. "There's no other way to explain how I feel about him. Enchantment magic always attracts pure dark magic users more than others." He stared at the picture for just a moment more before setting it aside with the others.

"Tango definitely has fire magic," they mumbled. "I'd be an absolute buffoon if I couldn't tell that after today." They pushed Tango's picture aside, not needing to think any further on it. "Joel must have a kind of heat-related magic as well. It would explain his short fuse and low tolerance. Impulse could possibly have heat-related magic, but he has a pretty good grip on his temper. I'll have to look more into him." They set those two aside. "Fwhip..." He sighed. "I don't know enough about you yet. Nothing in particular stands out, which is strange to say the absolute least considering how much power you have."

Yawning, Grian shook his head. "I need more information on these guys before I actually make a plan, but..." Their eyes landed on Zed's picture. "With Bdubs and Scar being pretty much free food, you've got the biggest target on your back. Not to mention how gullible and trusting you are." His lips curled into a grin and he laughed lowly.

"This is going to be fun."

Chapter 5

"I though you had band practice," Etho said, pulling up to the curb in his truck.

Bdubs huffed. "I quit," he answered, then loaded his instrument into the back seat before hopping in the front.

Etho's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

Bdubs opened his mouth to answer, but paused. He didn't have an answer. There wasn't a single reason he could recall to why he quit the band. "I... I don't know..."

"You don't have a reason?" Etho asked, obviously trying not to laugh.

Bdubs shook his head, scowling at the dashboard. "I did have one," he said. "But I can't remember what it was..."

 

•°•

 

Scar threw the front door to his appartment open and dropped his backpack on the floor. He was furious. Why? He didn't exactly know. He was just angry.

He sat down on the sofa and sighed, thinking about what had happened. He gasped. "Did I seriously quit?" he muttered to himself.

"Quit what?"

Scar jumped, looking over to see Pearl standing in the doorway to the kitchen and eating a bowl of ice cream. "You scared me," he huffed, crossing his arms.

Pearl giggled. "Oops." She was the landlord's daughter. Ever since she met Scar and became friends with him, she just... showed up whenever. "You didn't quit that cute little boy band, did you?"

"I- Cute little boy band?" He scoffed. "It's a very note-cute big man band, thank you very much," he said, making her laugh. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, nothing."
He gave her a judging glance before shrugging. "You didn't answer my question, Scar."

Scar pursed his lips and looked away. "I did," he mumbled.

"Aww, why?" she asked, then shoved a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. "You loved those guys."

"I don't know why."

Pearl blinked. "You don't know why you quit?"

He shook his head. "I was angry, I think," he said. "But I can't remember why."

Pearl shrugged, snorting in amusement. "You're strange, Scar."

 

•°•

 

"Hey, guys," Shelby said as she entered the room. "Sorry, I'm a little late. Katherine wanted to show me-" She paused, suddenly sensing the thick atmosphere. "-something..." She looked at Xisuma, who sat a seat away from Keralis at the table, which in itself was crazy because they were constantly just inches from each other. Then she looked at Zedaph as he mumbled quietly to Tango as he looked like he was checking the taller boy for injuries. Fwhip and Impulse were over on the little stage having a quiet conversation, Joel was on his phone behind the drumset, and False was at the other side of the room. "Is everything okay?"

Xisuma looked up at her and stole a glance at Keralis for a split second before sighing. "Tango's hair caught on fire again, Keralis knows something but won't tell us" - he shot a quick glare at his friend when he said this - "and it turns out Scar and Bdubs were both serious about quitting yesterday, right after we just got a gig at the Swaggon Café."

Shelby blinked. "Oh. Wow..."

"Yeah." Xisuma glanced back at Keralis. "And it would just be so helpful to know why Tango keeps catching on fire," he said. "But, noooo, Keralis wants to be a douche about it."

Keralis rolled his eyes. "I asked you to stop pushing about it," he sighed.

"And I asked you to not keep secrets from me, but here we are," Xisuma huffed with his arms crossed. "No, you promised you wouldn't keep secrets from me."

"This isn't a secret-"

"Then why aren't you telling me?"

"Because."

Xisuma quirked a brow at him. "That's not an answer," he said, choosing to ignore the face Keralis made. "Why won't you tell me?"

Keralis turned away, very obviously trying to hide that he was angry. "There's a time and place for it," he said decisively, "and this is not it. Besides, the whole band needs to be together for the conversation anyway."

"The whole band is here."

"Scar and Bdubs aren't."

Xisuma let out a loud and overdramatic groan. "They aren't in the band anymore!" he shouted as he stood up. "Just tell us!"

"I said, no."

"Are you serious?" X took a shaky breath. "You know why Tango was on fire and why it went out when he calmed down, and you promised not to keep things from me, so why won't you tell me?"

Keralis looked over his shoulder, glaring coldly. "Your pestering is annoying," he grumbled, surprising everyone. "Sit down and be quiet."

Xisuma froze, his eyes wide, then nodded and sat back down without saying another word.

 

•°•

 

"Shashwammy, wait," Keralis said as Xisuma was walking out the door after practice. The latter sighed and stopped.

"What?"

"I want to apologize," Keralis said quietly. "I didn't mean to snap at you earlier."

Xisuma looked away, shrugging. "It's fine," he murmured. "I shouldn't have pushed about it, so it's really my fault."

Keralis frowned. "It's not your fault," he said sternly. "It's mine, I should know better."

X shrugged again and stuck his hands in his pockets. "It's not like I'm not used to being snapped at by now," he said with a small laugh. "But seriously, it's fine."

"...You're sure?"

"No, I'm Xisuma."

Keralis blinked, then snickered, returning Xisuma's bright smile.

"We're going to get frozen custard," X said, "if you wanted to come. I mean, it's technically a band thing, but, uh..."

"Yes, I'll pay for your frozen custard," Keralis teased with a sly smile, walking past Xisuma and out the door.

Xisuma's face flushed. "Wha- I wasn't asking you to pay for me!" he said, embarrassed. "I just wanted you to come with." He went quiet for a moment as he walked down the hallway with Keralis. "You don't think that's the only reason I invite you to things, do you...?"

Keralis looked at X, but he didn't look back at him. "Of course not," he answered. "And I'm happy to pay for you if you need me to."

Xisuma smiled fondly at him. "Thank you." He sighed happily. "I really do love you." His cheeks turned bright red when Keralis gave him a slightly puzzled look, and he shook his head frantically. "No, uh, I meant- I love, er, hanging out with you!" He let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, hanging out... with you... I love hanging out. With you. Because we're friends, and friends hang out with each other. Not, like, romantically or anything. Just- just friends. Because we're friends! And I love being your friend because I love you. But- but as a friend! Not, like, in a weird... way..." He trailed off, ducking his head in embarrassment to avoid meeting Keralis' gaze. Dear god...

Keralis snickered, then burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the rest of the band down the hall. Man, did X love that sound. "Yeah, I get it," he said. "I love you, too. As a friend."

Xisuma couldn't explain the turns his stomach did when Keralis spoke, but it was weird. And he thought about it the whole walk to the parlor. He never thought before that he actually liked Keralis like that, but maybe he did. It would explain the nervousness he felt whenever he was around him, and also how flustered he got when Keralis got close to him.

But that what would mean he was gay. He'd be disowned for sure if his father found out. X looked up at Keralis, who was laughing with Tango, and smiled softly. Then again, he doesn't have to know...

"You alright, 'Zuma?" Zedaph asked, holding the door to the parlor open.

Xisuma blinked and looked over at Zed, not having realized that they were already there. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said with a smile. "Just lost in thought."

Zedaph nodded. "Just making sure."

They sat down and ordered their desserts, then Xisuma pulled out the head charts of all the songs they were currently working on.

"Alright, False," he said, "which songs are we playing for the gig?"

False looked up from her phone, blinking in confusion. "Huh? Me?" She blinked again. "Why am I choosing?"

X glanced away for a moment. "I, uh... I just thought since this was kinda Scar's job, that maybe it was yours now because you're our lead singer now," he explained nervously. "But you don't have to pick."

"I think you should be the one to pick, X," Impulse said, shoving a spoonful of his heavily topped frozen custard into his mouth. Honestly, it was like he got every topping with a small side of custard.

"Why me?"

Impulse shrugged. "I mean, you take the most initiative in the band," he said. "And you do have every part for all of the songs. Not to mention you're lead guitarist and a singer."

Xisuma rolled his eyes. "Back-up, actually."

"Still!" Impulse set his bowl down on the table. "What do you get when you put lead and guitar together? Leadar. Which... sounds pretty weird, but you get what I mean. You should be the new leader of the band."

Xisuma sighed. "Fine, then we'll take a vote on which songs we'll play," he said. "Who wants to play A Match Into Water?" He looked up at the rest of the band members, who all gave him confused and upset looks. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Are you serious?" Joel deadpanned. "Why can't you just accept that we want you to choose the songs?"

X shifted in his seat. "I just... I mean... Well-" He sighed. "Fine. We'll do..." He frowned. I shouldn't pick A Match Into Water, he thought. Fwhip was saying that the strumming pattern was too difficult. I don't want him to struggle with it. He sighed. But I really want to pick that one...

"What about Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea?" False suggested. "That one's fun."

Xisuma nodded. "Okay. That sounds good. What else?"

"I like that one song we played once by Mother Mother, I think it was," Shelby said. "Burning Pile maybe?"

"Okay." X wrote down both songs and looked back up at them. "What other songs do you guys want to play?"

Joel sighed. "Since we're doing the voting thing anyway," he drawled, "I guess A Match Into Water." Fwhip sighed when he said that.

Xisuma nodded as he scribbled down the song title. "One more song."

Zedaph, Tango, and Impulse looked at each other before saying in perfect unison, "I Miss Having Sex But At Least I Don't Want To Die." The three of them burst into laughter, making Xisuma smile.

"And that's our fourth song, then."

 

•°•

 

"Goodnight, Shashwammy," Keralis called as Xisuma walked up to his porch. "Get some sleep!"

X rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I will," he said. "Goodnight!"

Keralis waited until Xisuma was inside the house with the door closed, then closed his eyes to see Xisuma sneaking up the stairs to his bedroom. Once he was safe inside, Keralis opened his eyes and walked away.

 

•°•

 

"Xelqua, the spirit of the heavens. An all-knowing being created by the Watchers that's capable of virtually anything."

Underneath the short paragraph was a picture of a very feminine and faceless person dressed in white robes and a halo with hundreds of eyes surrounding them.

"Aemor, the spirit of the stag. A twisted representation of fertility, sensitivity, and wisdom that is capable of using these aspects to manipulate and brainwash mortals."

There was a picture of a translucent, ghost-like person with stag horns also dressed in white robes with tons of gold jewelry.

"Posedius, the spirit of the siren. An alluring and powerful being known to have an endless amount of appearances, each one formed from the idea of beauty in the minds of whoever looks their way, that is capable possessing and luring victims with their charm."

The picture beneath the paragraph was of a rather scary looking mermaid perched on a rock, looking like they were singing.

Keralis sighed and closed the book. "I don't think they'll ever believe me," he sighed.

Chapter 6

Xisuma flopped down on his bed and sighed. Neither of his parents were home, which was a huge relief. He thought of practicing the songs for the gig since there was no one there to yell at him, but he was just too tired.

He turned over on his side and stared at a bottle of water that sat on his desk on the other side of his room. He subconsciously held out his hand, wishing the bottle would teleport to him so he wouldn't have to get up.

He watched, practically unfazed, as what looked like a miniature black hole opened up under the bottle, sucking it up as another hole opened just above his hand. The bottle fell from the hole and into his hand.

Huh. He sat up and opened it. That was awfully convenient. He took a long, satisfying drink. Surprisingly, it was nice and cold. Closing the bottle, he sat it on his nightstand and laid back down.

He sighed contently and closed his eyes to sleep, then his eyes shot open and he stared uncomfortably at the bottle as he suddenly realised what happened.

Wait, what.

 

•°•

Zedaph sighed as he slowly made his way down the hallway, lugging a double bass with him. He'd been due to bring it into school for the jazz combo he was in, but he never really got the chance to because of all the practices scheduled for Stage Revolution. And now he was pulling the stupid thing all the way to the end of the music hall. On a Saturday.

"Hey, Zed," Xisuma called from down the hallway.

Zedaph stopped and peeked around the giant instrument, then smiled. "Oh, hey, 'Zuma," he said happily.

"Want some help with that?" Xisuma asked, but he was already moving to help him anyway.

"Ah, thank you," Zed sighed. "This thing is just so heavy. I don't know how some people can just pick it up and carry it."

Xisuma chuckled. "I know what you mean," he said. "I've had to help Joel move drumset a few times and he just picks up the thing and-" He gasped, jumping back when the dolly rolled over his foot. "Ow-"

Zedaph stopped. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm- I'm fine... I think," X answered, his voice strained. "Damn, that hurts." He lifted his leg to rub the top of his shoe like it would help his foot feel better.

Zed frowned, then subconsciously moved to hold Xisuma's foot, both of his hands glowing a soft, warm yellow.

Xisuma blinked, his foot automatically feeling much better. In fact, his entire body felt better. He was more energised, less achy, and was in a much better mood all of a sudden. "Uh, Zed-"

Once his hands stopped glowing, Zedaph stepped back and stared at them. "What-"

"-the hell-"

"-was that?"

The two of them looked at each other, sharing the same dumbfounded look.

"Are you two just going to stand there?"

Xisuma and Zed jumped and turned to see Scott giving them an unimpressed look with their arms crossed.

"Oh, sorry," Zed apologized, moving the double bass over so they could get through. "I didn't mean to get in your... way?"

As Scott passed by, they put their hand on Zed's shoulder. "I saw that, by the way," they whispered before leaving.

Zedaph blinked, watching in confusion as they walked away. "Saw what?"

Xisuma sighed. "I guess they saw what you did to my foot," he said, leaning against the wall. "Speaking of... what did you do to my foot?"

"I... I don't know," the blonde answered. "I just felt like I was supposed to, like... touch your foot, and then my hands started to glow..."

X hummed to himself, recalling what had happened to him that night. "You know," he said, "something like this happened to me last night. Except, nothing really glowed and I didn't get run over by an acoustic bass." That part made Zedaph laugh.

"What happened?"

"I was looking at this water bottle, and to be honest, I was being pretty lazy just wishing it would teleport to me," he chuckled as he said this. "But then there was, like- this black hole and it brought the water bottle to my hand. It was awfully convenient, but it was so strange."

Zed sighed. "You think you could wish my bass to the jazz room?" he joked.

 

•°•

 

"Ugh, I can't reach it," Fwhip complained, his arm shoved beneath Joel's sofa. "My arm is too big."

Fwhip been staying at Joel's house for the past couple of weeks because his parents were out on a business trip in another country. And now he was trying to reached his phone, which had fallen behind the sofa that couldn't be moved due to the utter lack of space in Joel's living room.

"That's what she said," Joel muttered, then quickly cleared his throat continued speaking. "Try fitting your leg under there."

Fwhip looked up at Joel, an incredulous look on his face. "Do you really think my leg is going to fit under there if my arm can't?"

Joel shrugged. "Just a suggestion."

"Jeez, if only I was smaller-" Fwhip was cut off when suddenly he was lifted off of the ground for a split second before falling onto his ass. "Ow, what the hell was that?" He stood up and rubbed his sore behind, then looked up to see what looked like Joel's sandal, but huge.

What?

Craning his neck further, Fwhip could see Joel looking around.

"Oh my god, I'm tiny," Fwhip breathed.

Joel must've heard him because he looked down and his eyes widened in surprise. The brunette got on his knees and lowered his head so he could get a better look at Fwhip. "Look at you!" he shouted, the volume of his voice seeming to shake the ground under Fwhip's feet. "You're like a rat!"

Fwhip rolled his eyes. "How did this happen?" he asked, and Joel shrugged. Helpful much?

"No clue," he said, "but that's pretty damn cool. See if you can get your phone now."

"Oh, right!" Fwhip rushed over toward the sofa, just small enough to fit underneath. He felt around for his phone, then had to tug hard to move it. Eventually, he decided on pushing it out instead, which worked much better.

Fwhip was panting by the time that he was out from under the furniture.

"There you go," Joel said. "Now, uh... get big again."

Fwhip froze. He didn't know how to do that.

Shit.

 

•°•

 

Bdubs hummed to himself as he worked on his math homework. It was a song he'd played with the band once, but he couldn't quite remember the name. As he continued to hum and try to focus, he found that he was subconsciously fingering chords with his free hand. It quickly became distracting once he noticed it, and before he knew it, half an hour had gone by and he only got a few questions done.

Sighing, he pushed his chair away from the desk and stood up to make his way to his cased keytar in the corner of his room. The only way to get over this was to play the stupid song to get it out of his head.

As he started to play, he could feel his mood lifting and getting happier. And he sounded good for not having the actual music. He started to improvise when he got bored of playing the same part over and over, getting into it and dancing as he played.

It felt so good to just... play what he wanted with nobody to tell him he came in late or he's dragging the tempo or he's playing notes outside of the key signature. It was just him and his instrument, playing whatever the hell he wanted. Not to mention the ego boost it gave him.

Suddenly, his keytar began to glow a bright yellow before shrinking in width and growing in length, and in the blink of an eye, Bdubs was suddenly holding a katana.

"What the fuck?!" he shouted, throwing the sword. When it hit the ground, it did the same thing except in reverse, leaving his instrument lying on the floor. "Am I going crazy...?" Cautiously, he knelt down and touched the keytar, and it turned back into the sword. When he let go, it went back to being an instrument.

"I'm totally crazy."

 

•°•

 

Tango and Impulse were hanging out when, all of a sudden, their band group chat started to blow up with what seemed like hundreds of messages.

 

Zed
guys, we seriously need to talk.
right now.

Shubble
What's wrong???

Gremlin
in albsox nberd 2 tslk

False
Huh

Joel
He also needs to talk, he said
You see
He's sort of
Well
Um
Tiny?

Zuma
I'm sorry, he's what.

Imp
Why is Fwhip tiny?

Joel
No clue
He just turned like that
Or something
Idk

Zed
well my hands just glowed when i touched zuma's foot

False
Why were you touching Xisuma's foot??

Joel
BAHAHA

Zuma
Dear lord

Zed
omg you guys are so GROSS 🙄
i accidently ran him over with my double bass and it hurt his foot
i'm still not sure why
but
i touched it and it like
got better?
idk how to explain it

Zuma
I think it might have something to do with Tango's hair fetching fire
Catheter*
Catching*

Bdubs
hey...
so ik im not supposed to be here bc i quit n all
but on the topic of weird things
my keytar turns into a literal fucking SWORD whenever i touch it

Zed
oh no

Zuma
I've also had a weird experience.
Last night my water bottle basically teleported to me

False
I think maybe we should meet up to talk about this
Bdubs, you can come, too

Bdubs
you sure?

False
If you don't come I'll burn your homework

Bdubs
fiiiiine

Shubble
Where should we meet?

Zuma
What about the Froyo Place

Joel
You just want froyo
Admit it, X

Zuma
... No comment.

 

•°•

 

"Hey, Keralis," Xisuma said as soon as his friend answered the phone.

"Hey, Shashwammy. What's up?"

"Can you come to the Froyo Place?" X drawled. "Pretty please?"

Keralis laughed. "Why, so I can pay for you?" he joked.

Xisuma froze. "I... N-no, I just..." He blinked. We had this conversation already, X, he told himself. He knows you aren't inviting him so he can pay for you. It's only a joke. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "The band is having a, uh... a meeting, so-to-speak. I think it's important that you're here as well."

"Oh... Okay, then. I'll be there in five."

Xisuma sighed, relieved. "Okay, thank you."

"Of course. See you there."

"Bye." Xisuma sighed again as Keralis hung up.

Now that the rest of us are experiencing weird things, he'll have to tell us why Tango's hair keeps catching on fire.

Chapter 7

"Hey, what's up?"

X gasped and stood up. "Keralis!" Like before with his water, a hole opened up beneath him and sucked him in before dropping him right in front of his friend. He blushed at their proximity, the two of them practically touching noses. "Oh, uh, sorry," he said with a nervous laugh as he stepped back a bit.

Keralis stared wide-eyed at Xisuma. "Did you just-"

"Yeah, see, that's the thing we're having a meeting about," the shorter boy said, taking Keralis by the hand and leading him over to the table. "We've all been doing weird things, like how Tango's hair keeps catching on fire." He pulled out a seat for Keralis to sit in. "And you, my friend, are going to explain because it's obvious you know what's causing this, if you're not the cause of it period."

Keralis shook his head. "I'm not telling you," he said.

"Great, so have a seat and-" Xisuma froze and looked up at Keralis. "What?"

"I'm not telling you," he repeated, much more sternly than the last time. "None of you are ready. This wasn't supposed to happen so soon."

"Aha!" Xisuma jabbed his finger at Keralis' chest. "You do know what's causing this."

Keralis swatted X's hand away. "And?"

Xisuma huffed. "Come on, Keralis, why can't you tell us?" he whined. "What happened and why did it happen 'too soon'? Why aren't we ready? Why-"

"Would you stop?!" Keralis shouted, and Xisuma flinched. "I don't have to tell you, so I won't. I need time to think it over first."

Bdubs stood up. "Keralis, I'm sick of this bullshit," he sighed. "You act like we don't have the right to know. Not to mention that you seem to think we're not affected more than you are. You need to tell us what's going on."

"I need more time," Keralis said.

"You think I give a fuck?"

"Guys, stop," Zedaph intervened, his entire body glowing again. "Fighting isn't going to help our situation. All of you need to sit down and relax." He looked at Keralis. "That includes you."

Bdubs and X both looked at Keralis, Bdubs glaring and Xisuma sighing. "Alright," the three of them said in unison, then took their seats. Xisuma moved to sit on the other side of Bdubs instead of next to Keralis.

"Good," Zed huffed, taking his own seat again. "Now, everybody needs to explain their own experience so Keralis might actually be persuaded to tell us why this is happening."

"Wait," Keralis said. "Where's Fwhip?"

"I'm down here," a quiet voice said, its pitch slightly higher than Fwhip's, and Keralis looked down to see the ginger, no bigger than a mouse, standing on the table in front of Joel.

"Oh."

Joel laughed. "Yeah, it's actually really funny how this happened," he said. "Fwhio dropped his phone under the sofa, and when he tried to get it, he wished he was smaller, and then- poof! He was tiny."

Keralis nodded slowly.

"I've been turning whatever I touch into weapons," Bdubs said dryly, then picked up a spoon that immediately turned into a dagger. "And when I put it down" - he set the utensil on the table to demonstrate - "it turns back into whatever it was before. But it's different every time. When I was playing my keytar earlier, it turned into a katana. This chair turned into a fucking mace, and then obviously the spoon turned into a dagger."

"I keep glowing," Zedaph said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "It's pretty boring compared to everyone else's, uh... things."

Keralis sighed. "And Tango's been catching on fire, and Shashwa-"

"Xisuma," X corrected.

Keralis paused for a moment. "...And Xisuma can teleport items," he said, then sighed again. "Has anyone else experienced anything weird? And have you heard from Scar?"

Shelby raised her gloved hand shyly. "I, uh- I grow these weird vines and mosses whenever I touch anything with my bare hands," she said. "Which... is kind of why I'm wearing gloves. And why they're also green and fuzzy."

"Anybody else?" Keralis asked again, and the rest of them shook their heads. "Alright." He stood up. "Then I'm leaving."

"What?!" everyone shouted together.

"I'm not telling you anything until all of your spirits are-" He stopped himself, then turned around. "Goodnight."

As he started to walk away, Xisuma called after him, "You're a dick!"

 

•°•

"We need to get a gig at that Swaggon Café they were talking about," Grian said as he paced back and forth as Jimmy and Scott sat on the sofa in their practice room. "If we do that, we could probably exile one of them from the group and take as much of their magic as we can hold."

Scott sighed. "And what if we can't do that?" they asked. "What if we can't do either of those things."

Grian stopped and glared at Scott, making them shiver. "Doubt me again, I dare you."

Rolling their eyes, Scott shut their mouth and stayed quiet.

"We'll be able to get the gig, but-" They stopped, then lifted a hand to rest on their stomach, frowning. His pendant was glowing brighter than it ever had in the past, and suddenly Scott and Jimmy were alarmed.

"Q, are you alright?" Jimmy asked urgently.

Grian coughed, then nodded. "I'm fine," they said.

"You don't look fine," Scott said, also concerned.

"I said I'm fine," Grian repeated. "Now, let's get back on topic, shall we?"

 

•°•

 

Scar groaned at the notebook on his table. "Why is this so complicated?" he whined.

"What is it?" Pearl asked.

"Stupid quadratics," he pouted.

Pearl snickered. "It's not that complicated," she said, and Scar rolled his eyes. "You just plug in the coefficients and the constant to the formula and solve it."

"I don't even know what a coefficient or a constant is," Scar complained.

"It's the numbers before the variables, Scar." Pearl walled over and sat next to him. "Look, this two is the coefficient of x squared. That's your a. And then this two is the constant, so that's c."

Scar frowned. "But what's b?"

"b is 6," Pearl explained.

"Ohh, okay!" Scar wrote down everything Pearl told him, his tongue sticking out as he did so. He paused when he finished. "What do I do now?"

"Well-" Pearl stopped and blinked as the answer to the equation was written in gold on the paper... except Scar wasn't writing anything at all. "I'm- huh?" She stared at the paper, as did Scar. "Give me your pencil."

Scar obeyed, handing her his pencil. She started to solve it, finding that the answer was correct.

She looked up at him, baffled. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know."

 

•°•

"Are you sure you want to walk home by yourself?" Zed asked as Xisuma got up from the table. "Tango doesn't mind driving you."

"I'll be fine," X assured them, but none of them looked like they believed him. "Seriously, you guys."

Impulse sighed. "Well, if you don't want our help, then we can't force it on you," he said, standing up and shrugging into his jacket. He paused to look at Xisuma. "You need to stop pushing everybody away when people act like how Keralis just did. You're not sneaky trying to hide how anxious you are. We can all see you shaking."

X chewed on the inside of his lip and nodded awkwardly. "Right..." He watched as Impulse, Tango, and Zedaph got ready to leave.

"What are you just standing there for?" Tango asked, confusing Xisuma. "Come on, I'm driving you home."

Sighing, Xisuma grabbed his jacket. "Fine."

They walked out to Tango's truck, Zed claiming the back with X. It was... the exact opposite of quiet, the four of them jamming to System Of A Down the entire way to Xisuma's house. They played Chop Suey! at least five times, and Toxicity even more than that. Xisuma was surprised Zedaph even liked System Of A Down, but a lot of things about Zed surprised him.

Tango turned the music down when he pulled up in front of Xisuma's house, and the latter's body suddenly felt very heavy. There were tons of lights on, which meant he definitely would get caught going in the house, no matter where he went in from. His parents were probably hosting a party.

"We're here," the blonde said. "Do you want us to wait just in case you need to, y'know, get away?"

Xisuma sighed. "Sure, why not?" he said with a soft laugh. "Thanks for the ride, by the way."

"Of course," Zed said for his boyfriend as Xisuma got out of the vehicle. "Tango's always happy to help." Tango and Impulse looked at each other before laughing, confusing Zed. "What are you laughing at?" he asked genuinely.

"Nothing," Impulse said, waving a hand at Zedaph before kissing him.

Ten minutes passed and Tango was about to drive away when Xisuma came running out of the house, soaked. Zed opened the door so X could hop in easily and offered him tissues, the latter wiping stuff off of his face and grimacing.

"What the fuck happened?" Tango asked. "You were only in there for ten minutes."

"Fucking drunkards, that's what happened," Xisuma groaned. "And disgusting, sweaty, old guys thinking it's okay to dump cheap alcohol all over a seventeen-year-old."

Zed sighed. "Hey, at least it wasn't gasoline," he said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Just as flammable," X said, and Zed frowned. "Sorry, Zed."

"Does this mean a sleepover?" Impulse asked, and Zedaph started frantically nodding his head. "That's a yes."

Xisuma shrugged. "I'm down."

Zed tapped Xisuma's shoulder several times, even though he was already paying attention. "We should invite the rest of the band," he said ecstatically. "And Grian, Scott, and Jimmy!"

Tango chuckled. "And whose house do you think is big enough to hold twelve teenagers?" he joked.

"Mine," Zedaph huffed.

Impulse laughed. "Band sleepover plus Grian, Scott, and Jimmy it is, then."

Chapter 8

"It was really nice of you to invite us," Grian said,  smiling as Zed took his coat for him. "I've never had a sleepover before." They glanced over at Scott. "Not any that were enjoyable at least."

Scott sighed and rolled their eyes. "You're not really a bundle of joy, either, Xel," they said, then froze. "Grian, I mean."

Grian gritted their teeth and smiled sarcastically at Scott, grumbling something that nobody else could hear.

"Uh, well, anyway," Zedaph said nervously, handing Grian's coat to Tango for him to hang up. "How about we play some Jackbox?"

"What the fuck is that?" Grian asked.

Impulse laughed. "It's a bunch of games that are super fun to play, especially with a lot of people,' he explained. "If you want, for the first round, you can be in the audience so you can learn how to play."

Grian shrugged. "Sure?"

"I'll get it set up on the Switch," Zed said, rushing over to the TV stand to grab his Nintendo Switch off of its charger.

"Who's going to sit out for the first round?" False asked. "I will if nobody else wants to."

Bdubs hummed. "How many of us are there?" he asked, then pointed to everyone and himself to count. "There's twelve of us, so... if Grian, Scott, and Jimmy are all sitting out of the first game, I guess none of us need to."

The first game they played was Tee K.O., Bdubs' personal favourite. But the winner was Shelby, with her silly shirt that had a picture of an anchor with eyes and a mustache that said "Make it so." There was something so oddly hilarious about it that made everyone vote for it.

In the second round of Tee K.O., Grian and Jimmy played and Xisuma sat out when he got a phone call.

"What do you want, Keralis?" he sighed, walking into Zedaph's kitchen to be away from the others.

"I want to apologise," Keralis said. "For lashing out, and... being a dick."

Xisuma huffed. "So does that mean you're going to tell me what's going on?" he asked, hoping Keralis would say yes.

"...No," he answered, crushing Xisuma's split second of hope. "Not yet. But I'll tell you why, if that will make you not hate me?"

X sighed. "Ffffine," he grumbled. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't have permission," Keralis admitted, and Xisuma's mouth formed a small 'o'. "If even one of you guys doesn't have your sp- weird experience, then I can't tell you. Another thing I will tell you is to be extremely careful around Grian, Scott, and Jimmy. Especially Grian. Don't let them touch you."

Xisuma blinked, confused. "Why?"

Keralis sighed. "Just... trust me?" he requested. "I promise, I will tell you everything once you all have your... experiences."

"I... is there something wrong with them?" Xisuma asked. "Are they like, some evil monsters trying to kill everyone or something?" He paused, then laughed at his own question. "Jeez, of course not, X, they're teenagers. What harm could they do?"

Keralis was silent.

"You there?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry..." Keralis took a deep breath. "Just trust me, please. Grian is not your friend."

Xisuma paused for a moment, then said, "Sure. I should probably go, though. We're playing Jackbox and I think the game is almost over."

"Oooh, Jackbox, you say?" Keralis asked, obviously intrigued. "Win a round of Quiplash for me?"

X giggled. "I'll try."

 

•°•

After several games of Quiplash, Mad Verse City, and Talking Points, the group was pretty much all tuckered out.

"Man, I don't think I could ever eat popcorn again," Impulse groaned jokingly, rubbing his stomach and laughing when he and Tango made eye contact.

"Are you kidding?" Fwhip said. "I'm never touching a bottle of soda ever again!"

Shelby yawned. "Maybe we should go to bed," she suggested, and there was a round of agreements before Zedaph stood up.

"I'll go get the blankets," the blonde said, his boyfriends following after him and insisting that they help.

Joel stopd up and stretched. "Are we all sleeping out here?" he asked.

Fwhip shrugged. "I guess so."

When Zed, Impulse, and Tango came back with the pillows and blankets, they all helped in setting up their "beds" on the living room floor.

Fwhip and Joel ended up sleeping together, practically cuddling each other in their sleep, and Zed, Impulse, and Tango did the same, except on purpose. Scott and Grian slept on opposite ends of the room, Grian next to Xisuma and Scott and Jimmy on the other side of Shelby and False.

Soon, everyone was asleep except for Xisuma.

He sighed, tapping his fingers on his stomach. His phone was charging so he couldn't use it right now, meaning he was just awake. And bored. With nobody to talk to and nothing to do.

But Grian was also awake. He sat upright and huffed, then turned around and patted his pillow, pausing when he noticed X was awake. "Oh, hey."

"Hey," Xisuma echoed, lifting his hand slightly to wave a bit at them. "Do you have insomnia, too?"

Grian sighed and laid back down, still engaged with Xisuma. "You could say it's a curse," he joked, making Xisuma laugh quietly. "I hardly ever get any sleep, ever."

Xisuma smiled slightly. "Me, too," he said. "But you always seem so cheery and energetic. How do you do it?"

Grian shrugged and started playing with their pendant, twisting the crystal between their fingers. "I try my hardest to keep a happy face," they said with another shrug. "I don't like to burden people."

"I know how that feels," X whispered.

They sat in silence for a moment before Grian spoke, changing the entire mood of the conversation.

"Do you like Keralis?" he asked, sitting up, making Xisuma's face turn red.

Boy, am I glad that it's dark right now. "I, uh... Is it that obvious?" he asked, fidgeting with his fingers.

Grian giggled. "A little bit," he teased. "You're always blushing around him." He paused, his expression changing to a not so happy one. "But, uh..." They turned their head away. "There's something you should know about him."

Xisuma sat up now. "...What is it?"

"Keralis and I were speaking the other day," they began, "and he... he said some really awful things about you."

X immediately felt his eyes burning. "Like- like what?"

Grian looked at him. "Like you're self-centered and you think you're entitled to everything," he said slowly. "Which is quite obviously a lie, but... I think he was trying to get me to hate you."

"Hate me?" He was trying his hardest not to cry now. "He- does he hate me?"

The dirty blonde didn't say anything at first.

"G-Grian...?"

Grian sighed. "Yes, he did say that," they caved. "He said he thought you were, uh..." He shook his head. "No, I shouldn't say that."

"What? Tell me!"

"I really shouldn't say it," Grian repeated, turning away.

Xisuma groaned. "Come onnn," he whined.

"He told me you were an idiot to think he would like you back." Grian glanced up slowly, then seemingly started to panic when he noticed Xisuma silently crying. "Wait, don't cry-"

"I'm sorry," X whispered, wiping his eyes. "I didn't mean to." He sniffled. "It's just... I mean, it really does kind of make sense. He's been a lot more irritable lately, and... maybe he's just sick of me-" He cut himself off with a quiet sob. "And- I think he was trying to get me to hate you, too."

Grian hesitated before reaching for Xisuma's hand. "Listen, he doesn't matter," they said, gently pulling X closer to them for a hug. "I care about you. I know we just met, but I feel a strong connection between us and I just know that we're going to be great friends."

Xisuma chuckled. "That sounds nice." He sighed contently, then yawned, suddenly feeling quite drained. "Jeez, crying always makes me so tired..."

"Then lay down," Grian said, pulling away slightly. "Go to sleep."

"But you'll be bored all by yourself."

Grian smiled. "Not if you lay next to me."

Xisuma rolled his eyes playfully at how cheesy the comment was before lying down, Grian messing with his hair.

"Just go to sleep, and forget all about Keralis." Grian waited until Xisuma was snoring to look up and glare at Scott. "Why are you awake?"

Scott sighed. "I heard you two talking," they mumbled.

Grian huffed. "You know, I haven't forgotten about that slip-up earlier," he said coldly. They lifted their hand and Scott's pendant began to float in the air. With a flick of Grian's wrist, the pendant was snatched right off of Scott's neck, flying over to Grian, who caught it with ease.

"Wha-"

"You're lucky I can't send you to the Void," Grian grumbled. "But don't worry, this is only temporary. You'll earn it back when you learn to be nice to these people and obey me."

Scott huffed, but didn't argue.

"You'll also have to steal some magic from one of them before you get this back."

"How do you expect me to do that?"

Grian took his own pendant off. "With this."

 

•°•

False groaned as she sat upright, her back achy for some reason. It also felt... heavy? Like she had-

"Wings?!"

Her shout startled almost everyone awake, aside from Xisuma, Scott, Grian, and Jimmy.

"Huh?" Fwhip lifted his sleeping mask up. "Why are you-" He froze when he looked at False, giant hawk wings protruding from her back. "Holy shit."

"How come all of you have had weird things happen to you and I haven't?" Joel huffed, crossing his arms. "It's not fair."

Shelby blinked. "You might, uh..." She took a breath, pursing her lips. "Hm..."

Joel looked at her. "What?"

"You, uh... your- your arms," she stammered, pointing to Joel's forearm.

He looked down, seeing what looked like a lightning bolt tattoo. "Who the fuck gave me a tattoo in my sleep?"

Zedaph blinked at him. "Nobody?" he said.

Joel paused, then smiled brightly. "Is this my thing?!" he shouted excitedly, holding his arms out in front of him. Sparks of electricity flew from his hands, landing on his blanket and lighting it on fire. He screamed and quickly backed away, stepping on Fwhip's stomach and drawing a wheeze out of him. "Sorry-"

"Well, put it out!" Shelby shouted.

Zedaph rushed over and stomped on the small flame, putting it out. "What the hell?!"

Joel sat down on the sofa. "I didn't mean to-"

"You could have set my house on fire, Joel!"

The brunette didn't say anything for a moment, looking more confused than anything else. "It was small," he said quietly. "And since when did you yell at people like that? You've never yelled at me before."

Zedaph huffed. "Well, you've never set my shit on fire before either," he said, sticking his tongue out.

"I should set you on fire," Joel grumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you fighting?" False demanded, raising her voice slightly. "Zed, you need to relax. The fire was put out, it's fine now. Joel, do not set him on fire." She sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into you boys lately, but I'm sick of all of this arguing constantly. What has gotten into you guys?"

Joel and Zed glanced at each other before looking away, both of them feeling guilty.

Xisuma whined as he tossed in his blankets, his body tensing and his fingers twisting in the pillow case. "No, don't take me," he mumbled, then relaxed a bit.

"Is he dreaming?" Bdubs asked, still tired. He glanced at his watch. "Also, why is everybody up before eight?"

Xisuma gasped and sat upright, grabbing his blanket and bunching it up to hold against his chest. He froze, his breathing ragged, then blinked and looked down at the blanket in his arms. "Oh..."

"There's too much going on," Shelby said, flopping over to lay on her side.

Xisuma looked up at False, his eyes widening. "You have wings," he breathed, and she laughed.

"Yeah, I kind of just woke up with them," she said, glancing back at them.

"Did Joel wake up with something weird, too?" X asked eagerly.

False gave him an odd look, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, he shot, like, electricity from his hands."

Xisuma gasped and got up, tripping at first, then grabbed his phone off the end table where it was charging. "I have to call Scar," he murmured to himself. He put the phone to his ear and bounced on his toes as he waited for Scar to answer, ignoring the weird looks from his friends.

"Hello?"

"Scar! Has anything weird happened to you lately? Like maybe you can levitate things or see through things or-" Xisuma had to take a breath from talking so fast.

"Oh, uh..." Scar paused, and Xisuma could hear him moving around on the other side. "When I did my homework yesterday, the answers just, like... wrote themselves."

A large smile crossed Xisuma's face. "Yes!" He did a little cheer in place before speaking to Scar again. "Can you come to Zedaph's house? I still need to call Keralis, but-"

He hates you.

"Um..." He paused, then shook his head. "Just come to Zed's." After Scar's okay, he hung up and sighed, staring at Keralis' contact.

This is going to be hard.

Chapter 9

Grian, Scott, and Jimmy were quick to leave when they found out Keralis was coming to talk about the others' "experiences."

"Good luck," Grian whispered to Xisuma, who tensed.

"Thanks," X murmured, waving as they left.

"You okay?" Zed asked, coming up from behind Xisuma to massage his shoulders. "You look really nervous. And not in the normal way."

Xisuma blushed and turned to the blonde. "What do you mean, 'the normal way?'" he asked, though he knew exactly what Zedaph meant.

Zed smiled gently. "You always get so flustered around Keralis," he said, making Xisuma blush even more. "And you stutter over your words and-" He stopped to giggle when Xisuma covered his red face with his hands. "Aww, you're blushinggg."

"I'm aware."

Zed giggled a bit again, then his concerned expression returned. "But seriously," he said, "what's wrong?"

"Yeah, I have to agree with Zed here," Tango said. "You're acting abnormally nervous right now. It's a little disconcerting."

Xisuma sighed, wrapping his arms around himself. "It's just... Keralis and I have... issues." He shook his head. "But it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that he comes and tells us exactly everything that he knows, then leaves and never talks to me again."

Bdubs blinked. "Damn, I thought you two were a couple."

X's face turned red as a tomato and he could almost feel steam coming out of his ears and off the top of his head. "We are not a couple!"

 

•°•

Grian grinned as he listened in to the conversation, then began to laugh as he walked away. "The seeds of doubt have been planted," he declared gleefully, "and they're growing beautifully."

Scott felt uneasy at how amused Grian was, suddenly questioning whether they really wanted to do this or not. Sure, they wanted whatever magic those mortals had, but to completely rip apart and destroy their relationships was something Scott did not sign up for.

"Was that really necessary?" Jimmy asked, and Grian turned to glare at him. "I mean, it seems kind of unnecessary to-"

"Are you... questioning me?" Grian asked, quirking a brow as his brown eyes turned a bright purple. "After everything we've been through together, everything I've done for you, and everything you owe me... you're questioning my better judgement?"

Jimmy looked down at the floor. "Sorry."

Grian sighed, then gave a soft, reassuring smile. "You have nothing you need to worry about, okay?" he said, walking over to hold Jimmy's hands gently in his own. "Just trust me."

Scott watched as Jimmy's eyes flashed the same purple that Grian's were glowing, the taller nodding in response. A shiver ran down Scott's spine knowing that Grian had just used his powers to possess and manipulate the god of possession.

"Thank you," Grian said, then blinked and his eyes returned to their dark, chocolate-brown colour. "Now let's hurry and leave before that Keralis gets here."

 

•°•

Xisuma had to hide in the bathroom by the time Keralis got there because of how much his anxiety was building up. His stomach twisted and churned as he heard Keralis talking to the others in the living room, and he was sure he'd vomit at any minute. After everything Grian told him and how much it hurt, Xisuma was reluctant to leave the bathroom, even though the only thing he wanted was to get this over with.

"X?"

"Y-yeah?" he answered, not really thinking about who was on the other side of the door. He felt so nervous, he didn't care.

"Keralis is here and he really wants to see you."

Xisuma squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to take deep breath and hold back tears. "Does he?"

"Uh, yeah, um... You good in there?"

Taking one final breath, Xisuma nodded and opened the door. "I'm fine," he said with a smile, and Joel glanced down at Xisuma's hands, which were shaking. Xisuma put his hands behind his back quickly, though, so hopefully Joel didn't have enough time to see how bad he was shaking.

Keralis smiled brightly when he saw Xisuma come down the hallway, making Xisuma feel even more sick. "Hey," he said, sounding genuinely happy to see him. "Are you okay? You look shaky."

Xisuma scoffed and waved a hand. "No, no, I'm fine, I'm not shaking at all." He held his hand up, then put it down when Keralis gave him a concerned look.

"Well," Keralis started, "I can finally explain what's going on... if you still want to hear it."

Xisuma let out a soft sigh. Hopefully this would be over quickly. "Yeah."

•°•

 

"What the hell do you mean you're not human?!" Bdubs shouted.

 

Keralis sighed. "I'm an Eldritch being," he began to explain. "And I was sent to Earth to protect you guys when you finally discovered your magic."

Joel snickered, then started to laugh. "Come on, this isn't some indie superhero movie," he said. "There's no such thing as magic or Eld- What the fuck." He stared as Keralis held out his arm, the limb turning into some gross, slimy, tar-covered tentacle. "Okay, okay, I believe you-"

Xisuma felt like he was zoning in and out of reality, hung up on how much he wanted to vomit because of Keralis. He was disgusted with him and the fact that he was, for some reason, trying to keep Grian and X from being friends with each other.

"Soooo," False started slowly, "this magic thing... Why...?" She trailed off, not finishing her question but not needing to.

"You're all reincarnations of virtues, basically," Keralis said. "Seven of you are reincarnations of the Seven Heavenly Virtues, but... I'm not quite sure who is who aside from a couple of you."

Scar's eyes lit up. "Am I one of them? Am I?"

Fwhip snickered. "He just said he doesn't know."

"The Heavenly Virtues are kindess, humility, chastity, diligence, patience, charity, and temperance," Keralis continued. "The other two of your virtues are courage and loyalty."

"What about the third?" Bdubs asked. "There's ten of us."

"Xisuma isn't a part of the virtues since he's, uh," Keralis paused and glanced at Xisuma, "sort of the prince of the Void?"

X blinked, hearing his name and the word prince said in the same sentence being the thing to bring his focus back. "Excuse me?" he muttered, genuinely not understanding what Keralis had said.

Keralis laughed a little bit. "Yeah, so..." He scratched his head as he tried to figure out how to explain everything. "I'm not great at explaining this stuff, but, um... when you were born, the End was under attack, so to protect the Void, the Ender Dragon sent you to-"

"The what?" Xisuma interrupted. "I'm sorry, the Ender Dragon? You've got to be making this up."

Keralis shook his head. "I'm not," he said seriously. "You were sent here by the Ender Dragon and I was sent after you to protect you from danger so that one day you could return to the End and rule the realm."

Xisuma's jaw dropped. "I'm royalty?" he asked quietly. "And you left me with those assholes?!" he shouted, standing up.

"No, I didn't-"

"You left me to live my life with abusive, horrible people?!" Xisuma continued, his eyes watering.

Keralis stood up. "No, no, we had no idea they would-" He stopped when Xisuma began to cry. "Shashwammy..."

"How could you?" X asked, his volume quiet again as he cried softly. "How could you be sent to protect me but let me live with them?"

"Shashwammy, we didn't know they were abusive until you were already in your teens," Keralis said, making Xisuma cry harder. "You hid it too well from us, we had no reason to suspect you were being abused until there was nothing we could do!"

Xisuma furrowed his brows. He's lying, he thought briefly, just making excuses for having done nothing to help. "You really hate me that much, huh?" he murmured before he could stop himself, sitting back down.

Keralis blinked, dumbfounded. "Hate you?"

"To do nothing about my situation, and then act like you had no choice but to watch me get beaten and screamed at and-"

"We could do nothing!"

"Why not?!" Xisuma screamed. "Why couldn't you do anything?! If you and that dumb dragon are supposed to be so powerful, what was stopping you from saving me?!"

Keralis went quiet.

"Exactly!" X sobbed. "There is no reason you couldn't have gotten me out of there!"

Remaining silent, Keralis looked away and pursed his lips.

Xisuma shook his head. "Grian was right about you," he said as he got up to gather his things to leave. "I never should've let myself get so attached. I was stupid and naive and an idiot, just like you said."

Keralis looked up, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Grian told me what you said about me." Xisuma wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands. "He said you thought I was stupid and that you hate me. I almost didn't believe him, but it makes so much sense. Even after everything we've been through, you still hate me."

Keralis shook his head in pure disbelief. "I don't know what that little bastard said to you, but-"

"And there you go again!" Xisuma laughed sarcastically, the sound anything except joyful. "Trying to separate us! What is your problem?"

"I'm trying to separate you two because Grian is a magic-sucking monster," Keralis said sternly. "Have you noticed that every time he touches you, you get tired and faint?"

Xisuma rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, pouting. "I fainted because I was dehydrated, dummy," he scoffed.

"Dehydrated of magic."

"Oh my- Would you shut up about that for two seconds?" Xisuma groaned, getting up to walk to the other side of the room. He ran his hands through his hair as he tried to control his temper. "You're not understanding what I'm trying to tell you."

Keralis sighed. "Then just tell me."

"Fine." Xisuma turned around. "You're an asshole, for one. You told Grian you hated me because I'm a self-centered prick that's entitled and- and that I'm an idiot for ever thinking that you liked me back."

The room went dead silent as Keralis shook his head.

"I would never-"

"But you did."

"I didn't!"

Xisuma turned around. "Just leave."

"Sh-"

"Leave."

Keralis didn't say anything, just nodding and getting up to walk out the door. As soon as it closed, Xisuma burst into tears and the rest of the band burst into questions and concern.

What just happened?

Chapter 10

Everyone stared as Xisuma broke down after Keralis left.

"I'm sorry," X said through his sobs as he tried to regain his composure. "I didn't mean to... Oh, gosh, I messed up..." He laughed pathetically at himself and turned away from his friends. "I'm such a screw up," he murmured.

"You are not a screw up," Zedaph said, then walked over to hug Xisuma. "Things happen, we get upset, and we're set back from the things we want sometimes. We'll have another chance to find out just what's going on, I know we will. Just relax."

Xisuma took a long, deep breath and smiled a bit as the two of them parted. He felt a lot better all of a sudden. "Thank you, Zed."

Zedaph smiled. "Any time." He gasped when he realised Xisuma's cheeks were no longer soaked with tears. "Did I just make you feel better with my power?!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

X laughed a little. "Yeah, I think you did," he said, nodding.

"Guys, I made him feel better with my power!"

Bdubs rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's cool and all," he said, "but we know nothing about our powers or who we are, and did you hear what Keralis said about Grian? What if he's telling the truth and Grian is sucking up all of our magic? What happens if he gets all of it?"

Xisuma huffed. "I wouldn't believe Keralis," he said. "After everything that he just let happen to me, nothing he says deserves a second thought."

"But he knows things about all this," Shelby tried to reason with X. "I know you're upset right now, but just think about it. Keralis has probably been alive thousands of years if he's really and Eldritch being. He might be telling the truth and Grian might be dangerous."

"Oh, be serious," X said. "Grian is not a-"

"X," Zedaph said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I think Keralis is right. I also started to feel faint when Grian touched me, and I almost passed out like you did. It makes sense."

Xisuma gave Zedaph a heartbroken look, then looked away, not saying anything.

"I know you're upset and you have a right to be," False said, "but let's be logical. Grian is suspicious as hell. Along with Jimmy and Scott."

X sighed. "I don't want to think about that right now," he mumbled. More specifically, he didn't want to question everything he knows. He was confused and hurt, and he didn't want any more of it.

He couldn't take any more heartache.

•°•

 

Keralis was outright furious with Gri- no, Xelqua. That damned deity was really starting to get on his nerves, especially now that they've been able to manipulate Xisuma, too.

Keralis knew for a fact that the Virtues would be susceptible to their dark magic. It was only natural that their magics would clash and create a negative energy that could harm the Virtues, and unfortunately benefit the deities. But he didn't expect Xisuma to be influenced by them at all. Xisuma's magic was considered dark magic and wasn't likely to clash with the deities, not to mention that him being an otherworldly prince lessened that chance even more, but... apparently Keralis was wrong to assume that it wasn't possible.

Unfortunately now that the Virtues are starting to get an idea of who they are, they've earned themselves a much larger target on their back for any other creatures or entities to take advantage of them. Not to mention how vulnerable they all were considering Keralis had hardly even began to explain everything to them. He needed another chance to talk with them, but he doubted Xisuma would want him to go anywhere near them after their argument. If only X knew how much danger they were all in...

 

•°•

 

"The Swaggon Café," Grian mumbled, reading aloud the vertical neon sign that stuck out from a small building. "This is the place. All we have to do is convince them to let us perform here the same night as those losers." He walked inside without another word.

Jimmy and Scott exchanged glances, both of them feeling a bit uneasy, before following Grian inside.

It was unlike any café they'd ever seen before, though they vaguely remembered Xisuma mentioning that it wasn't quite a normal cafe. There was a large, empty stage opposite the door and an empty space that separated it and a couple rows of tables. Along the left wall there were a few smaller, tall tables with a couple stools to each, and on the right side there was a bar. The wood plank walls were a beautiful shade of spruce that seemed to be stained for a darker colour and the floor was a very nice black tile. The whole place was pretty dimly lit by soft lights that hung from the ceiling, but it gave way for a cozy atmosphere. There were no bands on stage, so instead ambient jazz played from speakers somewhere above them to fill the space with sound.

"This place looks cool," Jimmy said excitedly, looking around with wonder in his eyes as he took everything in.

"It's not very busy," Scott commented, fidgeting with the necklace that Grian gave them. They were right; there were only a few people there aside from the bartender and a janitor. "Is this the right place?"

Grian rolled his eyes. "It's probably not busy because it's meant to be like a night club," they grumbled. "Not that your dense ass brain would've figured that out without me telling you anyway."

Scott frowned, but didn't say anything.

"So how do we perform?" Jimmy asked.

Grian smirked. "We do a little... convincing." He winked and started for the bar, Jimmy and Scott following close behind. "Hello," they said to the bartender, hopping up onto one of the stools and leaning over the counter.

The bartender smiled kindly at them as he set down the glass he was cleaning. "Hi, can I get you something to drink?" he asked. "We have a brand new coffee menu."

"No, no, that's alright," Grian said. "We actually wanted to know if you had any available performance times."

The bartender hummed to himself for a moment, untying his apron to take it off. "I think we're fully booked for the next four weeks," he sighed, "but I can check the calendar. Is there a particular date or timeframe you had in mind?"

"Two weeks from yesterday."

The bartender nodded and pulled out a pen and a small pad of paper. "If you give me your contact information, then I can call you and-" He stopped when Grian began to laugh. "I'm sorry?"

Grian sighed and made eye contact with the bartender, both of their eyes glowing a soft purple. The bartender looked completely expressionless. "I don't think you understand what needs to happen here," Grian said softly, yet unsettlingly. "You're going to check for an available spot on that day, and if there's none there, then you're going to make an available spot. Got it?"

The bartender nodded and Grian smiled from ear to ear, clapping their hands together happily.

"Perfect!"

The bartender's eyes returned to their normal blue colour and he cleared his throat. "May I have your group name?" he asked, acting as if nothing had happened. "And your preferred performance time?"

"Euphorica," Grian answered, swinging his feet under the table. "And I thiiiink I want us to perform just before the band called Stage Revolution."

Scott, who had been distracted by the very long coffee bar menu, looked over at Grian, who was smiling at the bartender. Whatever Grian had planned...

That poor little band definitely wasn't ready for it.

 

•°•

 

"Maybe we should try to figure out who is which Virtue," Tango suggested, hoping that if he threw it into consideration that maybe it would lighten up the mood.

The group had all settled into a sort of circle around the room. Zed, Impulse, Tango, and Bdubs were all on the sofa. fWhip and Joel sat in two cushioned seats on the adjacent wall. And Shelby, False, Xisuma, and Scar sat on the floor, cushioned by folded up blankets.

"That might be a good idea," False said reasonably, "though... how are we meant to do that, exactly? We're kind of new to this magic thing and I don't doubt that Keralis had more to say before he left."

"Maybe they have to do with our personalities and magic," Bdubs said. "And going off of that, it feels pretty obvious. Like, False is probably Courage. Her magic lets her become some sort of hawk or eagle and she's pretty outgoing."

Tango hummed in agreement. "Then maybe is Zed is Kindness because he can heal things."

"Or he could be Charity or Humility," Joel said, then he yawned. "False could also be Patience or Temperance. There's too many possibilities for us to just guess and hope we're right."

fWhip groaned, slumping in his seat. "At what point do we even know if we're right?" he asked, sounding almost defeated. "We have no idea what could possibly indicate if or when we've discovered who is who."

"And based on what Joel said," Impulse started, "we could be at this for hours. There's way too many possibilities."

Scar sighed. "If only Keralis were here to help us."

"Well he's not so get over it," Xisuma snapped suddenly, leaving the rest of the group to stare at him in slight shock.

Nobody said anything for a moment before Impulse spoke.

"Perhaps we come back to this another time," he said nervously, shifting his position on the sofa. "What's something we can do to pass the time?"

"We could go back to the school and practice for the gig," Joel said, yawning again. "We could use a lot of that right now."

Bdubs nodded. "I agree."

Chapter 11

"Five, six, seven, eight," Scar said before fWhip started on his acoustic guitar, playing the intro to Burning Pile by Mother Mother.

A few measures later, Xisuma came in with on his electric with a riff. Or... he was supposed to. Instead, his amp started buzzing and ringing, which caused Zedaph's and Impulse's amps to do the same.

"Turn it off!" Zedaph shouted over the sound as he covered his ears.

Panicking and confused, Xisuma was frantically searching for the dial on the speaker that turned it off, though he accidentally turned the volume up, which only made everything worse. He felt like he couldn't even see with all the noise.

"Just unplug it!" Bdubs yelled. He came over and unintentionally stepped on X's amp cable, pulling it slightly out of place. The pitch went higher for a moment before Bdubs unplugged the amp from the wall and everything went silent aside from some static from the other amps.

A few sighs of relief went around the room.

Xisuma opened his mouth to apologise, but Scar beat him to it.

"Way to go, X," he said, rolling his eyes.

Xisuma frowned. "That wasn't entirely my fault," he said, huffing.

"Your amp, your fault."

The two of them glared at each other for a moment, insults to the other on their tongues just waiting to be shot out.

"Guys," False interjected, walking across the front of the mini stage to stand between the two of them. "There's no use in arguing over this. Just fix the problem and move on. It was a simple mistake and nothing that needs to be brought so much attention. Let's just get through these songs, okay?"

Scar and Xisuma stole one last glare at each other before agreeing to drop it. Xisuma plugged his amp back in and fixed the cable, then took a step away from the speaker so it wouldn't repeat what had just happened.

"Let's take it from the top," Scar said, then counted them off again.

The start of the song went smoothly and Xisuma's riff sounded really sweet. Joel came in with a nice beat and Bdubs and Tango came in with chords. It was sounding really good.

"All my style, all my grace," Scar began to sing, False singing a harmony behind his melody. "All I tried to save my face..."

Before they knew it, the song was over and it had done pretty well for the first run-through in a while.

"That was good, guys," Impulse congratulated the band. "We just need some tempo work and we're good on this one."

Xisuma nodded. "I agree." He flipped through the music on his stand. "Let's keep going, though. We'll call it quits once we've gotten through all songs, yeah?"

 

•°•

 

Scott stood just a few feet and a corner away from Stage Revolution's practice room, waiting for them to finish and leave until just one person was left by themself in the room. Grian required them to get magic from one of the band members before they could have their pendant returned to them, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

The band members started to exit the room in twos or threes, chatting amongst each other. Two of them - Tango and Impulse - stopped just outside the door and turned to look back inside.

"You coming, Zed?" Impulse asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Zedaph said from where Scott couldn't see. "I'll catch up."

Tango shrugged. "Okay. I'll pull the truck around so you can just go out these doors over here," he said, pointing off to his left.

"Great, thanks!"

Tango and Impulse started to walk away, so Scott hurried to get into the practice room before Zedaph could leave. They quietly shut the doors behind them and locked them so nobody would come in and interrupt. The blonde boy was packing up his instrument by a table opposite the little stage, not noticing Scott's presence.

This is good, Scott thought, quieting stepping closer. If he doesn't know I'm here, then I can get a good amount of magic off of him. Maybe even all of it. He doesn't seem to have as much as the others do. They stood behind him for a moment before grazing their hand over his shoulders.

Zedaph jumped and turned around quickly enough to catch Scott off-guard. "Oh! Uh... hello?" he said, confused.

Scott could barely form the words to respond, too in awe of how amazing taking Zedaph's magic felt. It was unreal the power of it.

"...Scott?"

Scott blinked and look up at Zed. "Oh, hi," they said. "I was just..." They wracked their brain for an excuse as to why they had been so close to him, but couldn't seem to come up with a believable lie.

Zedaph laughed nervously. "You're a little close, buddy," he said, scooting himself away. "Did you... need something?"

Scott shook themself and frowned. "Yeah, I do," they said, then forcefully grabbed onto Zedaph's wrist, making him yelp.

"Hey, wait-" Zedaph blinked a few times as fatigue settled over him, draining him of all the energy he had mere seconds ago. "Stop-"

Scott couldn't help but get greedy, soaking up as much of Zedaph's magic as they could. They had totally underestimated Grian's power and his pendant's power. This was so much more powerful than their own and Jimmy's, possibly even combined. No wonder Grian was able to possess Jimmy so easily.

Zedaph began to struggle, trying to pull his arm away the best he could with being so physically exhausted. "Scott, please, stop," he said softly, then gasped when he noticed a soft, yellow glow around the silhouette of his body. Whatever it was, it was travelling toward the pendant around Scott's neck and it hurt.

"There we go," Scott said with a horrifying grin on their face. "That's the good stuff."

Being so weak and in so much pain brought Zed to his knees on the ground. He couldn't formulate any coherent thought other than "this is where I die." He knew Scott was stealing his magic, and as far as Zedaph knew, they were stealing all of it. And he had a terrible feeling that it would make it that much easier to get to the rest of the band, but there was nothing Zed could do to stop them.

Suddenly, Scott let go and stumbled backward, leaving Zedaph to flop over onto the floor. The glowing faded and he watched with blurry vision as Scott scurried from the room before everything went black as he lost consciousness.

 

•°•

 

Tango tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the drums in the song playing on the radio, peaking around Impulse to see if Zedaph was coming out yet. "Gosh, how long is he going to take?" he whined. "I have to go shopping."

Impulse sighed. "I'll go check on him," he offered, opening the door and stopping when Tango put a hand on his arm. He looked back at Tango. "What is it?"

"Look," Tango said, then pointed toward the door to the school that they had been expecting Zed to come through. Instead, Scott was looking left and right, clutching the pendant around his neck. They ran around the side of the building and ducked around a corner, out of sight. "If what Keralis said about Grian was true, then..."

Impulse frowned. "Scott and Jimmy must be doing the same," he said, then gasped. "You don't think they-"

"I'm coming with you to check on Zedaph."

 

•°•

"I got the magic you asked for," Scott said as they approached Grian and Jimmy, taking the pendant off to give back to Grian. "Can I have my pendant back?"

Grian happily took his magic jewel back and admired the way it glowed. "Well done, Aemor," they said, a wide grin on their face. "I think you've just proved your competence." He took a moment to put thr pendant on before returning Scott's own pendant to them. "Who's magic is this?"

"Zedaph's," Scott answered. "It's not quite all of it, but it's a majority of it."

"Good job," Grian praised them, making them smile a bit in response. "I believe you deserve a better reward than just that."

Scott, confused, tilted their head. "A reward?"

Grian smiled an innocent, bright, and happy smile. "Yes!" they said cheerfully. "You deserve a great reward for this. In fact..." He glanced back at Jimmy for a moment. "Let's go somewhere more... private for this."

Jimmy gave the two of them a confused and hurt look as Grian pulled Scott out of earshot. Scott couldn't help but feel a little bad for Jimmy, though that empathy completely dissipated when Grian revealed his reward for them.

"I'm giving you the ability to take away their magic," Grian said quietly, creating an a bright orb of loght in his hands and holding it out to Scott. "You won't gain any of it yourself as it's not your power, but once we get enough magic to release ourselves from these damned human bodies, you will be rewarded greatly."

Scott stared in awe at the magic Grian held in his hands, taking it with caution. The energy radiating off of it was almost overwhelming, bringing out a feeling of greed in them. They let the magic absorb into them and let out a sigh of contentment. If just that small fraction of Grian's power felt so good, they couldn't wait to get all the magic they were promised.

"Don't let me down, Aemor," Grian warned.

Scott nodded firmly. "I won't."

 

•°•

 

"Zed!"

Impulse and Tango rushed over to their boyfriend, who was laying unconscious on the floor of the practice room.

"Is he dead!?" Impulse asked in a panic as Tango checked Zedaph for a pulse.

"No," Tango answered calmly, "but he's not looking good at all. If Scott really did take his magic, he took enough for him to be completely blacked out." He started to lift Zedaph off of the floor, causing the boy to startle awake and let out a cry of pain. "Oh, sorry," Tango apologised quickly, letting Zedaph drape himself over Tango's shoulder. He started to cry a bit and Tango rubbed his back. "I'm sorry, sweetcakes."

Zedaph sniffled and buried his face in Tango's neck, but didn't say anything.

"Let's take him home," Impulse said and Tango nodded, standing up. Zedaph instinctively wrapped his legs around Tango's torso as he was carried out to Tango's vehicle.

Poor Zed...