Next day, John noticed something unusual. The usual hand wave of Skinn was not seen anywhere. The street felt oddly quieter.
Then John arrives at the office. He is working as diligently as usual, but he now realized how mages can really succumb to the urges of using magic in their daily lives.
He knew that the printer won't have to be opened and closed to take out the jammed paper. He just need that grimoire to pick it for him.
"Darn this." He muttered.
Even his lunch became a problem now. It is too far away. He forgot that he heated it up inside the microwave before going back to his office and felt too comfortable to stand up again now. He knew that there was a way to get the food from the microvave, and a quick grimoire trick should have been able to bring it towards him.
There is a client here in one room. A phone ringing at the other room. A simple grimoire click should have silenced the phone away.
Mariel, a co-worker, shouted from the other room "John? For the love of your life, please answer the phone!"
How easy it is to have a literal glitch tugging against the mundane work he has to suffer everytime. Magic seems to be convenient, yet it is forbidden to be used. The silence of restraint is louder than the laughters of the office colleagues, and the ringing of phones.
And when he picked up the phone with 3 missed calls, a brisk text message was seen. "Cafe at nine evening, important. Jaz."
From Jaz.
'Why do I have to be reawakened as an obvious liability and rewarded by laziness?' John was frustrated from the feeling that he lacked so much control of all his abilities for the first time.
Then after work, John went to his night class. Skinn was there. He was definitely there.
But he gave an awfully opposite aura. No memes, no random chatters, no corny jokes. All quick and serious conversations. Homework, exams, schedules filled our conversations.
Skinn has been too passive. He also started darting his eyes away, lips shaking, as if he wants to say something but cancels it before anything goes out of his mouth.
He was undeniably trying to hide from John, in which he is also failing so miserably.
John then whispered to Skinn "Awfully quiet now, aren't we?"
Skin replied, voice a bit shaken "Maybe I ran out of memes to share. Haha."
"Fancy some coffee after? My treat." John responded. Skinn gave a hesitant nod, fidgeting the edge of his notebook.
After class, John immediately went to fetch Skinn who maintains a gloomy face, as if he was contemplating about something.
Then they started walking to the cafe. It was eerily quiet between John and Skinn, with no exchanges.
"Are you angry at something?" John asked, having no clue that Skinn saw him doing various magic tricks. "You can tell me, I am all ears. If I did something wrong other than be absent for consecutive days, I really wanna know."
Skinn, with a reluctant voice, replied "Is magic real, John?"
John went silent. For John, he thought Skinn was one heck of a mind reader, able to even know what the heck is going on with the lives of others to the point that he even discovers seemingly impossible things such as magic. 'How?' John was disturbed by the thought.
For Skinn, however, it is based on a memory from the glimpses he got when John was doing those 'trick' stuff.
"I-I don't know. What?" John replied, lips are slightly moving.
Skinn definitely sensed something fishy from John, but he shrugged it off for now.
As they approach the door of the Cafe, John senses 3 mana sources. Jaz, Boss, and Karl are present.
Eyes skeptical, Skinn went on to the counter and ordered a latte. "U having a meeting?" He asked.
"Yes." John figured immediately that this is what has been bothering Skinn today.
John sat at the opposite side of the mahogany-colored table. "I will definitely, definitely tell you everything after this. But for now, just know that even just simply telling you everything can be life threatening to both of us." John reluctantly uttered.
"Cult?" Skinn replied, perplexed thoughts shown in his squinted eyes. "What kind of cult did you–"
"No. Not a cult." John interrupted immediately. No, he would not join a cult. But he knew that he is involved in something worse. "Something... Something more hidden."
"Oh... Okay. If you really want me out of it, then so be it." Skinn replied with a grim face partnered with a fake smile.
That was the first time Skinn faked his expression towards John. John felt it and broke his heart, like he just lost a lifelong brother.
Jaz and the others are waiting. John stood up, leaving Skinn and the pressure that has built up between them.
....
"So... What was it again, Boss?" Jaz asked.
"Hideout." Boss answered.
"Yeah, so we were thinking of looking for a place to hide. We are hoping that the place will be secluded enough to limit exposure from outsiders, mages and humans alike." Jaz reiterated.
Boss leaned back, chairs squeaking. "Yes, and we will need it like that so we can experiment and release our magic freely, while having a strong and trusty fortress to defend against future mage attacks."
John then remembered the time when he first encountered Jaz and Boss. It seems that being wide open, add to that the amount of mana currently being emanated by the 4 of them, makes them easy targets.
'By the way, how did Karl happen to meet Jazz and Boss?' John thought, mind straying away from the conversation. 'Is Karl a local, or he happens to know either Jaz or Boss?'
"I can make perfect walls of crystals and create hard walls. Problem solved." Karl proudly presented.
Boss thinks for a while, then proceeds to disagree. "Using stone crystals? Unless we find and mine some hard ones, there's no guarantee that the stone wall will be as strong as we need."
Jaz nodded. "I have seen normal mages destroy thick concrete walls. Mages are basically superhuman, thus, we cannot expect to protect ourselves with just simple human-level measures."
Karl clicked his tongue who seems to disagree with Jaz's opinion.
Boss then straightens his back and leans forward as if he has a good idea in mind, hands slamming on the wooden table.
"Karl, what minerals and crystals have you played with?"
"Usual stuff. I can play with diamonds too, but I need to have enough diamonds in hand to make anything that is useful." Karl boasted with a smug face.
"You know crystals are brittle, right?" Boss asked.
"Not diamonds, though." Karl just made an instant reply.
Jaz then asked, "Is it possible for us to mine the needed crystals?"
Boss then thought for a while. He then looked at John.
Jaz knew exactly what Boss wants to happen.
"o..n...jo..n... John!" Jaz breathely shouted.
John, full of internal thoughts and seemingly unfocused, instantly replied, "Oh sorry, I went blank for a second. What was it again?"
"Can't even contribute. Such a useless addition–" Karl mocked.
"No worries, Karl. Let's talk about this later." Boss interrupted. "Hey John, say, is that guy a close friend of yours? He seems paranoid and his eyes glances towards us with unease as we talk here. Name is Skinn or something, right?"
John sighed, "Yes, he has noticed me acting all weird lately. He knows that I am down on something. He's just that type of guy, very observant."
Boss then gave John a warning, "You know, I told some of my friends about my magic."
John then asked, "Where are they now?"
"Dead." Boss replied.
The four went silent for a bit.
"Just so you know, it is either leave him, or give him a death sentence in the form of collateral damage." Boss added to that warning.
John stared at the air with a grim face.
"Now you know why I only have Boss as a friend and an ally." Jazz softly explained, trying to sympathize with John.
Karl who is looking annoyed, asserted; "Even I have lots of followers and connections, but my magic is something I won't share to anyone, even other unacquainted mages. Don't bring any trouble to our te–"
"Stop. Karl." Jaz thumped the top of the table and stood up. She then glanced at Boss, and sighed back to seat. "You know, if you care about your friend, I would highly suggest that you leave him as early as possible." She added.
John stayed silent, looking at the table. He cannot process the fact that he has to leave Skinn.
"You know Marionneto World, John?" Boss took a sip of coffee.
John paused, thought for a while, then finally spoke out. "Yeah, the magician?", he asked, still obviously perplexed. "Is he actually a mage?"
Boss took the straw from his coffee, "Right, he is a magician, known for insane magic tricks." He answered. "But that is not the problem. Rumors say he is actually a mage, just acting like a magician doing tricks so that he can live a slack life."
"They can do that?" Karl suddenly leaned forward.
"But then..." John paused for a while, still clouded with thoughts, "Why is he able to explain the tricks to his magic so well if he actually uses magic?"
Jaz then answered shortly, "That is not it. Mages have tried to confirm if he has mana reserves. And they..." her face shifted towards sadness.
"Then they what? What happened next?" John asked, rising fury conveyed by his posture.
"Dead." Boss replied with a blank face.
"Dead again? Who?" John stood up with his hands against the tabletop, showing slight aggression.
"What the heck are you doing, scum?" Karl questioned, face hinted disgust.
"John. Stop." Jaz said with a stern face. "What Boss meant was that all mages who tried to investigate Marionneto World's magical capabilities and bloodline are either dead or missing."
"And not even one survived?" John asked with a heightened tone as he went back to his seat with a bit of disbelief.
"Not a single one." Boss replied.
John, all confused and mind heavily clouded by the novelty, turned his gaze towards the table Skinn has been sitting in, accidentally swerving his hands against the table loudly.
Skinn was not there.
John stood up, and went to look for Skinn without warning.
"John–" Jaz tried to catch John's shoulder.
Boss suddenly grabbed Jaz's hand. "Let him be. Anyone would do the same."
Karl gazed at the now leaving John, with ramping rage in his eyes. 'What's wrong with that useless piece of meathead?' he thought.
...
John went out of the coffee shop.
He saw Skinn at the distance, walking away.
John ran.
He caught up to Skinn.
"Hey, sorry I took so l—"
Skinn shouted, "I know what took you so long, John. You are a mage, that is why."
"Uhmm... Did you overhear us?" John calmly asked. "I was about to tell you about it when–"
"I saw you at the rooftop that night, John. I knew you were up to something. Those were definitely not tricks. Did your cult turn you into a demonic spellcaster?" Skinn stopped walking and faced John.
John, all apologetic, explained calmly. "I'm sorry for taking so long before I told you. I did not know it meant so much–"
"That's not it, John! You want to know who I suspect the killer of may parents are?"
John went silent once again.
"It was mages like you, John!" Skinn was furious. "What made you think that becoming a mage is a good idea? You had everything to succeed, John. What's the point of this?"
John, knowing that answering now won't do anything, waited for Skinn to settle down.
Skinn, head all hot and angry, looked for a nearby platform to sit on. He then went there, sat on it, and looked around.
Skinn then waved his uneasy hands upward, head facing on the ground, inviting John to come. "Tell me."
...
"So you got that bloodline somehow. Are your parents mages as well?" Skinn asked, now calmer.
"I don't know. They just stopped communicating years ago, remember?" John replied.
"Unlike my parents who were actually reported missing." Skinn added. "The three days that you were gone are because of the academy, right?"
"Yes." John answered.
Silence.
John then warned Skinn. "Sorry. I placed your life in danger. I should've been more careful. I can't stand letting you die because of my carelessness. Keep this as a grave secret, will you do that?"
"No, this is perfect." Skinn, with a determined face, looked at the sky, raised his palms upward, and sighed. "I do not know what happens next in this life. But I'll take you on, head first."
John, clueless as to what he meant, asked "What do you mean?"
Skinn looked straight at John's eyes and answered. "Help me find the cause of my parents' disappearance."
Yeah. What the heck.