The Arcane Meeting (Part 1)

--- Jon ---

Spotting Ms. Delacroix and another teenager, he couldn’t help but wonder once more if it was such a good idea to bring Pix along with him. Mainly because since he still hadn’t replaced it after being hit by Pix’s giga-zap back in the dungeon the little fairy was left to sit on his shoulder rather than hiding away inside his jacket like she usually would. But at the same time he also knew that he was likely just being paranoid given how not everyone would be out to use the little fairy for their magical experiments. (But someone might.)

In which case, he’d rip their throats out with his teeth before letting them have her.

“Oh, there you are.” Ms. Delacroix told him as he walked up to the pair. “Wasn’t sure if you’d back out of this or not.”

“I said I’d be here so…” He shrugged the shoulder Pix wasn’t sitting on.

“And you brought a friend.” The shopkeep noted, eyeing Pix. “I guess that answers what you summoned from that contracting catalyst.”

“Her name ‘s Pix.” He told her, not bothering to correct her misconception in case things went wrong at this meeting and he had to summon Wolf. (And there’s the paranoia.)

(It’s not paranoia if someone is out to get you.) Some part of him remembere, as two -technically three- eldritch entities, a cult, and one of his mentors immediately came to mind.

(I have too many enemies for my age…) He grimaced internally.

“So this is the customer you asked to come along?” The dark haired teen next to her asked while looking him over.

“Noah, Jon. Jon, Noah.” Ms. Delacroix introduced. “This is my… employee, he helps around the shop and will be coming with us too.”

(Okay, lie.) He glanced between the two, noting a clear familial similarity between the two. (Probably, family. Calling him an employee is likely meant to make her seem more professional or legit. Mmm, not worth calling out.)

“And that makes the three you needed for this thing, right?” He asked, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Right.” Ms. Delacroix nodded before gesturing to a nearby car. “The meeting is at the park so we’ll be taking my car to get there.”

“Um, the forest park, or the park where the Gamer Guild has set up?” He frowned, more at the idea of getting in the car with a relative stranger than his own question.

“The, uh, second one.” The shopkeeper grimaced, making him briefly wonder if the gamer’s guild had told her to drag him along as payback for the dungeon mess. An idea he immediately dismissed when he remembered she’d asked him to come along the day before he got stuck in that mess.

Shaking his head, he sucked it up and got in the back of the car. After all, (can’t be worse a decision than when I got in DeSade’s car.)

As Ms. Delacroix pulled out of her parking spot and he buckled Pix in, he found himself wondering, “At this, uh, meeting what exactly do you guys need me to do for you?”

“Honestly, we don’t need you to do anything but look like you're with us.” Noah told him. “Normally, Arty would be with us but she and her friends are doing their own thing so we’re stuck with you.”

“Arty?”

“My mom’s current apprentice.” Ms. Delacroix answered. “She and her friends just started a Hunter Team and with my mom out of town that means we’re out her and our back up.”

“Hence why you asked me.” He nodded, following thus far while idly wondering, (Wonder what they’ve hunted?)

“So, what kind of magic do you use?” Noah eventually asked him. “If we’re going to be seen with you we should know what you can do. I mean you’ve got to have a few tricks other than contracting, right?”

He shifted in his seat a bit. “Oh, uh, I guess I dabble a bit in this and that…”

“I remember you mentioned something about having a mentor or something?” Samantha threw out. “What kind of stuff did they teach you?”

“Like I said, a bit of this and that…” He shrugged. “Um, Miss Edna taught me potions and enchanting, while DeSade taught me more about how magic works and interacts with stuff.”

“So one taught you practical stuff while the other taught more theoretical stuff?” Ms. Delacroix figured.

(DeSade maintained eye contact as he tore the blade out of the beast in a spray of blood, before the Devil of Blackwell continued his lecture as the poor creature’s whimpering slowly faded away. “In this state of near death, or increased stress one’s Anima enters a state of fluctuation in which it is capable of accomplishing far more for far less, thus allowing a magic user to perform feats far beyond their normal limits.”

A sense of wrongness filled the air as a pale glow rose from the animal’s dying corpse before gathering into a small sphere in the palm of DeSade’s hand. “Of course from there, a prospective magic user may learn how to avoid putting themselves into this state by taking advantage of it in others and manipulating the subject’s Anima to their own advantage.”)

“Yeah… practical and theoretical…” He smiled to cover his nervous twitching.

---

“Alright, this is the place.” Ms. Delacroix told them as they pulled up to the park. “Now while I doubt we’re the first ones here, at the very least we aren’t the last ones.”

“Uh, how do you know?”

Noah snorted as they got out of the car. “Trust me, the Mad Dogs can’t resist putting on a show.”

His head snapped to the other teen. “Mad Dogs, like the gang?!”

The elder Delacroix grimaced. “I did say all of the city’s prominent magic users.”

“I, you-” He bit his lip and held back a yell as he forced himself to speak calmly. “You said Sanctuary was going to be here, didn’t you?”

“You really didn’t explain things to him?” Noah blinked.

Delacroix ran a hand down her face. “Look, this meeting is something of a truce due to the way it affects the entire city, because of that, as long as no one starts any trouble there won’t be any trouble in this park, tonight and tonight alone.”

“And Halloween.” Noah added.

“And Halloween.” Delacroix agreed through grit teeth. “But that night is for entirely different reasons.”

“Or related reasons.”

“Not helping.” The elder Delacroix ground out, earning an amused look from the younger Delacroix.

Ignoring this, he forced himself to take a deep breath before slowly letting it out. “Okay…” (This is no different than dealing with DeSade and Rogers.) “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Right…” Delacroix nodded, before leading them to the Arcane meeting.

---

Stepping onto one of the park’s fields he found that Ms. Delacroix had been right about them not being the first ones there as several groups had spread out around the field each one standing a fair bit from the rest as they all waited for the meeting to start.

“Alright, looks like just about everyone else is here so once Tru gets here and calms down, we’ll get started.” The older magic user told him, taking a look around the field before checking her phone. “Should be any minute now.”

“Tru?” He repeated, wondering who that was since they were supposedly waiting on them.

“The leader of the Mad Dogs. He usually shows up at the literal last minute so that everyone can see him.” Ms. Delacroix explained, before shaking her head with a grin. “After all, ‘being late is rude’.”

“Right…” (Just going to let that pass for now.) “So uh, who are all of these people?” He asked, gesturing to the people around them.

“Oh, right, I don’t know everyone here but I should probably tell you who I do know.” Ms. Delacroix admitted, before gesturing to a trio of masks across the way. “You probably know who they are since they’re all from the Hero’s Guild, specifically though they’re the magic users of the team.”

“Also looks like they replaced Eric with that new girl.” Noah added before his sister swatted him with a glare.

(So they know the identity of one of the guild’s masks.) He noted from that exchange. (Probably means they know more than one of the heroes if that’s the case…)

“Standing next to them are of course Sanctuary,” Ms. Delacroix continued as if nothing happened as she motioned towards a trio wearing Sanctuary’s emblems and standing next to a drone. “Though I only recognize the one without a mask, meaning they brought a different set of Agents this year for whatever reason.”

“Every couple years someone new wants to try their hand at solving the Halloween Haunt.” Noah scoffed. “Honestly surprised the Arcane Association doesn’t send more people this way.”

“You can thank mom for that.” The elder Delacroix told the younger.

(Meaning their mom probably has some sway with the Association.)

“Moving onto the city’s Hunter Teams you have Eternal Horizon, the oldest Hunter team in the city, though they just have Guy and Daisy.” Ms. Delacroix explained pointing towards a massive man of muscle in a dress shirt and tie standing next to a much smaller woman wearing her own vest and tie.

“Wait, I thought you said everyone needed three people to prove themselves or something?” He frowned.

Noah snorted. “Yeah, watch Guy rip a demon’s skull off before beating them to death with it. Then you can say they need to bring three people.”

That made him blink. “Is that really a big deal?”

“Yeah, despite what most people think, not all Hunters can actually rip a demon apart with their bare hands.” Ms. Delacroix assured him. “Guy is kind of the exception to that rule.”

(But I’ve done that.) Well, technically it was an eldritch horror, (but depending on your definition of a demon.)

“The other hometown team is Stoker’s Slayers,” Ms. Delacroix continued, unaware of his musings as she gestured towards a trio with what looked to be two bickering men and an exasperated woman. “Those three are best if you need a Hunter to help with something of a more magical origin.”

“Also, the three of them are sleeping together.” Noah helpfully informed him.

“Don’t spread rumors.” Samantha glared, earning an unrepentant shrug.

“You think they are too.”

“That’s… Just don’t spread rumors!”

He wasn’t entirely sure why but Pix started her tinkling laugh as she tugged on his hair while chirping about something he didn’t quite understand without looking at her.

Figuring it didn’t matter what was amusing her at the moment he ran a finger between her antenna as Ms. Delacroix moved on to a trio of teenage girls.

“Next up we have… actually have the girls come up with a name for their Hunter team?” The elder Delacroix asked the younger.

“Something Coven I think.” Noah shrugged.

“Right, well, the one with the odd hair is my mom’s apprentice, and the other two are Val -who I think you met- and their friend Audrey, who is the one with the actual Hunter’s license of the group.” Ms. Delacroix told him.

“Wait, aren’t they a bit young to be Hunters?” He frowned, noticing how all of them were around his age. He wasn’t sure how he felt about other people his age risking their lives hunting monsters. (I know I don’t like that I had to do it.)

“Eh, those girls are tougher than they look.” Delacroix dismissed his concerns with a wave.

“Val and Audrey maybe, but the elf can’t take a punch.” Noah scoffed.

“Look who’s talking.” Ms. Delacroix shot back, before turning to a pair of men and a woman wearing dark suits. “Now those guys there are Covenant, they’re sort of a black market for magic users and can get you a lot of stuff that is frowned upon by the Hero’s Guild and Sanctuary. More importantly however, they're our competition. So don’t buy from them or I’ll quit giving you a discount.”

“He’s getting a discount?” Noah asked incredulously.

“He’s not getting the idiot tax.” The shopkeeper shrugged, before explaining that, “I usually slap a ten percent tax on idiots who don’t know magic, but since you do I give you a bit of a discount.”

“Didn’t you make me prove I actually knew magic before you’d sell to me?” He reminded her. “Don’t you ask for certification from everyone?”

“Just the people who look like they can’t legally drink.” Ms. Delacroix admitted. “If an adult misuses magic that’s on them, if a kid does it then it’s on the head of whoever gave them the materials.”

“Right…” He wasn’t sure how much he actually believed that, but he’d accept it. (For now.)

“The other gang here is the Gamer’s Guild,” Ms. Delacroix continued with a gestured towards a trio wearing hoodies covered in neon paints. “who despite not having any real magic users do help clean and cover up this whole mess.”

“Which is why they’re allowed to run their Dungeon unhassled.” He figured, realizing that they might get a few perks for helping the heroes and Sanctuary with whatever magical problem the city was having.

“Little more to it than that, but pretty much.” The older magic user nodded, checking her phone once more before looking towards the sky. “Which would bring us to the Mad Dogs…”

Curious, he followed Ms. Delacroix gaze before spotting something moving towards them from the sky, a faint sound slowly growing louder in the distance.

“What is that?” He frowned trying to get a better look at the object.

“Just listen.” Ms. Delacroix told him with an almost amused look.

Doing just that, he focused on his hearing and and could just make out the sound, “Trrruuu Grrriiiittt!!!” before the object suddenly accelerated with a visible ring of displaced air, launching the object into the ground with enough force to send up a cloud of dirt and debris.

“Not to fear,” A boisterous voice called out before a burst of wind cleared away the dust cloud. “Tru Grit, has appeared!”

With the dust cloud gone, he found a smiling red haired man standing in the middle of a newly formed crater while wearing a pair of leather pants and a sleeveless button up vest without a single one of its buttons done, thus revealing his muscular arms, six pack, and pecs.

“Let’s get this show started shall we!”