Kai's hand was buried in Martin's back, fingers curled around the glow of stolen magic in his chest as he told his little story. The Beast coughed blood, his laugh rasping.
"Well, well… who would've thought you'd be this much of a problem. Tell me again—" his lips twisted into a grin, "—how exactly did you get out of that useless Fox's little pocket dimension?"
Kai twisted his wrist. Red light bled from his palm as Martin grimaced, the sound of siphoned magic muffled by his groans. Then Kai's voice, low and calm, slipped into the space like a blade.
"Phasmatos Tribum, Exum Sue, Redem Su Pas Quo."
Martin's body shuddered, a visible stutter in the flow of power as Kai used a halting spell on him. In the TVD universe, this spell stops the flow of a witch's magic or a magician in this case, canceling out any spell that is being performed or magic that is being channeled.
Kai layered another word over it.
"Immobilus." The Beast stiffened, locked in place by the immobilization spell.
Kai leaned in slightly, his voice quiet and terrifyingly even. "It would be… unwise to try and use magic, or even twitch, with my hand buried inside you. You'd blow yourself to pieces. And trust me, I'd enjoy the view."
Quentin's voice cut through, raw and breaking. "He killed her!" He lurched toward Martin, but the Beast only wheezed laughter, blood trailing down his chin. "Oh, pipe down, will you?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Elliot's voice cracked, shaking as he held Margo's limp body, her neck bent at an impossible angle. His rage trembled against his grief. He started to rise, but Martin sneered, eyes flashing to him with mockery.
Julia snapped, shouting, "Shut up!"
The Beast just cackled louder, feeding on their anguish. Penny said nothing. His face was wet with silent tears.
Amid it all, Julia's gaze cut sideways. She noticed something strange: Kai's stillness. The calm in his expression wasn't human. "Why are you so… calm?" she demanded as her voice brittle.
Martin caught it instantly and laughed in amusement. "Ohh. So that's it. He doesn't care about his little friends. Look at him—" his bloody teeth bared in a grin, "—he's just waiting for his moment, can't you all see he used you all as bait."
Kai tilted his head as he ignored gone all while looking at the two dead bodies. "Any minute now." They didn't understand what he meant by that until Margo's corpse lurched upright with a strangled gasp, air flooding her lungs.
Everyone froze. Elliot staggered back in shock. "Holy shit."
"What the fuck," Penny muttered.
Before the awe faded, Alice convulsed as well, her body jerking upright with a sharp inhale. The wound at her neck was gone, smooth, pale, unbroken. She stared wide-eyed, clutching the spot where death had claimed her moments ago.
Margo pressed her hand to her own neck, wincing. "My neck… Christ, that hurts."
Alice mirrored the gesture, her fingers trembling over healed flesh, tears mixing with the dried blood on her face.
Margo's gaze darted from Elliot's tear-stained cheeks to Alice's horror-stricken eyes. "Fuck. We died."
Alice nodded slowly, voice breaking. "Yeah. We did."
Then Margo's eyes caught something else, Kai. Standing calmly, his hand still inside Martin's chest. "Kai…???"
He raised a brow and smirked. "Oh, hello."
Her face twisted. "When the hell did you get here?"
Kai's grin widened. "Oh, I wouldn't miss your resurrection for the world." His joke fell flat. No one laughed at that because if the mood. "How?" Penny finally rasped.
Quentin didn't wait as he nearly tackled Alice in a desperate hug. Julia, still staring, demanded, "What did you do, Kai?"
Kai started, "Well, give me a minute—" then paused, lips quirking. A thought flickered in his head. "Oh, wait a minute, I know this kind of moment. In movies or stories, this is when the villain pulls something out of their ass and escapes while the main character is explaining something isn't it?."
Elliot, stunned at the outrageous question, actually huffed a short laugh. "Technically… true."
Penny muttered still in shock, "Uhh Yeah. That sounds about right."
Kai's hand glowed brighter. He spoke sharply. "O se kwe pe se."
Martin screamed, his body jerking violently. "What did you do to me?! What did you do?!"
Kai didn't even look at him. Quentin's voice rose, panicked at the suddenness of Martin screaming. "What did you just do?"
Kai glanced at them with casual ease. "Made sure he doesn't jump ship into some random bystander which would for me go hunt his ass again. So this is a body lock. He's stuck right where he is."
He twisted his hand again, making Martin convulse. "Ah, yes… now that's more like it."
Martin's face twisted with annoyance, and Kai leaned in, whispering into his ear loud enough for all to hear. "You were far too calm, even with the fact I casted a halting spell on your magic. Which means you were planning your exit. Am I right?"
Alice wiped blood from her face, standing shakily. Kai dusted his free hand off, like a teacher waiting for his class. "All right. Questions?"
Julia was first. "How?"
"The gift I gave you all before we left Earth," Kai said simply.
They all frowned. "Gift? What gift?" Quentin pressed.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I cloaked it with a 'notice-me-not' spell. Whoops." He snapped his fingers.
Immediately, each of them noticed a ring on their hands.
Quentin's was a band of silver etched with a single lining. Alice's glimmered faintly, white gold inlaid with fragments of quartz. Elliot's had a green stone, deep as a wine bottle's glass. Margo's was jagged obsidian, sleek and sharp against her skin. Penny's gleamed with copper edges, dull until caught in light. Julia's was pure black, smooth and seamless, like onyx poured into form.
Kai beamed. "Protective linking charms."
"The what?" Elliot asked flatly.
"They trigger when you die or, let's say, are incapacitated. Transfers all that… unfortunate stuff to a more durable, willing…" Kai trailed, then muttered under his breath, "…or unwilling volunteers."
He nodded proudly at that. Margo narrowed her eyes. "You look way too pleased with yourself, you twat." She eyed the ring. "Still. It goes with my outfit. So… forgiven."
Elliot wiped his face, voice flat. "You forgave him because it matches your outfit?"
Penny stared. "You do realize you just died to prove it worked right?."
"Mmm," Kai hummed in satisfaction.
Alice's voice cracked. "Is it… useless now?"
"Oh, don't worry. Still active. And given your track record, you'll need the extra lifelines." He smirked. "Dying thirty-nine times is saying something."
Julia, looking at her ring, said dryly, "Technically, Alice and Margo are at forty."
"Bitch," Margo snapped. "Keep talking like that, and I'll make it forty for you as well."
Kai chuckled. "Just avoid heart removals or beheadings. That tends to void the warranty."
Julia nodded once. "Noted."
A grunt pulled their attention. Martin was still half-alive, half-bound. Kai's smile sharpened. "Oh good. You're still here. Third time's the charm." His eyes flickered blue for a few second. "Besides, I've siphoned enough juice for a side project."
Martin's flesh began to gray. Stone crept from his chest outward, petrification blooming across his body.
"No, wait!" Martin roared. He turned his pleas skyward. "Wellspring! Let me give it to you! You can have it—just let me—"
Kai laughed. "Oh, please Martin. Do you think I don't know how much you've already drained the source of magic? One more push and Fillory would collapses."
"How do you—"
"Man, shut the fuck up, I don't trust ever second you are not incapacitated completely." Kai twisted his hand. The stone leapt across Martin's body in an instant, freezing him solid.
Elliot blinked at the statue, breathless. "Jesus. It's like… Picasso sculpted with a hangover."
Kai pulled his dusty hand free, smiling. "Why thank you for that odd comparison. My third masterpiece actually. You see the first one was uhh…" He held up a finger. "Well it's dust now." Another finger. "The second one was… hmm ok it was stolen." He gestured to the Beast's petrified body. "But this one? This one I intend to keep."
Quentin's voice was wry. "Funny thing about masterpieces… antiques have a habit of getting stolen."
Alice sniffed. "Same with half the paintings in my father's house."
Kai grinned, fishing into his coat. "Oh, don't worry. I've got that covered." He pulled out a strange disc-like contraption, humming with faint light. "Mmhm. Definitely covered."
"Oh yeah, and with that comes the end of season one guys."
They all looked at Kai strangely at that. "Never mind you wouldn't get it." He said to them.
Patreon.com/Fredozy
Check out my new story (creeping disaster)🫴🏻