At first, Koi didn't think much of the scene before him. It wasn't like he'd never seen something like it before.
A graveyard, vast and open. Tombstones sticking out of the ground beneath them. Sure, this wasn't so amazing to Koi. Graveyards exist. But...in the backyard of a high school? Not just hidden in the back yard of a high school, but in the back yard of a magic school. And it was so precious that the magic school used Illusions and crap to protect it.
"It's almost dawn, we're not done yet," Ethan said. "Any ideas how to get rid of the dogs so we can take a closer look?"
Koi's mind flickered with spells to ward off the dogs, but his body protested. The forcefield sprint had drained him dry, leaving only the ache of magic spent and no quick recovery in sight.
Just as Koi's hope began to fade, Adam fished a wallet from his jacket and thumbed through its contents. At first glance, the cards looked like ordinary bank and credit cards, but Koi noticed the swirling symbols and neon hues that no bank would ever dare print.
Adam selected an ocean green card, its surface shimmering in the moonlight.
"Sleep bomb. Watch this," he announced, flicking the card downward. It burst in a cloud of thick gray smoke, curling around the dogs below. From their perch, the trio watched as the animals slumped to the ground, one by one, lulled into instant slumber.
"What kind of rich boy bullshit is that?" Ethan laughs. "You've got a wallet full of weaponized credit cards?"
"Hey, at least they are asleep and not dead!" Adam says, pushing up his glasses, annoyed at Ethan.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ethan muttered, already planning how he was going to steal Adams' ninja wallet with all those useful credit cards.
"Anyway, we've only got a few moments before daylight. Let's run for it." Ethan dropped from the tree, landing lightly on the grass. The guard dogs, lost in dreams or dazed by the smoke, barely stirred. A few whimpered, but Koi's relief grew after hearing Adam explain it was sleep gas. They were going beddy bye. No real harm done. With luck, they had just enough time to uncover whatever had Ethan so excited.
Adam followed, landing with a fluidity that made Ethan's jump look clumsy. Where Ethan's strength was natural but untrained, Adam's was honed—every movement precise, every muscle mastered.
Then came Koi, peering down with dread. He willed his pale, unathletic body to reach the ground in one piece, but luck was not on his side tonight.
He opted for a careful climb, but his foot slipped and gravity took over, sending him crashing onto the unforgiving grass below. Winded, Koi gasped for air and took quick stock of his limbs, hoping nothing was broken. Koi's back throbbed, but nothing seemed broken. A guard dog ambled over, tongue lolling, and Koi braced for the creature to bite his face off.
Instead, the dog flopped down, its head heavy and warm across Koi's neck. The gentle weight of the soft fur baby nearly undid him.
"I swear this guy's gotta be gay," Ethan muttered to Adam."
Why? Because I'm bonding with the fuzzies?" Koi asked definitely.
"No! Because you do everything as unmasculine as possible!" Ethan shot back, annoyed.
"Boy can't run, can't jump, can't even climb down a tree," Adam chuckled. "All that spellcasting has made you slow and useless, bro!"
Koi pulled a face, mocking them. He'd never had siblings, and usually that made him lonely. , But right now, being an only child sounded like pure bliss if this was what having brothers was like.
Without another word, Ethan led the way to the middle of the graveyard. Adams' eyes would dart to the tombstones, and his heart sank as he picked up on a repeating theme.
He stood in front of one Tombstone that had only one name written across it: "Carrot." The annoying girl who was always oogling him.
Every tombstone belonged to a student still walking the halls. Adam's cheeks burned as he looked up, desperate for Ethan to explain. He spotted the blond perched on a tombstone, unscrewing a bottle of booze and taking a swig. In a daze, Adam drifted closer, and the name on the stone beneath Ethan came into focus.
"Ethan Robespierre"
Nothing else was carved there. Adam glanced back, wondering if Koi had noticed yet. He spotted Koi a few feet away, frozen before a tombstone.
Looked like he'd found his own.
Koi knelt. In front of the stone bearing his name yawned a square hole, just the right size for a coffin. He was obviously still alive, not in that box. He brushed dead leaves from his own grave marker.
Adam turned back, terrified to look at Ethan. Ethan just smiled at him. His eyes were exhausted, but happy. He'd needed to share this terrible, terrible thing with someone. He was so happy to finally have people he hated as much as Adam and Koi to share this unbridled horror with.