Tessa yawned, her mouth stretching wide open as she closed her eyes. She normally covered her mouth as well, but she couldn’t pull her hands off the illusory wall in front of her. The contact technically wasn’t necessary to pull down the illusion, but she found it helped her concentrate.
After her conversation with Nick yesterday, she’d stayed up all night to study the runes of the Lysander Circle. It had taken her longer than usual to put together a working theory, and she had no idea what to bla. Many of her thoughts had been preoccupied with Nick, lingering on everything they’d talked about. Facts about her life that she hadn’t shared with anyone in years.
It wasn’t completely Nick’s fault, though. She was also working with unfamiliar magic. Not only were the circle runes ancient, but she was planning more extensive modification than last ti.
She yawned again, just as the wall in front of her vanished, when she heard Nick knock on the staircase door behind her. After a quick pulse of magic that shook the door twice, their agreed signal that everything was okay, he opened the door and closed the distance. Most importantly, he had two large cups of coffee in his hands, and the sll alone began to perk Tessa up.
“You’re lucky the coffee place is right above us,” Nick said, taking a sip of his drink. “How late were you up, anyways?”
“Doesn’t matter. Gim!” Tessa grabbed her coffee, eagerly taking a few large gulps. The warmth, and the caffeine, flooded her body as she sighed with relief. “Fuck, that’s the stuff. Alright, get inside, I need to pull the wall back up.”
“Wait, like, while we’re inside?” Nick asked.
“Yes, while we’re inside. If my first attempt doesn’t quite work, I’ll need ti to iterate on my ideas until I can figure it out. We can’t risk soone wandering down here and catching again.”
Nick walked past the threshold, making his way to the back corner while carefully avoiding the runic circle on the floor. “Again?”
Tessa’s tattoos flared as she began reaching for the magic of the illusory wall, and she started the process to pull it back into existence. “This is where Brandon first found out. Fucker had been stalking and walked in while I was taking down the wall for the first ti.” Another minute passed before the wall reappeared, at which point Tessa set her backpack down and pulled out her magic notes.
“So, what exactly are we trying here?” Nick set his coffee down as he readjusted, now sitting on his knees as he watched Tessa.
“We know that Vee and Amara are in Purgatory, but we don’t know how they got there. The first thing I did after pinpointing their location was scour the campus for a portal, but I couldn’t find anything, which ans whatever pulled them through was a temporary anomaly. Normally, creating a portal would take way more magic and knowledge than I have, but thankfully, I don’t have to work from scratch. This circle is connected to Purgatory, but that connection was initially used to build part of the Planar Gate. Since the Gate is now down, I’m hoping I can use that connection to build a bridge.”
“It sounds so easy when you say it like that,” Nick said with a smirk.
“Yeah, well, I’m dumbing it down so you can understand. You want to start pouring over all the runic symbols with ? Help craft equations to create stable interplanar travel?”
“Look, I know you’re joking, but that honestly sounds kind of interesting. If we weren’t racing the clock, I’d ask you to show the basics.”
Tessa was crawling around on all fours at this point, her magic exploring the circle, and she paused to look at Nick. “Even if I did, you wouldn’t be able to do anything with that knowledge. You need basic runic tattoos like mine to even interact with any of this shit.”
“Who said I wanted to do magic? Maybe I’m just fascinated by the way everything fits together. If nothing else, I might be able to give you soone to bounce theories off of.”
“Oh my god, you’re such a nerd. Why are we friends again?” Tessa asked, rolling her eyes.
“Presumably because you’re dating Amara,” Nick said, his voice light and playful.
His comnt, however, pulled Tessa away from her task. Her tattoos faded, and her vision blurred as she lost focus on the task at hand. A strange feeling had just appeared in her gut, sothing that didn’t quite feel right. When she responded, her voice was quiet, almost hesitant. “We’re not dating, Nick. We just… hook up occasionally.”
The change in tone seed to catch Nick off guard. “Oh, I just assud with all the ti you’ve been spending together… Do you not like her like that?”
“The sex is amazing. It’s unreal how good she is at pulling orgasms out of ,” Tessa said flatly.
Nick carefully placed a hand on the circle, waited a second, then slid himself closer. “Tess, what is it? I sense a ‘but’ coming.” He settled in next to her, his voice growing soft with concern.
“It’s nothing, really.” Tessa sniffed, scratching her nose briefly as she tried to push Nick away. When she looked over at him, however, his eyes were locked on her, their gaze unyielding. He stayed silent, but she knew exactly what he was saying. “I just, ugh, I don’t an— it’s not like I don’t like her! I think it’s just like what you two have, there’s no romantic feelings.”
Another few seconds passed, and when Nick moved again, it was to put a hand on Tessa’s shoulder. “Tess, there’s sothing you’re not telling .”
Tessa’s breathing quickened, and mories returned to her unbidden. Flashes of the ritual, of Amara’s bloodlust. Her claws covered in blood, her victims scattered into pieces. The remaining cultists they’d found after, their bodies drained of life. “You didn’t see her that night, Nick. You didn’t see the people she fucked before the ritual.”
“What did she do to them?”
“I don’t know, Nick! According to her, she just fed on them a little more enthusiastically, but they looked sick. Their skin was pale, their bodies weak, and they were terrified of her. And, ever since that night, she’s been getting rougher than usual when we fuck.”
“And you’re scared she might do the sa to you?”
“No! I an… fuck, I don’t know. She’s my friend, I trust her, but that night just made realize how much she’d changed. What if this isn’t the end? If she’s getting rougher in bed, how do I know she won’t accidentally take too much eventually?”
“I understand where you’re coming from, Tess, and I wish I had an answer, but I don’t.” Nick took a deep breath, then squeezed her shoulder. “You rember that week I took off school? That wasn’t a family thing, I just got overwheld with everything that was happening with Amara and needed to get away for a bit. I’ve never been very religious, but when we figured out she was a demon, it shook .”
Tessa looked up, surprise in her voice. “Really? You still kept fucking her, though. Clearly you weren’t that worried.”
“I just decided to trust her. I’d already slept with her multiple tis, and I didn’t feel any different. We could spend all day worrying about the future, about what might happen, but I’d much rather focus on the now. She’s my best friend, and from what I can tell, she has yet to hurt anyone other than a cultist or a stalker. If she’s ever at risk of changing too much, the best chance we have at pulling her back is to stick with her. We’re stronger together, Tessa.”
They both fell silent again, Tessa unsure what to say. She’d never known that Nick had his own doubts about Amara, and her own feelings suddenly felt a bit more valid. Yet, in spite of his concerns, Nick had still been a bastion of reliability for Amara, continuing to sleep with her and help her practice her abilities. From what Tessa rembered from various conversations with Amara, Nick had single-handedly helped her through almost every change in her transformation.
What if my distrust of Amara is what pushes her over that edge? Nick is right, if we don’t give her everything we have, what chance does she have?
“Plus,” Nick said, breaking the silence, “it’s pretty damn hot to fuck a succubus in the ass.”
Tessa snorted loudly, unable to hold back her laughter. All her nervous thoughts vanished in a second, and she had to hold her stomach as the laughter refused to stop. Nick moved her coffee away from her, just in case, and after a minute she managed to pull herself together. “Fuck, Nick, I didn’t think you had it in you. Wow.”
He held up Tessa’s coffee, then said, “How about we get back to the circle, huh? Amara’s strong, but I don’t think she can rip holes between planes quite yet.”
With a resolute nod, Tessa took a long drink from her coffee, then returned to work. Her tattoos flared to life, and she eagerly began making additional alterations to the circle. She did her best to work slowly, to make sure that each change she made was applied carefully. After seeing the disastrous results from the cult’s changes, she knew precision was of the utmost importance.
After roughly an hour had passed, she felt confident enough to make her first attempt. “Alright Nick, ready to give this thing a spin?” she asked.
“Wait, do you have to turn it on? I thought these things were always active.”
“Um, yes and no. It’s not inactive, necessarily, but an active portal requires additional magic. Normally circles like these are self-sustaining, but that would require additional ti that I simply don’t have. Think of it like a bike; I’ve got all the gears in place, but I’ll still need to pedal.”
Nick shuffled back into the corner again, making sure everything he had was off the circle. Tessa did the sa, then carefully kneeled by the edge and placed her hands on the ground. She took a deep breath, connected with her magic, and reached for the circle. She focused on her breathing, keeping it steady as she observed how her magic was interacting with the circle. She felt it move through the runes, lighting them up one by one, and soon she felt the magic start to click.
She kept pushing, putting all her energy into maintaining a consistent, steady flow of magic. After the first few seconds, as the circle continued to glow brighter, she started to see shapes appear in the space above the circle. Strange red lines at harsh angles, collected on the floor, all stemming from a darker, indistinguishable mass.
“Shit, Tessa, are you seeing this?” Nick asked.
Tessa nodded quickly but didn’t dare respond. She kept feeding the circle magic, knowing she only needed a few more seconds of concentration. The strange shapes atop the circle grew brighter, more defined, and she began to figure out what she was looking at. The red lines solidified into two large wings and a tail, the dark mass at the center suddenly had recognizable brown hair. With one last push, Tessa gave the circle the last bit of magic it needed, then she gasped and fell backwards.
Her gasp seed to catch Amara’s attention, as she looked up in surprise. “Hello? Is soone there?” the demon asked.
Amara was sitting on the floor while leaning against the back wall, her various extra limbs collected in front of her. As Tessa looked up, she saw why Amara’s figure had initially looked so confusing; only the parts of her directly over the circle were visible. Knowing what this probably ant, Tessa jumped to her feet and walked closer. “Amara! Fucking hell, you’re alive!”
“Holy shit, Tessa?! Vee, get over here!” Amara said, gesturing to the space behind Tessa. “What’s happening on your side? Is everyone safe?”
Nick spoke up next, his usually calm voice now raw with emotion. “Amara!” He ran into the circle, falling to his knees as she tried to embrace Amara, but when he moved forward, he instead fell to the ground. His entire body phased through Amara’s, and he had to catch himself to avoid hitting the back wall.
“Okay, that’s not a good sign,” Vee said, suddenly appearing in the circle. She gestured to the magic surrounding them before directing her gaze at Tessa. “This is your work, I presu?”
“Yeah, once I saw your magic in the circle, I tried to figure out a way to reverse engineer its magic to create a bridge. I must have ssed up, though, because it doesn’t look like we can touch each other.” To prove her point, Tessa playfully threw a punch at Vee, only to watch it pass harmlessly through her arm.
“And it looks like we can only see each other if we’re over the circle. This is really fucking impressive, Tess, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be coming ho today.” Amara started to stand up, then quickly faltered. She stumbled forward, catching herself on the floor in front of her, and began panting heavily. Shockingly, Vee was at her side in seconds, wrapping a hand around her waist before helping her to her feet.
Once Amara was standing, Tessa finally saw how tired she looked. She had heavy bags under her eyes, and her usually vibrant skin seed darker than usual. Oddly enough, the strange lighting of the basent almost made it look like the red from her wings was starting to creep into her complexion. She was clearly having trouble standing and had to lean heavily on Vee as they kept talking.
“Amara, are you hurt? What’s wrong?” Nick asked, moving to stand in front of Amara and Vee.
Before Amara could respond, however, her body and Vee’s flashed briefly, almost fading away for a mont. Tessa winced in pain as she felt the magic start to trickle out of the circle, and she knew they didn’t have much longer. “Fuck, we’re running out of ti!” she said.
Vee nodded in acknowledgent, then began speaking quickly. “We’re alive and well, if a little tired. We have food and water, but the entropic forces of Purgatory are slowly chipping away at our strength. We don’t know why we’re here, but I think sothing’s wrong; there are massive undead creatures stalking this version of campus, and we can’t avoid them forever. Tessa, we’ll do everything we can to be back here tomorrow, can you get us ho then?”
“I’ll do my best. This was only my first attempt, but I’ve got so more ideas I can play with.”
“Good,” Vee said, nodding. “I’m happy you guys are safe!”
“I couldn’t find any anomalies on our side, hopefully this is an isolated incident,” Tessa said. She wanted to keep speaking, but the circle sputtered again, causing her to wince once more.
“Stay safe!” Nick said, his voice shaking.
Amara looked up at him and smirked. “You too. See you guys tomorrow!”
With a quick flash, the magic in the circle burnt out. Tessa had been holding a connection with it the entire ti, and a sharp headache appeared as she finally dropped the link. She grabbed her head before moving to the corner to grab a seat. “Fucking… well, at least we know they’re alive. That’s better than nothing, right?”
Nick moved closer, sliding down the wall to sit next to her. “Did you see Amara? She looked completely exhausted, I’ll bet she hasn’t fed since she disappeared.”
“I an, obviously. You seriously think Vee is going to fuck her?” Tessa paused slightly, reviewing the rushed conversation as she tried to catch her breath. “Although, they did seem weirdly comfortable with each other.”
Silence fell again, neither sure exactly what to say. A minute passed before Nick spoke up again, placing a hand on Tessa’s knee. “Hey, like you said, they’re alive. As scared as I am, we still have a shot at getting them ho, and it’s all thanks to you. You did great today, Tess.”
Tessa almost flinched at Nick’s touch, but couldn’t help but smile at how genuine his words were. She was starting to understand why Amara felt so comfortable with Nick, he clearly had a talent for staying optimistic in the face of uncertainty. She chuckled quietly to herself, then said, “Please, we both know you’re just trying to butter up so you can get in my pants.”
They looked at each other, and in that mont, Tessa could feel how nervous Nick was. He’d seed so worried when Amara had appeared, yet there was nothing he could do at the mont. She had no idea how he stayed so optimistic. “You clearly know better than I know myself,” he said with a forced smile.
“Hey, you know what would be really helpful?” Tessa asked, eager to give Nick sothing to do. “I’m going to be pulling another all-nighter to try and get this circle up and running, so I’m going to need so food.”
“You can count on . The usual?”
“The usual.”
The two agreed on a titable for Nick to return with the food, then Tessa lowered the illusory wall to let him out. Once she’d restored the wall, she turned to the circle, cracked her knuckles, and took a deep breath.
Alright, Tessa. Everyone’s counting on you to get them ho, and you’ve got 24 hours to get this circle working. No pressure, right?
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