Cory wakes up with a start. Someone poked them in the stomach. “Tam!” They groan. “Don’t do that.” She giggles. “But you look so cute when you make grumpy sleepy faces, I had to save me from myself by waking you up.” She puts her head in one hand, sighing like it’s the greatest loss she’s ever experienced. Cory sighs too, sitting up. “What happened?” They grumble. Tam makes an “I-know-things-but-I-won’t-tell-you” face. “You made a stupid decision and Finny had to save you. Again. You know he’s gonna lord that over you for ages, right? Geez, making us worry like that.” She pouts, puffing out her cheeks a little, before poking them in the stomach again. They recoil with something akin to a hiss. “Tam!” They scowl, swatting away her mischievous hand.
Finny is pacing in the main room. Tam opens the door to the house with a “We’re home!” and lots of loud banging. “I believe,” she drawls. “It’s time for some booze.” She waggles her eyebrows at the spellcaster. “Well? Were you hoarding it, O Mighty Sorcerer?” She moves to poke him too but her dodges. “It’s just barely noon, Tam, and may I remind you that we are underaged?” Finny scowls at her, his nerves still wound from worrying over Cory.
It was then that Cory decided to pop in to the room. “Tam! I found his stock!” She chuckled madly, and Finny groans. “We are underaged! Cory, don’t encourage her. You need bed rest anyway.” He glares at both of them in turn. “Never stopped us before.” Cory’s face is cracked wide with a devilish grin. “Remember that one time with Georgia Cook? Oh man, that was awesome.” Their face says that no, they will not be shutting up unless Finny agrees to drink with them and Tam. Finny blushes before throwing up his hands. “Fine! You win! Hand me a bottle.” Tam complies, and Cory holds out their bottle. “Bottoms up!” Tam cheers at Cory’s statement before clinking her glass against theirs. Finny reluctantly raises his with a muttered “Bottoms up…” trailing under his breath.
Hic. Tam looks surprised when the hiccup forces its way from her mouth. “Oh my! I must be drunker than I thought. Oh well. Wann invite Regina and Hank and Douglas to play Spin the Bottle and stuff?” Her speech is slightly slurred, evidence of the large quantity of alcohol she has consumed. Cory nods excitedly at the prospect, and Finny uses his spells to call them over. Before long, an entertaining game of Truth or Dare (drunk style) is in play.
“I dare you…to kiss…Cory.” Tam smirks at Finny. “Go on, do it.” She nudges him lightly in Cory’s direction. Cory is oblivious to the dare, having been in a conversation with Douglas. Tam’s “gentle” shove knocks Finny into Cory. Cory looks back, surprised, and Finny grabs his chin. “Sorry, it’s my dare.” With those four words, he quickly presses his lips against the other exorcist’s. “Payback time, Tam. Truth or dare.” His golden eyes glare into her indigo ones. She smirks. “Truth, I’m not a masochist.” Finny still grins back. “Tell me a truth: did you or did you not spike Regina and Hank’s drinks at Homecoming so that they’d have sex?” Tam’s eyes go wide, she wasn’t expecting him to stoop so low. “I did, with Viagra and Vodka. How the actual hell did you know that?!” She raises an eyebrow, expecting an answer. “A magician never tells his secrets!” Finny waves her off.
Only an hour later, the fast-acting enhanced metabolism of the exorcist’s has cleared all traces of alcohol from their systems. It may have been aided by a spell of two, but as far as the teens are concerned, they spent the last hour comparing stories. It’s a good thing they’ve sobered up, because Avery comes to tell them about their new mission: an Eccelus has possessed a wealthy farmer’s daughter in the next town over, and he’s hired them for 3,000 a piece to come and exorcise her. Ecceli are notorious for clinging to their chosen hosts, unless they find a more suitable vessel. They aren’t very powerful, but depending on the spirit, they can be very tricky to deal with.
“I’ll stay in the truck, you two go in to fight. I won’t be of any use to you anyway, so don’t try to tell me to go in.” Tam, her carsickness acting up, is clutching the door of the truck with a death grip. Cory is half expecting her hand to leave a mark on the metal. “Alright, see you in a bit. This shouldn’t take very long. C’mon, Finny, let’s go exorcise a spirit.” Cory lightly grabs Finny’s wrist and drags him from the vehicle towards the large farm home. The house is half modern, half rancher style. A man in a suit greets them at the door. “Right this way, she’s just down the hall. Do be careful, she’s a bit violent.” The pair are effectively shoved in the room and the door locks behind them. “I guess there’s no going back now,” Cory jokes. Finny nods as he prepares an exorcism spell. “Be ready to fight, we don’t know how tricky this one is going to be.” Cory nods.
Before Finny can complete the spell, however, the possessed woman crumples, and Cory screams. Cory is on the floor, spasming with whimpers and groans. “It hurts…” they say. “Please, Finny, get it out…” Finny’s blood runs cold. He’s already pieced together a gist of what happened: the Eccelus has decides that Cory is a better vessel. He crushes a salt stone, sprinkling the dust around and on his friend’s body. “Daedali animam precor, huius corporis expelle mala et in aequilibrium redde.” He repeats this chant three times, each time crushing a different stone. The first, salt, to weaken the hold of the spirit. The second, sugar, to purify the soul of the possessed. The third, gravel, to fortify the defenses against spirits. Then he claps his hands and draws a seal in the air before Cory. Finny’s hands are shaking as he makes the seal, driven by an urgency but trying not to rush. If even one step is messed up, it could be disastrous. He successfully finishes, and the Eccelus is driven from Cory. Finny quickly destroys it with a simple flame incantation.
“You, my good sir, are simply a magnet for trouble.” Tam is sitting in the chair next to the bed. Cory is on bed rest again, and she’s appointed herself as his guard. Finny came by briefly to mutter a quick “get well” before zooming off again to who-knows-where. Tam has been staying overnight, and a couple of their other friends have sent in cookies or flowers. Cory grins lopsidedly from their position on the bed. “Nothing I can really do about that. You’re the Diviner, shouldn’t you have known that was gonna happen?” Tam made a face, a serious face. “No. It didn’t pop up in any timelines. Hell, even the mission didn’t come up. I…maybe I’m just overworking myself. This has never happened before.” Cody reaches out to smack her lightly on the top of her head. “C’mon, this bed is way too big for just me, and you look exhausted. Get over here.” They pull Tam onto the bed with them, curling up next to her. She smiles, putting one arm around them and rubbing small circles on their back. They fall asleep quickly, Tam following soon after.
They dream of a throne, twisted and black. Red liquid oozes down its surface. A crown bathed in blood rests on the skeleton of a long dead king, his skull smiling. Spirits of all rank bow down before him. His hand raises and he looks directly at Cory. “Come back to us, our Little King.” The voice is warped and seems to come from every spirit in the room. Cory wakes up screaming.
Of all the things they could have dreamed of, they dreamed of a spirit ruler? They shake their head. What an awful concept. But what had the spirits meant, calling them a “Little King”? They decided to just shake it off. Maybe, just once, it was just a regular nightmare, no truth involved. They sigh, running a hand through their tangled orange hair. Just their luck to get a nightmare. They sit up, lightly easing off the bed as they head for the door to the room. They’ll walk of the worries, take a stroll around the town. What could possibly go wrong?
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