Tyler reacted first, gasping. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit.”
“I don’t understand,” Clarissa said, gently taking the scimitar from Evelyn. “What was the boy’s involvement in this.”
“The boy,” Grizzizzik grumbled. “Like the ‘boy’ isn’t six years younger than your husband.”
Clarissa almost had her scimitar sheathed before she pulled it right back out and used it to point between Grizzizzik’s eyes. “You’re not in a position to be cracking jokes, Grizzly Bear.”
Hraktar placed his great sword against Grizzizzik’s neck. “What are the terms of this contract. What did he promise you.”
Grizzizzik said nothing. His teeth were sharp as he glared at Ezekiel. Rafael held his breath, honestly afraid that the rogue would try something and run.
“Grizzizzik,” Nick whispered. “Remember what I said. These are your friends. They want to help.” Grizzizzik opened his mouth to say something, but Nick pushed forward. “Yes, help. What Hraktar’s doing right now is because you destroyed their trust. You had a good idea, even if the execution of it would have been…” Nick closed his eyes, shaking his head. “So much better if you had help from the start.”
“They cannot stop me,” Grizzizzik said. “They won’t.”
“Tell them the truth. Stop running,” Nick said.
Grizzizzik was hissing, low and deep. He closed his eyes. “I am five hundred and forty points away from getting a sword strong enough to kill my father permanently in this realm and ours.” His eyes snapped open, his yellow slits staring right at Ezekiel. “You will not stop me from obtaining that sword. And I will do whatever it takes to get it.”
There was silence. Tyler was leaning against a bookshelf, staring wide at the ground. “Nick,” Tyler whispered. “Why couldn’t you tell us?”
“I did,” Nick whispered back. “I stared at each and every one of you every day and told you exactly what was going on. But Chaos stopped me, often changing the very words I said to keep it all hidden.”
Tyler sank to the ground, covering his face. Evelyn had tears running down her cheeks. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “Oh my god, Nick. Oh my god.”
“Why did Nick have to be involved?” Ezekiel asked.
“He was the only one who could touch this world, therefore the only one who could create chaos. It was what he wanted,” Grizzizzik said.
“And if Nick didn’t create the chaos?” Derek asked.
There was a pause. A long one. Grizzizzik glanced at Nick, who sighed. “You know how we lost two months of our deadline?” he asked quietly.
Tyler dropped his hands from his face, looking as though he had swallowed a tennis ball.
“Shit,” Derek whispered.
Rafael felt nauseous. At the same time, it all clicked into place. It was the only thing that made sense. Nick had been so weird because he was forced to. And he couldn’t say a word about it. The absolute hell his friend must have suffered made Rafael place a hand against a bookshelf, trying to fight down the nausea.
Evelyn ran over to Nick, almost knocking him over as she hugged him, crying softly. Tyler shot Calawit a look before jerking his head toward Nick. Calawit sighed, then snapped her fingers and the petals melted from his torso, letting Nick hug his sister back.
No, Nick wasn’t hugging. He was clinging to her.
“God, Evie. I’m so sorry,” Nick said.
“Don’t. Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault,” Evelyn said.
“The hell you must have gone through-”
“Was all Grizzizzik’s fault. I don’t blame you at all.”
Hraktar sheathed his great sword. “I need to get out of here. If I stay here much longer, I will detach this rogue’s head from the rest of his body.” The fighter stormed out of the tent. Ezekiel kept his gaze on the rogue.
“Please, Ezekiel,” Grizzizzik said. “I am so close to getting that sword.”
“To kill your father? Permanently?”
“Yes,” Grizzizzik said. “It is what Chaos promised. To end him. We don’t have to wait for a wish spell, we don’t have to get help from anyone else.”
Ezekiel shook his head, tears in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You would have stopped me.”
Ezekiel rubbed his eyes, letting out a haggard breath. “Nick is right.” There was silence as everyone looked at the cleric. He dropped his hands, looking at Grizzizzik. “It was a good idea. An excellent idea. This is something we could use. We could’ve helped you. Could have saved Nick from the ire of his own father. Look at them,” Ezekiel said, gesturing toward Rafael, Evelyn, Tyler, and Derek. “All of them could have helped create chaos. Could have worked together to do acts of chaos that weren’t overwhelming. All of us could have helped, and you refused. You always think you have to do everything by yourself.”
“I don’t need help,” Grizzizzik said.
“Yes, you do.” The first of Ezekiel’s tears fell. “You have good ideas, Grizzizzik, if you’d share them. It’s what a team does. We work together to bring all our expertise to get the job done. You are too focused on your goal of revenge that you can’t see what this did.” Ezekiel pointed to Nick’s face covered in scars. “Nick’s just a boy. You bullied him into doing what you wanted. Manipulated him for your own profit while disregarding what this did to his soul. By keeping this a secret, by abusing this boy and the power you had over him, you were no better than your father.”
Grizzizzik flinched, then glanced down as though ashamed such a reaction came out of him. Ezekiel continued, “We could have gotten Tyler’s help with interpreting Chaos’s promptings, to suggest them into ones that wouldn’t have hurt Nick. Used others here to make sure Nick’s reputation with his father didn’t get brutally destroyed.” Ezekiel sighed. “We were here all along, Grizzizzik. No one is meant to do this alone. Your father taught you to fear friendship for a reason. Because if you ever trusted us, he won’t last another week. He is doing this to you for his own self-preservation, and you are letting him. Stop hiding. Stop… running away.” The cleric rubbed his arm, looking at Grizzizzik. “Why can’t you trust us?”
Time came to a halt. Rafael glanced at the d20
Roll for persuasion.
Rafael supposed there was a bit of persuasion in there. He grabbed the dice and gave it a shake. It clattered before landing on eighteen. He was glad it all worked out, or else he would have been really frustrated. Since Ezekiel had a +0 for his modifier, he was grateful for the eighteen.
Time resumed and Grizzizzik said nothing. He stared at the cleric, about to say something, but stopped. A small smile crossed Nick’s face as Calawit watched, impressed.
“Not a drop of blood. How does Ezekiel do it?” Calawit asked.
Ezekiel was confused as he stared at Calawit. “Huh?”
“So you’ve struck a deal to get a sword powerful enough to kill Akshi?” Tyler asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Grizzizzik said, not looking at anyone.
“Does Nick have to do anything more chaotic?” Clarissa asked, glancing at Nick. Evelyn and Nick had broken from their hug, but Evelyn wasn’t leaving Nick’s side.
“If I don’t level up in the next day or two, he’ll have to do something,” Grizzizzik said.
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“He’s not doing anything else,” Derek said, his voice firm. “Ezekiel is right. All of us could have done something, and we can still do something if needed. I will sprint through the busy school halls in my boxers before I allow Nick to put his reputation on the line again.”
Nick snorted. Rafael saw it, the stress that was tightening Nick’s shoulders finally relaxing at Derek’s words.
“Are we sure we want Grizzizzik to level up?” Clarissa asked, glancing at Ezekiel.
The cleric kept studying the rogue.
“Yes,” Nick said. Every gaze turned to him. “A sword powerful enough to kill Akshi permanently, we’d be stupid to pass this up. The wish spell won’t be available for months. We could get this tonight if we play our cards right. Have one of the most dangerous criminals off earth well before the apocalypse. I’ve done this week’s chaotic thing.” Rafael’s gaze lingered on the stitches on Nick’s face before focusing on the rest of what he said. “Grizzizzik will not go back to Chaos once he’s got his sword.”
Ezekiel glanced at Nick before turning again toward Grizzizzik. “Keeping this silent was wrong. We all agree punishment is in order, even if we allow you to level up.” Grizzizzik did nothing, staring at Ezekiel as though bracing himself. “Nick? You’re Grizzizzik’s creator,” Ezekiel said. “Not only that, Grizzizzik forced you to do things this past month, and I believe you, of anyone, should have the biggest say in what Grizzizzik’s punishment should be.”
Nick glanced at Ezekiel, then focused on Grizzizzik. He frowned, studying his rogue character, and Rafael wasn’t sure what to expect.
“First off, I… don’t want to be alone with you anymore,” Nick said.
“That can be arranged,” Evelyn said, her tone dark as she glared at the rogue.
“As for the other… I’m thinking something that will force you to be around one of the other characters to help you understand you can trust these people. I… don’t want you to be alone ever again, either,” Nick said.
“Not Hraktar. I really believe those two might end up killing each other,” Clarissa said, glancing at the door.
Ezekiel rubbed his chin, a small smile crossing his face. “You will be Milo’s lab partner every time he’s in the lab. When you are done with the lab, you will stay with us. We are pooling our money together to buy those manacles Hraktar was eyeing that won’t let you leave thirty feet of anyone. You cannot sneak off anymore.”
“Manacles?” Grizzizzik asked.
“Don’t even try to pick them loose,” Clarissa said. “If you do, Hraktar gets to hunt you down and bring you back in whatever state he chooses.”
Grizzizzik’s eyes widened before he shot his gaze to the mana fusor. Milo smiled, then gasped. “Yes! I’ll need some help! I can also show you how my new invention works!” At first Rafael was confused until Milo brought out the night goggles and slipped them on. It was the oddest mask Rafael had ever seen. There were strange antennae coming out of it, with a few glowing springs bouncing around as he slipped it on his face. Milo beamed as he pointed at the copper mask. “Awesome, right!”
Grizzizzik’s gaze shot back to Ezekiel, terror filling his face.
“Yeah.” The smile grew on Ezekiel’s face. “You’ll be spending ten hours with him every day helping him make things. That or you could spend the day listening to me read.”
Calawit appeared, snapping a manacle on Grizzizzik’s wrist. Grizzizzik’s gaze darkened as Calawit tossed the other one at Ezekiel, who caught it. “Free of charge,” she said.
Grizzizzik’s lips disappeared into a thin line.
“I’m close to creating black mana. And we’ll see how we do with green mana. We really need a stockpile of that,” Milo said.
The rogue’s eyes bounced from Milo and Ezekiel, looking like he was in pain. “What kind of choice are you giving me?”
“Sucks, doesn’t it,” Nick said, folding his arms.
“Oh, don’t give yourself as an option, Ezekiel,” Clarissa said, taking his hand. “Then I can’t stop your reading breaks to make out with you.”
“Who says you need to stop making out with me?” Ezekiel asked.
“Milo,” Grizzizzik said instantly, hands in the air. “Deities above, I’m going with Milo. I will spend every day for the rest of my existence with him in order to stay away from you two.”
Rafael almost felt like chuckling at that. But the revelation of the hell Nick suffered was too much. Ezekiel tossed the mana manacle at Milo, who caught it before slapping it on his own wrist. Grizzizzik tried picking at his own bracelet, but Calawit waved a hand, and a shot of electricity hit his palm. Grizzizzik grunted, shaking out his hand as he glared at her.
“Tell me I’m wrong to give you that punishment, rogue. I dare you,” Calawit said.
“Two more things, Grizzizzik,” Ezekiel said.
Grizzizzik’s hands balled into fists as he glared at Ezekiel. “What.”
“You must offer two apologies. Both of them must be to Nick.”
Grizzizzik’s eyebrows furrowed. “Both?”
“The first one is now,” Ezekiel said. “Apologize for the pain and torment you put him through.”
The silence was long enough that Grizzizzik barely glanced at Nick. “I’m sorry.”
“The second time,” Ezekiel said, taking another step forward. “Is the invitation for when you finally feel it. Whenever it happens, however it manifests. When the guilt and shame hit you so hard that you can hardly breathe. When the realization hits that Hraktar should have lobbed off your head tonight. When you realize and agree with how the rest of us looked at you with such horror tonight. When you see the scar on Nick’s cheek and forehead and realize you put it there. When you realize that this wasn’t your father’s mind control, but you truly did decide that putting a boy’s life on the line was the thing you needed to do, I want you to apologize to him. Again.”
Grizzizzik stared at Ezekiel. He seemed surprised, almost in disbelief. He might have said something else, but stopped when he heard the chirping of a phone.
No one had that ring tone that Rafael remembered, until he realized it came from the phone he never heard ring. Rafael glanced at Nick who had lost some color in his face.
The tension instantly changed. Despite no longer being cocooned, Nick made no move to reach into his pocket. All the tension that had eased out of Nick’s shoulders returned in full force. His posture was curled over, his shoulders slumped. Rafael had a sinking feeling it was because Nick knew who was calling him. Rafael had a suspicion that Nick did not ask Walt’s permission to leave tonight.
Would Walt understand? Would Walt give compassion?
Nick cleared his throat as though bringing himself to the present and reached into his pocket. Rafael felt sick to his stomach. Walt wouldn’t give Nick compassion. That wasn’t Walt. Despite the car crash Nick experienced, Walt showed his worry like Jack. With anger and frustration. Violence. Maybe not the physical kind, but Walt’s words were enough to crush Nick’s soul.
The ringing ended, and Nick had it in his palm, waiting. He didn’t have to wait long. It started up again, and Rafael could see Nick freezing his emotions to mentally prepare for an argument with his dad.
No. To hell with that. If Ezekiel taught him anything tonight, it was that every person had a strength in the team. The leader’s role wasn’t to be strong at everything, but to understand who was best suited for the situation. And for a conversation with Walt, this was Rafael’s specialty. Besides, he could not stand there and listen to Walt berate Nick. Not after the hell Nick went through this past month. Not after figuring out why he did what he did.
Rafael strode forward right as Nick flipped opened his phone. Before Nick could place it to his ear, Rafael snatched it out of his hands.
“Hello, Mr. Larsen,” Rafael said as he placed the phone to his own ear.
There was silence on the other end that only lasted a few seconds before he heard Walt let out some air. “Rafael?”
“Yes, hello! How are you?” Rafael asked.
“Uh, good. Good. I… just wanted to check to see where Nick was. I didn’t realize… is he with you?” Walt asked.
“Funny story about that.” Rafael’s brain scrambled to come up with a lie. Walt checked Nick’s phone every night, so he would have to see that Nick called him. “Nick called me up, pretty shaken about his crash.” Rafael glanced at Nick, making sure he heard his lie. “And honestly, I wanted to check up with him too. I slipped away from the CCNC session to meet up with him and we’re… about ready to go to Jose’s and pick up some horchata.”
They’d have to actually go to the restaurant now. Just in case. At least it was next door. He shot Nick a questioning look, and he nodded in agreement.
“Oh. He… didn’t tell me.”
“He didn’t tell you? How odd,” Rafael said. “Um… I suppose he was afraid you’d say no. Ah, shit, I see your wife’s car in the parking lot. Oof, that’s… not good. I thought he would take the bus. That’s on me for not checking.” The lie came surprisingly easy to him, and he tried to keep his voice light.
“No, no, I’m… thankful, really. Thanks for trying to reach my son. He definitely doesn’t talk to me,” Walt said.
“Here’s what I’m thinking. Once we get the horchata, I’ll take Nick for a drive around town, and we’ll have a good chat. I’m honestly confident Nick won’t make any dangerous decisions anymore. Once we’re done later tonight, I’ll drop him off at your house and then make sure Evelyn drives Mrs. Larsen’s car home. I don’t want Nick driving it right now.”
“Neither do I.”
“Yeah. Hey, thanks for letting Nick do this tonight. He really needed a night out,” Rafael said.
“Well, thank you for being such a good friend to my son. God knows he needs a good influence like yours.”
“Uh-huh,” Rafael said, trying to believe it. “I’ll see you later tonight, Mr. Larsen.”
“Bye, Rafael.”
Rafael pulled the phone away from his ear and closed it. He handed it over to Nick, who sniffed as he took it. “Thanks, Rafael.”
“Anytime.”
“Thanks for… trusting me,” Nick said.
Rafael nodded, finding the answer to be similar. “Anytime.”
And yet it still didn’t feel like enough. He couldn’t imagine the horror Nick went through the past month. What it felt like to be so alone. To possibly face Walt’s wrath at the end of every week. The times lined up in Rafael’s mind, and it was no wonder Nick stopped causing chaos for a week. Rafael let out a breath as the full weight of it hit him. “Shit, dude. Are you okay?”
Nick turned his gaze toward the ground as he slipped his phone in his pocket, blinking way too much to not be hiding something. “I… will be. Now that everyone knows.”
Rafael wasn’t sure why he did it, other than it felt like it needed to happen. He walked forward and gave Nick a hug, not sure how deep the crash injuries went so he did his best to be soft.
He almost let go when Evelyn hugged Nick again, too, wrapping her arms around his side. Derek and Tyler came on either side and hugged Nick that way.
“Can you ever forgive us for not knowing what was happening?” Tyler asked.
“Of course I forgive you all,” Nick said. “You all were only doing what you thought was right. And were trying to figure out something that none of us could even comprehend.”
Rafael let go of Nick first because he was aware of Evelyn’s arms near him. “Come on. You and I need to get horchatas from Jose’s, then you should explain everything on the way to confront some cultists.”
“Cultists, huh?” Nick asked as everyone else let go of him. “Sounds fun.”