“Would you try, if I asked?”

The three men had set out at dawn. They hadn’t seen each other in years, so Will had suggested they go hiking. It was something they had enjoyed doing when they were kids, so he thought it would be a good way for them to reconnect.

It was fascinating how quickly they fell back into their old habits, as if no time had passed at all. They did not even need to talk, knowing all the gestures the others would do every time they came across an obstacle.

They had been at it for two hours now, with very little talk as they focused on reaching the peak... but now Jack had come out of his silence to ask the dreaded question.

“Try what?” asked Paul.

“Jack would want you to do the impossible,” muttered Will.

“Hardly. Besides, what’s the harm in trying?”

“What is this about, guys?”

It was the most the three had talked since they had set off that morning.

“Well,” said Jack, “it’s like this. There’s this mask that has been puzzling the whole planet for hundreds of years...”

“Ah. The Face of Xian. Yes. I’ve heard of it.”

“Right. So, as you might know, many people have tried to pluck it off the wall it’s embedded in, but to no avail. I think you could pull it off, though.”

“Magic has been tried before,” remarked Will. “It just can’t be done.”

“Stop being so negative!” snapped Jack. “Paul is unique. We can’t know for sure unless he tries. Besides, there has to be a way to remove it, so why not this?”

They all fell quiet as they continued their trekking.

It was only an hour later, after they finally reached their destination and were resting by a stream, that Paul finally responded.

“I’ve heard its texture will sometimes change?”

Jack nodded. “Yes. It is quite curious. I’ve watched it for hours. I only saw it happen once. Most of the time, it’s all solid rock. But every once in a while... it’s like it comes to life. It lights up with swirling colors. Its surface becomes warm, porous, and soft—very skin-like.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Have people tried to grab it in both states?”

“They have,” said Will. “Nothing works. As if it were an integral part of the wall, even when it’s more alive.” He shuddered at the thought. “It’s really creepy, if you ask me.”

“Our friend here,” snickered Jack, “thinks there is a curse on it. Those things don’t exist.”

“They do, actually,” calmly said Paul. “But they are rare.”

Jack looked skeptical. “Well, I doubt there’s anything like that involved here.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no magic in this world,” he tried to reason. “It’s all technology and math and logic...”

“That’s not true,” chimed in Will. “You forget all those gods... that comes with a fair amount of mysticism.”

Jack shrugged. “That’s all just hogwash. The ravings of fanatics. Doesn’t mean there’s any magic.”

“Just because you don’t see it,” remarked Paul, “doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

As if to prove his point, he waved his hand above the water, and the spot under his palm boiled and bubbled. It stopped as soon as he pulled away.

“But you did that,” said Jack. “You brought the magic with you.”

Paul quirked a brow.

“Did I?”

***

While it was true each world was different, there was always some form of energy one could tap into to make magic happen.

Though Paul never liked the term. To him, it was just a different form of science. Simply, instead of understanding why the stars shone, or how gravity worked, he understood how to manipulate those energy flows to obtain specific results. There was nothing magical about it.

As he walked back into his hotel room and closed the door behind him, he headed toward the bed and opened his luggage.

There were places where those energies were not quite as strong, that much was true, but it was always there. Over the years, he’d found it increasingly more difficult to explain this to people. So he did not try anymore. Least of all with Jack. He knew him too well.

Another thing he hadn’t told his friends was that he had an ulterior motive for meeting them on Qojja. As did they, it seemed—he smiled as that thought crossed his mind. Maybe he should have told them after all... he promised himself he would. It was just still too sensitive for him. But soon, he would tell them.

He wondered what he would do once he’d found the answers he sought. He had never considered that before. Wouldn’t his life then feel empty? What would be his purpose once he no longer had this purpose? It was a somewhat disturbing perspective. One he preferred to discard for now.

His mind then wandered back to the mask.

He’d heard of it, of course. Who hadn’t? It had been a major story for centuries now, one of the most baffling mysteries of the universe. A half-dead, half-living mask; sometimes made of rock, sometimes of flesh—if it could be called that; that could never be removed from the wall it seemed to have been grafted on, no matter what.

Would he be able to pull it off?

He had never entertained this idea before, oddly enough. And yet, now that he did, it seemed like something he should have tried a long time ago. After all, why not? It felt like an interesting challenge, and he always did enjoy a challenge.

Yes. He would give it a shot.

And who knew... with a bit of ‘magic,’ maybe it would work.