JAMIE

And Now, Much Earned Exposition!

Now I’m a talkative guy, but even I’m stumped on how to approach conversation when you’re sitting at an outdoor cafe table across from a water manipulating exorcist after fighting a moss monster. Seriously, I’m at a loss at this point.

My cut stings slightly under the bandaid, I’m glad he wrapped me up earlier. Dunno what I would’ve done with another scar on my face, or how I would handle explaining two scars to every person I meet. Once again I’ll say a few thank-you prayers that my hair is safe.

The natural scent of some kind of herbal tea Chin-Hae had ordered for the two of us wafts from my cup alongside steam. Chin-hae cups the bottom of his tea, sipping it quietly as if he doesn’t have something to tell me.

He has a lot to tell me by the way, I have a lot of questions that need answering. Like right now, I don’t accept late work.

“Ahem, don’t you ha—” I begin before Ch—fuck it can I call him Jin? Before Jin removes his cup from his lips for a moment to spare me a cold glance and interrupt what I was saying.

“Drink, if we start talking now the tea will be cold before I’m halfway done with the most basic explanation.” Jin explains, then promptly continues sipping his tea.

“Yeah I’d rather chug three espressos and a five hour energy right now, I’m exhausted.”

“Herbal teas help with mana exhaustion, drink.”

Mana what? Like the fictional power system in every RPG? That mana? Is that what my flames are made of? Or is it like a conjuring situation?

I guess my confusion showed on my face because Jin’s eyes lost their cold glare for a moment. Replaced with an almost minuscule amount of shock before putting his teacup down. He blinks the confusion away for a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts before clasping some sort of necklace hanging around his neck to compose himself.

“You really don’t know anything do you?” He says in almost disbelief with his hand on his face, I’m barely able to see his eyes through his fingers.

Is it really that shocking?

I’m not exactly dressed like a professional am I? He’s in a whole designer outfit while I’m in a hoodie and skinny jeans. Do card-whatever’s have a dress code? Come to think of it, what is he wearing in public? I swear someone had to have asked him something.

“Nope, I am a certified novice. Don’t even know what that was.” I clarify.

“A novice.” He repeats.

“Yes, do you want some synonyms? A beginner, a newcomer—” I begin to list but I’m quickly interrupted by soft cackles.

Said cackles slowly build into full blown laughter that sends a few side eye glances our way. He leans back into his chair and runs his hand through his hair, exposing his forehead. Slowly the cackles die down just like my sense of normalcy before he clears his throat.

“A novice, they sent me a novice.” He mutters under his breath like it’s some kind of joke.

“I’m sorry?”

“No don’t be, idiots don’t apologize for being idiots do they?”

Oh so he’s a dick, oh boy. Can’t wait to spend the next few hours getting a lecture, not that I haven’t had my fair share.

“Very well, I suppose I’ll give you a basic explanation.” Jin says before placing his hands together.

The fingertips and the back of his thumbs touching in a way that looks kind of like an upside down heart. He then begins to mutter something.

“”From rivers to the ocean,

Never ending, all encompassing, the water flows.

Encase!”

Then in what feels like a split second, water begins to pool around us, slowly forming until it creates a bubble around us. The outside of the bubble looks blurred, and I can vaguely see people and watch cars whizz by but it’s like looking through a pond.

Which makes a lot of sense, being a bubble and all.

“Now (?), we can talk freely.” He states, clearing his throat and laying his hands flat against the table before his eyes flit to me, the bubble and back to me, as if goading me for an inevitable question.

“So, what’s with the water bubble? Because if this entire monster thing really is a secret like I’m assuming it is, you aren’t doing a good job at keeping it that way.” I ask, getting a good 360° view of the whole thing.

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Seriously a giant water bubble is not subtle.

“I assure you no one saw me put up the bubble, and no one can see or hear us now because of it. It would be a disaster if the public knew of the things we do after all.” He explains.

“And what exactly are those things?”

“We should start with the basics. Everything in the world from the living to the dead possesses Mana. That goes for people as well, of course not everyone can manipulate Mana, only those who have awakened can do so.”

“Like you and me, right?”

“You and I but yes, that is correct.” He corrects, okay grammar police. “People can be awakened through a strong sense of belief or sense of individuality, however the belief in the supernatural is the main force.”

Seriously? I’ve never been big on the supernatural especially not before I “awoke”, I mean I did believe afterwards but that was only because I have powers.

“I never really believed in the supernatural before I found out I had fire powers, and even then I thought I was the only real supernatural being in the world.” I explain, I mean if I wasn’t then where all the supernatural stuff?

“The only supernatural being? The Moss Mistress was your first interaction with a slight?”

“A what?”

“A slight, as I mentioned earlier the main way to manipulate mana is a strong sense of belief, that also means that unconsciously when many people or just one powerful person harbors belief in something mana may take the form of it or something similar to it.” Jin notes, pausing for a moment to sip his tea.

Now that I think about it this is a lot of information, I’m not gonna remember this an hour from now. I quickly and stealthily read under the table and into my hoodie pocket to grab my phone. Thank the Lord it’s not broken, I swipe left on my lock screen that I will not name to access my camera and begin recording. Thankfully his tea break doesn’t last long.

“Slights can take the forms of legends, deities, rumors or even just day to day things that harbor a lot of significance.” He explains, his left hand ghosting just above his.. talisman? It looks like a ribbon with some sort of card attached that’s tied around his neck.

“So like Santa Claus?”

“Yes.”

“Mothman?”

“We have dealt with that one.”

“Sonic?” I ask rhetorically, I really don’t want to know if Sonic is real. That would give me nightmares.

“Who?” He asks, his tone sounding genuinely confused at my words as his eyes linger on the table.

“Sonic the Hedgehog.” I repeat.

“What is that?”

“Okay I don’t exactly have the time to explain Sonic lore in full but you need to specify if you want to learn about Archie Sonic or Fleetway Sonic or—”

“I am not talking about Sonic, I’m talking about your phone.” He says pointing accusingly at the device, surely he doesn’t find my orange phone case criminal!

Before I can say anything he snatches it off the table and ends the recording. So much for reviewing this later. He stuffs the phone in his shirt, the same place he pulled his card out of before matching my worried gaze with a cold one.

“Do you know how dangerous that was?” He asks, his words clear and cold.

“What? Recording your lectu—”

“Silence.” He commanded, slamming his hand on the table and sending a ripple through the bubble, he stood in a swift motion, standing over me with an intensity that made him seem like he was towering over me.

“No more jokes, or jests or quips. This is serious, if information about the supernatural existence or of mana where to get out it would have devastating consequences!”

His glare was even colder than it had been before, instead of the same hurricane-esque fury I had witnessed earlier. Nor the nonchalant lack of care from his earliest glares, this one was just dead calm.

Not like he wasn’t angry but in a way far scarier before, like a corpse, or more specifically, like a morgue technician who’s seen far too many corpses to care. His eyes were akin to the stillness of the ocean before a storm. The kind that turns pirates into dead men walking.

Sweat slid down my neck as he stared at me, boring holes where my eyes would be with the intensity of his glare. The air felt palpable in the bubble, as though if I moved an inch he’d finished what Mossy tried to do and kill me for real. Not even the herbal tea could pierce the tension.

“Do you know what would happen when the government finds out about slights and mana?” Jin asks almost like a dictator goading a child, his voice as cold as death. “They will treat it like every other discovery they unearth, and use it for games of power, money and for war. They will treat you, me, and everyone else as guinea pigs or worse, just to fight in pointless conflict like they always do. Do you want that to happen!? Do you wa—”

Jin immediately shut his mouth, cutting off his sentence. His dead eyes suddenly flurrying back to life as he clasps the talisman against his neck. He sits back down, and clears his throat again. Does he have a cold?

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to lose control like that. Of course I’m only apologizing for my attitude, the words I said will not be taken back and should be listened to.” He apologized, clarifying his intentions.

“Now, back to my explanation, slights tend to vary in terms of danger level, while some may be completely docile others can be prone to intense violence. To combat this Card-Holders deal with them and other mana based issues such as artifacts.”

“Artifacts?”

“Either mana based items or items from some sort of myth or legend people believe in such as Excalibur.”

“Oh cool.”

“I suppose, as for Card-Holders that’s what the Moss Mistress assumed you were due to that card in your pocket.”

“But I’m not one, and if slights think everyone who carries around a playing card is a Card-Holder wouldn’t that be dangerous?” That is a big oversight after all.

“I’m not sure how you got your hands on that, but Card-Holder cards are made with the seal of the ICA on them in Mana-based ink, look in the back of your card. Is there a tree that emits a faint glow?” He hinted, sliding his own card across the table, the tree visible.

Sure enough, I pulled out Dad’s card, and there it was.

What? What does this mean? Did Dad have powers? He was a Card Holder? Does Mom know? Does Mom have powers? Does everyone in my life have a superpower? Are they hereditary? Probably not, can’t inherit belief. This is so much to take in. My brain might overload.

While I’m struggling to cope with all of this information, a soft pulse echoed through the bubble, it’s kinda like a breeze but you can feel it in your mind instead of on your body. Jin reaches into his shirt, again (seriously do his pants not have pockets or does he just prefer keeping his pecs warm with junk) and pulls out a black flip phone.

In 2019 I shit you not.

He flicks it open and suddenly the bubble gains a teal-ish hue with a hologram popping out of the phone. It’s hard to tell what the figure looks like considering they’re not facing me but they seem to have very, very curly hair as well as a fashion sense that consists of the wardrobe of an English teacher in a sitcom.

“Chin-Hae!! Where have you been!? I’ve been trying to reach you for ages!l” The hologram cries out in exasperation, they sound kind of nerdy if that makes sense.

“Can this wait? I have more pressing matters to deal with?” Jin answers, glad to see he cares about me.

“More pressing than a meeting with our Supervisor? Do you have a date or something? GET UP HERE!!” The voice shouts before the hologram disappears.

Chin Hae then promptly shuts the phone, turning to me.

“I assume you have a lot to think about, if you have any more questions just head to the Occult Club at our highschool. Now then, bye.” Jin says before snapping his fingers and disappearing along with the bubble.

Leaving just me, the cold tea, and a lot on my mind.

The chill breeze of the wind snaps me out of the state of shock I was in and brings me back to the moment. I walk away from the table after finishing the tea. I should probably head home but I don’t know how I’ll explain being gone this long. Oh yeah sorry for the wait some blue eyed magic dude made me drink tea with him while he yelled at me the way uncle does when he “helps” me with my math work. What occult club anyway? I’ve never heard of th—

“Wait, he goes to my school?”