Sebastian stepped backwards, stumbling as he went, only to be caught by Edmund, who was looking him over anxiously. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m- yeah, I’m fine, just give me a second.”

“Goodness, let him sit down a moment.” Hayden instructed, jumping to help Ed guide Seb to the couch. “I’m assuming you did not do that on purpose.”

Persephone frowned in confusion. “Touch the artefact?”

“No. I was talking about the magic release.”

“Sebastian doesn’t have magic,” Edmund interjected.

“According to Arte, I might.” Sebastian muttered.

Edmund gave him a confused expression. “Ar-who?”

“Arte, the artefact’s consciousness.”

“...Again, who?”

“I need some fucking coffee,” Sebastian muttered before he attempted to get up.

Hayden however pushed him back down. “I’m not sure about giving you caffeine just yet, but you’re defiantly not getting it yourself. We could all use some breakfast, I’m sure, then maybe you can explain what happened to us.”

Seb sighed. “Alright, but I’m not even sure what there is in this house for breakfast really.”

Persephone shrugged. “We’ll scrounge up something. Luke, Ed, come on. The kitchen awaits.”

The two boys followed after the determined vampire, after a few moments of hesitance and Sebastian giving them an encouraging shooing motion. Once they’d left, Bruce came up to the lad and put his head onto his lap with a half-whine.

Seb smiled and began patting his head gently. “I’m alright, Bruce. Mostly. What did you mean by magic release though, Hayden?”

Hayden crossed her arms in an uncomfortable manner. “Well, in short, magic users can detect when magic leaves another user. There was... a lot of magic that left you, when you touched the artefact. If you didn’t do that purposefully than I can only assume this artefact has that sort of quality to it.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Quality?”

“The ability to draw your magic from you. Which is not always a good thing.” Hayden explained, giving the artefact a warry look. “Sometimes users need that, because their magic is too powerful for them to contain, to the point it can make them ill. Most times however, such artefacts like shackles to bind a user’s magic. Or rather drain it before it can be used.”

Sebastian nodded. “I don’t think Arte meant anything malicious by it.”

“Arte, the consciousness. It spoke to you?”

“In an alternate dimension.”

“An alter-” Hayden cut herself off, eyes widening as she came to a realisation. “Are you saying it took your consciousness into a pocket dimension?”

“Uh, I think that’s what they called it, yeah.” Sebastian answered, frowning as he thought back on everything Arte had said to him.

“I, um, I think it wants you again Seb.” Lydia said, speaking for the first time since Sebastian had regained his focus. He blinked at them questioningly, and they clarified. “It's reaching for you, with its aura.”

“Right. I’m not going to get pulled back into that place again, am I?”

Lydia frowned. “I don’t know.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Guess there’s only one way to find out.”

He reached for the box, and this time Lydia got up to bring it closer. When he touched the artefact this time, nothing happened. Not that Sebastian could immediately tell, anyway. The cold metal against his fingertips gave him an odd sense of familiarity mixed with unfamiliarity. He couldn’t really think of a good way to explain it other than that, because it was just plain confusing.

He picked the wolf’s head up, and as he pulled it from the box, he noticed there was a cord attached to it. Just like in his dream. Almost automatically, he put it on, the soft weight of it around his neck felt strange yet... right.

In fact, he felt much better now that he was wearing it. The heaviness in his limbs had seemed to fade and his energy was refilling. He felt refreshed in a way that sleep had not refreshed him in far too long. It was defiantly a good feeling.

“Face is still creepy as hell, but it makes you look cool nonetheless.” Lydia complimented.

Sebastian laughed. “Thanks.”

“It does look good. You also look like you won't fall over from exhaustion, so perhaps we should join the others in the kitchen.” Hayden suggested.

Seb and Lydia nodded and then followed her to the kitchen, where they found Persephone, Edmund and Luke busy with what seemed to be pancake mix and bacon. Or rather, Luke was frying the bacon while Persephone and Ed debated the perfect consistency for pancake mix.

“It’s far too thick.”

“You’re too thick.”

“Oh, very mature.”

Sebastian chuckled at the sight and sat down at the kitchen table. Lydia took the seat opposite him, while Hayden went to attempt saving the pancake mixture. It gave Seb a warm sort of feeling to look around the kitchen and see so many people he cherished gathered at once. He knew the moment of peace would end soon enough. There was too much to be talked about still. So many questions left unanswered. But he allowed himself to enjoy the peace as long as it would last.