Noir made a living by fooling people, and he was good at it.

Incense candles around the counter surface dampened the minds of customers, his long black mantle and hair that was greezed back helped portray an air of mystique.

A few personally stuffed animal carcasses lined the lace covered windows, the beasts decorated to look similar to things he remembered from european folklore.

He even had a barely audible harp melody sound in the background all day, while the shelves held books that seemed mysterious, some written by himself as guides to the spirit realm, others as detailed reviews on hunts of fairy tale creatures. All of those things made up, of course. He would never believe in magic again, though the room drew customers in any way. His business model was perfect.

Those who realised they fell for his tricks would never tell their friends, as it was too embarrassing for most of his customers to share with anyone.

He thought for years that he had built the perfect scam, though it did involve therapy sessions once in a while. Some people loved using his séances to talk about their life, something he never quite understood as he answered whatever felt right to their questions.

One person broke the mysterious atmosphere that had taken years to build.

In his somewhat culty robe and baggy jeans, his apprentice Marc was absolutely sure in Noirs skills as a mage and Monster hunter, an illusion the trickster was scared to shatter one day.

The boy spend most of his time reading the books in the shelves and learning to do anything he considered as dark magic, to the point that Noir sometimes stepped in to make sure Marc did not try anything that would shatter his dream. The boy was still seventeen, and although Noir considered himself a professional asshole, he had sworn to take care of the boy when his parents kicked him out, and while he was a fraud, he had never broken an oath in his life.

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Today, the cards Marc laid every morning displayed death, the fool, and the ace of cups, all upright. He turned around to inspect his teachers reaction, thus forcing Noir to put on a show as he read the cards.

"Death... something will end, given that we have two major arcanas and an ace, I assume it is something big. Maybe a company will fall, or some relationship might end."

He put it to the side, studying the next card.

"The fool. The great fall will result in someone we know being thrust in a world different from his own, a rich guy losing his company and money? That would fit with the ace of cups... strive for something bigger than oneself... that sounds a lot like someone will develop a whole new worldview. If we consider us two, I guess we should put up the guardian spirits. Can you set them up? I will gather the amulets. Maybe you will have your true power awaken tonight, if any monster would actually go into a place as magic defying as this."

In truth, he only wanted Marc to be busy. Though putting up the guardian spirits, a collection of particularly ugly monstrosities he build from the remains of the rats caught by his traps in the streets, often invited curious tourists and mystified goths into his store even more than normal .

He made a point of not having them out more than one night at a time, a routine he once established out of boredom that had made him stand out from the other creepy book stores and sooth sayers around town.

Still searching for the Talisman, he heard marcs scream from outside, and a rather uncharacteristic laugh drawing his attention, though everything beyond the door was covered in absolute darkness.

Immediately, he grabbed his staff and headed for the door.

He ignored the slow readjustment of the decorations as he passed them and did not see the silvered eagle skull at the tip of his favoured weapon fill with ocean blue light.

He did not care that the shadows opened up, threatening to devour him as he closed in on the source of the screams.

Noir slipped into the angry old warlock persona he perfected in his MM9 days, raising his weapon as he opened the door and stepped out.

"Whether I breathed in too much incense or you are actually a big fucking cloud of darkness. If you don't let go of my boy right this fucking instance, I will curse your family and have your ancestors haunt you for the rest of time!"