Noelle stared at the cast the staff at the emergency clinic slapped on her. Apparently, the break had been super clean and she didn’t even need wrist fracture surgery. Eight weeks of recovery and she would be good to go. Of course, she knew that the break had been far messier than the medical staff knew about, and the only reason her wrist was so salvageable was due to the magical influence of Beth.

The staff had let her be in the treatment room, having moved on to other patients. She was accompanied by Oscar, the surly knight who she and Levi had ran across on Dryden Road. It seemed like he wasn’t content in letting those who encountered his young charges go so easily.

Levi wasn’t present at the moment. Neither he nor Noelle had gotten any dinner, so he was dispatched to a nearby convenience store while she underwent her medical examination. That had been a little while ago, so it was obvious he was taking his sweet time instead of hurrying back to Noelle’s side.

Idiot…like I want to be stuck alone with this Oscar guy.

“You can stop scowling at me. It’s not like I wanted to spend my evening with you either.” The young man spoke up from his seat in the corner, tossing the magazine he had been idly browsing on the counter. “Every so often idiots like you come along and stumble into our affairs. It’s best if I took the time to set you straight. Blame Levi for not being proactive enough to wipe your memories.”

“Wipe my…what?!”

“Don’t be so dramatic. It only works if you do it before the knowledge sets in. Too late now. Levi’s not legally allowed to do it, but that’s never been something that’s stopped him before.”

“You’re telling me that guy can play with people’s memories? Makes me feel sick.”

“It’s built into the filter. Some sort of religious property. Hell if I know how it works.”

“Another clueless clown, huh? It’s only natural that dog didn’t erase my memories. Worms like him inherently know their place.”

Oscar’s gaze intensified. “From a dog to a worm…either he’s let himself go or you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

Oscar had expressed some familiarity with Levi before. At the very least, they had already known one another’s name. Thinking about it, once you stripped away the magic Levi was just a guy who sold books. What would he have to do with Oscar? It sounded like being a knight of The Congregation was a big deal. To think that idiot Levi was so well connected…it was pretty puzzling.

“It’s already bad enough that Levi gets involved in our business all the time, I don’t want to put up with you as well.” complained Oscar.

“So, you see him often? Don’t tell me it’s that kind of relationship?”

“God shut up. He butts in on my job. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. ‘I’ll try everything once.’ The guy’s made a real habit of showing up where he’s not wanted. I deal with some politically charged shit! I hate it when that trouble magnet gets involved!”

Oscar was visibly tensing up as he complained about Levi. Noelle would’ve liked to have been present for some of the incidents he was so bothered about.

“You just bump into each other? What a world.”

“No…” he sighed. “We used to work together until he turned tail and quit. Nobody really understands why he did it.”

Work together? Surely Levi wasn’t a knight.

“Maybe that’s why he left? I guess he didn’t enjoy your company, seeing as how you couldn’t understand him and all. Oh well, I’ll take care of him for a bit.”

Oscar growled at her in response. “You jest, but that guy’s more than you can handle. Do yourself a favor and forget you met him. Forget me too while you’re at it.”

“I’ll be the one to judge whom I can handle, thank you very much.” Noelle flopped back onto the examination table and held her casted hand in the air. The plaster casing’s bulky shape did a good job of blocking the overhead lighting, and a shadow fell across her face.

“Listen up, because I’ll only warn you once. No normal person works for The Congregation or gets involved with magical trouble like he does. This is a world where methodology is personal and you can’t determine the shape of an attack until it’s been thrown at you. It’s a world where a twenty-year veteran can be killed instantly by a total noob. Under conditions like that, there’s no such thing as a person who just gets involved with things because he feels like it. To survive as long as Levi has, even by the skin of your teeth, is a miracle in and of itself.”

What the hell was this? What was the point of painting Levi like this? To scare her? To make her think there’s something more to him? The guy was an idiot, the kind of goofy guy you could find anywhere. He was something more than she could handle?

That guy?

“You think highly of him. They have a name for this in Japan…umm…’boys love,’ right?”

“Ha ha.” said Oscar glibly. “Make fun all you want; it won’t be my ass caught in the fire when all’s said and done. Long as I don’t have to see you again, I don’t care what happens to you.”

Oscar got out of his seat and walked towards the door. “That guy should be back soon. Have him walk you home tonight and drop contact after.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I’ll be seeing your mangled corpse on the nightly news sooner rather than later.”

Oscar’s warning echoed in Noelle’s ears as she walked under the moonlight. Levi had finally returned with some cheap food and the two had departed for Noelle’s apartment.

“It’s not necessary for you to take me back to my place.”

“That Adrian guy’s out there somewhere. Besides, walking a girl back is something I can afford to do at least once in my life.”

The danger level had clearly skyrocketed in the last few hours. Levi was wary of the creature but now he was on edge about the man he had fought as well. On top of that, there was the matter of the two girls that Levi seemed to be even more wary of.

“You’re nowhere near my ideal gentleman escort, so give me some information to make up for it.”

“Guys have feelings to. You’re going to throttle my self-esteem if you keep on heaping this abuse on me.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

Levi grumbled under his breath for a moment, his actual words imperceptible. According to Oscar, Levi had made a mistake to let her in on magic without wiping her memories. She assumed this reluctance came from that fact. By continuing to speak to her he was basically picking at his own scab and reopening the wound. Fun for her, not so much for him.

All said, she couldn’t imagine him trying to wipe her mind.

He wasn’t someone with the gall for that…right?

“Fine. What did you want to ask?”

“Why are you afraid of those girls? You act like a witch is something apart from yourself. Aren’t you fellow magic users?”

“No way! Those two are naturals at it! It’s completely different!”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Magic’s a tool! I’m still a normal person without it. There’s nothing inherent to me that’s different from you, I just have the capacity to use a skill. Those two are totally different. It’s like the difference between being able to drive 65 miles per hour in a car and being able to run 65 miles per hour. One’s normal, and one’s freakish!”

Levi’s panicked body language was sincere. He truly believed what he was saying, but it wasn’t satisfying Noelle. Calling children who did the same things as him freakish?

“Does it matter? It’s magic.”

“It’s unstructured magic. I explained it before, there are rules. They might be different for each person, but for an original spell you absolutely need to carry out the ritual as you believe in it. Those two aren’t like that. If they want to breathe fire, they breathe fire. If they want to cause an earthquake, they make it happen. They’re raw power’s off the charts and they can use it with no restrictions. Besides…”

Levi stopped there. It was clear there was something he wanted to say but was reluctant to. Even in the low visibility of the night Noelle could make out a pained expression.

“What? I’m not letting you stop now.”

“It’s just…I don’t know how true it is.”

“I’ll be the one to decide that.”

Levi stared at her. It was an unexpected reaction, maybe a bit creepy.

“What? Don’t look at me like that. It’s gross.”

His gaze dropped to the sidewalk. “Nothing…it’s different to interact with someone so curious. It’s refreshing, you’re not biased yet.”

“Hmph. Just tell me already.”

“Okay.” Levi picked his head back up, composed. “Throughout history there are tons of cases where witches lose control. The Black Plaque was caused by a witch lashing out at people hunting her. We call it ‘succumbing.’ Witches were rumored to get their powers by consorting with the devil. Some think the devil can take over when a witch is too stressed and attack.”

“They lose their temper?”

“That’s an understatement. It’s like they’re possessed when they succumb. You can’t reason with them and they never snap out of it. The only way to stop a witch’s rampage is to kill them.”

No…that couldn’t be right. An unstoppable rampage? Were those little girls capable of that?

“The current opinion is that witches are born with some form of recessive devilish characteristic. It interacts with the collective unconscious, and since the belief of a devil-like creature is strong in so many cultures, they become what they are.”

“You said kill them…and Oscar is their social worker…but he works for the- “

“The Congregation, yes. He’s a knight, an enforcer. His real job isn’t to make sure the foster system is treating them right.”

No…

“He’s their keeper. He keeps them hidden, and if he needs to be, he will become their executioner.”

Noelle couldn’t remember much after that. She walked back to her apartment with Levi in a haze, struggling to process what she had just learned. To think that those two girls were in that situation, it was horrible.

It reminded Noelle of bears. They couldn’t be hunted willy-nilly, and people enjoyed them in zoos and wildlife documentaries, but the instant they got too friendly with humans or too populous they were culled.

Ithaca had seemed like a normal town. A place where adults went to work, students studied and goofed off, and kids went to school and played little league. A perfectly normal place where people lived their mundane lives. A place where the harshest thing that happened was a divorce or two or maybe a tragic car crash.

But…

For at least two people, this place was a quarantine. A life where if they strayed too far they would die.

And so, she remained quiet for the walk, no longer able to stomach idle conversation. The pair continued to her apartment in silence, the air heavy between them from the weight of the girls’ cruel circumstances.

Arriving at her abode did little to soothe Noelle’s heart. She had put off decorating it, and the empty room felt like a cavern of white walls and pale carpet. Considering the night’s events, there would be no comfort to be found here.

“This is the blandest place I’ve ever seen!”

Levi’s voice came barreling out, a harsh reminder that he was, in fact, still present and completely inconsiderate towards her mood. Either she had let him in or he had followed her, she couldn’t remember.

“Are you going to act like this all night?” he asked.

“After what you told me, how couldn’t I?” Was there something she was supposed to be behaving instead? Apparently, there was an entire secret undercurrent to society which feared and would kill those girls if given a reason to.

A society Levi was part of.

“That’s good. Remember how you feel.” he said to her, voice completely lacking any of the hesitation he had shown periodically through the night.

“…”

“I was afraid of them. I hate that.”

“What are you saying?”

“What I’m saying,” he sighed, “is I wish more people were like you. Treating those girls like monsters…I can’t get behind it. They must feel so trapped by it all, so restricted. Their lives were decided for them the moment they were born. That’s not right, even if there is a risk in them being around.”

Noelle giggled, then laughed. Water teared up in her eyes. She tried to wipe it away before Levi noticed but it was clear he had seen it.

“Being cheered up by you…it’s enough to make me cry. How gross.”

“Yeah, yeah fine. I’ll just get going then.” Levi said as he made his way towards the door.

“Wait.”

“What is it?”

“Those girls, that guy, that thing…you’ll still help me going forward, won’t you?”

He was silent for a moment before speaking. “I try everything once. I think I’ve had my fill of investigation.”

“You can claim to have filed your quota, but have you tried actually solving something like this before?”

Levi didn’t answer, instead opting to open the door and step out. Noelle wouldn’t push him for an answer today, she didn’t have the energy to, but as Levi shut the door behind him she swore she heard him mutter something under his breath.

“You don’t know the half of it.”