Harvey (Team Crafted)

Tale of the Magician

Deadlox sat with his back to a tree, silent, his head nodding just a little to the beat of the music solely playing in his head. The fire nearby crackled pleasantly, giving off warmth and a gentle glow, helping to fend against the cold February weather.
    He sat alone in the clearing, his eyes closed. He knew it was dangerous to sleep at night in the open with no one to keep watch, but after his long day of travel, he knew he couldn't stay awake to journey through the night. So he remained still, trying to sing to himself in his head in order to fall asleep, but it wasn't working. He tried stopping, but the song stuck in his head wouldn't stop repeating itself over and over; basically, he couldn't get his brain to shut up, and it was annoying as hell. It was even worse because he wasn't sure where he had heard the song in the first place.
    Deadlox sighed and laid flat on the ground instead, curling his knees in close to conserve body heat. After several minutes passed, he finally started to drift off. But then, through his subconscious, he registered the sound of a twig snapping. He jumped and lifted his head quickly. He first saw that his fire had died, so the comforting orange light had faded to a darker, quieter red glow in the embers that remained. He sat up straight as he looked around the clearing he'd settled in, but it was empty, and the shady trees surrounding were dark and empty. Nobody was near.
    "Hello?" Deadlox called, already about to assume that what he had heard had been a result of his half asleep state.
     But then he saw a flash of yellow and suddenly, a violent fireball of gold was coming right at him. He gasped loudly and quickly rolled out of the way, only just in time. The fire hit the tree behind him, lighting it on fire for only a moment before it distinguished rather conveniently into the air.
    Deadlox clambered as quickly as he could to his feet, looking to the source of the fireball. The place had gone dark again; nobody was in sight. Deadlox knew magic when he saw it.
    "Come out!" He ordered. "Fight me!"
    There was silence, before the bushes swayed behind him and he jumped, whipping around. Then he blinked.
    The man standing there was short, and had wavy, thick brown hair swept over his forehead. His clothes were dark blue and light brown mixed. Deadlox tilted his head, realizing the man before him was one of those magicians everyone was talking about. But why had he attacked him?
    "Sorry about that." Said the magician sheepishly. "I thought you were someone else."
    Deadlox stared at him. "...Hah?"
    "See, I'm searching for a man who has the same haircut as you so... I kinda just..."
    "Wait a minute." Deadlox said, holding up a hand. "You literally tried to kill me because this guy you're looking for and I both have the same haircut?!"
    "Well I mean... Emo hair..."
    Deadlox groaned, rolling his eyes, fighting the urge to start the fight up again. "Just, go be on your way then, go take care of whoever this is."
    "Hey, hey, maybe you could help me out!"
    "Why would I do that?" Deadlox asked, going back over to the glowing embers of his campfire, poking them with a stick. "You literally almost burned me alive."
    "Do you remember seeing anyone with black hair cut like yours but wearing blue?"
    Deadlox rolled his eyes. "No, I do-..."
    The magician seemed to sense his hesitation and he hurried over, sitting across the fire from him. "You've seen him haven't you?"
    Deadlox hesitated, thinking. "Why are you trying to catch him? What are you going to do with him?"
    "Well... Frankly, I'm gonna kill him."
    "Why?"
    "Because he's a murderer, that's why." The magician said. "He's killed eleven innocent people and he's gonna kill more. Where did you see him?"
    "...The town I just passed through. Mindleton."
    "Yeah, I was there too. Where did you see him?"
    "Hang on, let me ask you some questions first." Deadlox said. "Why are you even killing him? Like why not leave it to village guards?"
    "Look, just tell me what I need to-"
    "No, not till you answer my questions!"
    The magician stared at him with narrowed eyes before he sighed. "Because if I kill him and teleport his body back to the Sorcerer castle, I'll get a reward."
    Deadlox's eyes widened as he stared. "...You're an assassin."
    The magician scowled. "I prefer bounty hunter!"
    "Well, still! You're killing that person for money!"
    "Because if I don't, that person is going to kill hundreds more people his he has his way!" The magician stood up. "So, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."
    He started to turn away before Deadlox stood too. "Hang on, wait, wait." The magician stood up, raising an eyebrow at him. "Tell me about this guy."
    The magician blinked. "Huh? Why?"
    "Maybe because I think it's rude that he's killing people and I'm curious." Deadlox shrugged.
    The magician hesitated, before he nodded. "Okay." He said interestedly. The two sat down as he talked. "His name is Zexy Zek."
     Deadlox snorted. "Zexy? That's one hell of a name."
     "Hey speak for yourself, Deadlox."
     Deadlox blinked. "I didn't tell you my name."
     The magician shrugged. "Magic has it's perks." He said. "But anyways, this kid is eighteen years old, highly trained cause his dad was a badass fighter guy, and he's murdered eleven people, because they made him a little mad."
     "Who were the people he killed?"
     "Hang on..." The magician reached into his knapsack and sorted through until he pulled out a file. He flipped through the papers inside. "Here's his picture." He pulled one out and handed it to Deadlox. He looked it over as the magician kept talking. The boy wasn't much higher than Deadlox himself, and he couldn't deny that their hairstyles were similar, although Zexy's was black and he wore different clothes.
    "He's killed Angie Darmax, Angkod, Paul Partsis, Tyler Brotato, Lia Frerarie, Maggie Lex..." The magician's voice trailed off as he saw Deadlox's expression. His eyes were wide, his face paler than before; he almost looked like he'd seen a ghost. The magician blinked in confusion. "What's wrong?"
    "...Y...Y-You're lying..." Deadlox said. "Tyler Brotato was not murdered, he drowned! I was there!"
    The magician stared at him. "No, we know it was him. We found his body, he was clearly stabbed, do you want to see a picture-?"
    "No!" Deadlox snapped. The two were quiet a minute as he took a deep breath.
    "...Did they ever find his body after he 'drowned'?"
    "Well... N-No..."
    "I guess that means he must have survived."
    "But then... Why didn't he come tell me he was okay?"
    The magician shrugged. "I dunno but... I guess it doesn't matter now."
    Deadlox heaved a slightly shaky sigh. "...Okay... Okay, I believe you..."
    The magician stared at him. "I'm sorry about him. He was your friend, I guess?"
    "Yeah, my best friend. I was about fifteen when he died, three years ago."
    "I'm really sorry."
    "Yeah..." A thought occurred to Deadlox. "...You're saying that this Zek guy killed Tyler?"
    The magician nodded. "Unfortunately, yes, he did."
    Deadlox looked away, thinking silently as the red, glowing embers crackled every once in awhile. He sighed, zipping up his hoodie. "Alright, fine." He said, looking at the magician again. "That's enough questions answered for me."
     The magician stared at him with a thoughtful look in his brown eyes, remaining where he was. "...You know... You could come with me. If you helped me out, we could split the bounty."
     Deadlox blinked. "Huh? Why would you want my help? Can't you do it alone?"
     The magician shrugged. "I dunno... It just seems like you have a score to settle and I've been worried that he might be too big of a match for me alone. Can you fight?"
     "I can swing a sword sometimes, but-"
     "So why not just tag along? You could use the money could you?"
     "Well, yeah-"
     "Well then what's holding you back? You got somewhere else to be?"
     Deadlox opened his mouth, then shut it again. In truth, he really didn't have anywhere to go. That was why he was all alone out in the middle of the woods in the dead of winter. He hesitated a last time, then finally sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll help you fight this one guy, you pay me, and then we part ways."
    The magician shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
    The two were quiet a moment before Deadlox spoke again. "We should rest. I can take the first shift."
    "Are you sure?"
    "Yeah, I couldn't sleep anyways."
    The magician shrugged again. "Suit yourself." He said, and then he laid down on the ground beside the fire, pulling up his hood.
    Deadlox stared at him. "You are actually willing to fall asleep with a complete stranger watching your back?"
    The magician smiled, his eyes still closed. "I think it's a good way to start a friendship by showing trust. Besides," he told over so he was facing away. "I have nothing of importance for you to steal from me..."
    Deadlox snorted, but said nothing. The two were quiet for awhile, the magician breathing slowly and steadily while Deadlox drew random patterns into the dirt by his feet with his fingers. After awhile, it occurred to him that he didn't know his new parter's name. He looked up. "Hey, you still awake?"
    The magician made a small grunting noise.
    "I just wanted to ask your name."
    The magician sighed before he tiredly murmured out, "It's Seto..."

Deadlox sat with his back to a tree, silent, his head nodding just a little to the beat of the music playing in his headphones. The fire nearby crackled pleasantly, giving off warmth and a gentle glow, helping to make the green of the nearby trees rustling in the summer breeze visible. His eyes were closed, one knee raised while the other leg was down.
    As the old memory occurred to him, his eyes slowly opened. This clearing was similar to the one he had met Seto in, but it was bigger, and greener, and in a different forest entirely. He looked around him; Husky was sitting with his back against a tree. Deadlox could see his hands moving across his little guitar, ukulele he called it, but he couldn't hear through his own music. He looked over to their "campfire" which was really just a furnace they'd been using to cook the food they'd hunted as they traveled from the town where they talked with the Soothsayer.
    Leaning on the furnace was Harvey. Before he had been studying his book, trying to decipher the language it was written in, but after a few hours he had fallen asleep on it, flopped onto the furnace. Deadlox thought about waking him, but he realized that he wasn't quite sure the last time he had slept besides the obvious having been knocked out for an hour. So, he decided to leave the poor guy alone. At that thought, Deadlox reached down and turned off his music, pulling his headphones down around his neck as he stood.
    Husky looked up at him, still playing his soft, improvised chords as Deadlox walked over and sat down beside him. "'Sup?" He asked him.
    Deadlox breathed a sigh, hesitating a moment before speaking. "Where are we even going?"
    Husky sighed. "I dunno. I mean, but, have we ever really known where we're going? We just walk around till somebody needs our help."
    "But now we have a purpose. We gotta help Harvey get home. We have to start looking for ways to do that."
    "Yeah, and where do you suggest we start?" Husky said, setting down his ukulele. "Have you ever heard anything about other dimensions? No, neither have I."
    "But Husky, this is Seto. This is all we have left of him. We have to help him."
    "I know, I'm not saying we shouldn't help him. I'm saying there's no way we can do this alone."
    Deadlox opened his mouth, then shut it again. "...Husky, I don't think..."
    "This might be our only option. If we really wanna take him home, we have to find help."
    "Look, I want reform as much as you do, but we've tried! Nobody will want to do this, they still won't."
    Husky shook his head. "We have him now." He said, nodding to him. "We can convince them to help us."
     Deadlox stared at the mudkip, before sighing. "Do you really think we can do this? Even if we can get everyone to agree, can we really work together again?"
    "We have to." Husky sighed. "We can't just leave Harvey alone on this." He looked over at the human, fast asleep slouched over the warm furnace. "This is an entirely different world to him. If we abandon him, he'll be dead by that time the next day."
    Deadlox stared at Harvey too, before he let out a long, slow sigh. "You're right... I just hope it works."
    Husky looked up. "It'll have to. I think the Universe wants him to go home."
    Deadlox snorted. "You honestly believe all this "Way of the Universe" crap?"
    Husky simply rolled his eyes. "Just get some rest, you blasphemous nonbeliever." He teased.
    Deadlox stuck out his tongue. "Whatever, fish." He retorted, before he put his headphones back on and let himself drift off back to sleep.