Simon Snow and Basilton Grimm-Pitch; the self-proclaimed super villain that almost ate up all magic and the world's friendliest, least-bloodthirsty vampire. Together they make a bit of an odd couple, but there is no doubt that they are desperately...
Everything makes a little more sense. The Mage's interest in Simon. Lucy's disappearance. The rumoured baby.
Penny and I sit in shocked silence. I wait for her to say something-- Penny's always saying something. But maybe I've finally shut her up.
Finally, she bursts. Predictably.
"I've got an idea," she says in a hoarse whisper. Snatching the photograph out of my hand, Penelope closes her eyes in concentration, holding her gaudy amethyst ring above the glossy surface.
"A picture is worth a thousand words!" The words come out drenched in magic. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I haven't been around Magic for so long, let alone relatively powerful magic. A lump catches in my throat and I think I might be sick.
And suddenly I'm not in Penny's room anymore. I mean, I am. Like, I can feel myself sitting on her floor, but I'm... not. Somehow. Instead of her weird grey wallpaper I see the inside of a small stone cottage, candlelight bouncing off the smooth stones. To my right, a man is hunched over a bed, his shoulders raised like he's crying. In the bed lies a woman holding a baby-- a woman with bright blonde hair and blue eyes and--
"Lucy!" I call out. Or, try to. No sound comes out. Instead, it's like I've pressed 'play' on a paused movie. Everything slowly flickers into motion.
"Lucy... Lucy we did it..." The man murmurs, and I'm positive he's crying now. His voice sends chills up my spine. It brings back memories of a dark hallway and the same man gripping my arms too tight and saying "you don't have much to give, but I'll take it"...
I feel myself go limp with fear. Of fucking course I have to come face to face with that bastard again... I'm with Penelope fucking Bunce, aren't I?
"Lucy... we brought The Greatest Mage..." The Mage whispers. (No. Not The Mage. Davy.)
A weak, chapped smile slips onto the woman's lips.
"He looks like you, Davy," the woman-- Lucy-- replies. A small smile tugs at one corner of the Mage's lips.
"What shall we call him? What's the proper name for Our Greatest Mage?"
Blue eyes stare into blue eyes for a moment. Lucy and Simon.
"Simon. Simon Snow."
The Mage laughs then, but it's a painful, broken thing. (I always thought everything he did was painful and broken).
"Snow? Why Snow?"
Lucy kisses the round, pink forehead of the baby in her arms. For a moment, the candlelight makes him look like he's glowing slightly (come to think of it, he's always sort of looked like that).
"Because... I like it. And because everyone needs a silly middle name--" She's cut off by a violent coughing fit. Her frail, pregnancy-fat padded belly crumples over and over in convulsions. I can't stand to watch, but the spell won't let me look away.
When she's done, her lips are stained red.
The room falls silent. The Mage stops smiling. Lucy's blue eyes drift halfway shut.
For several minutes, only the faint ticking of a clock breaks that horrible silence. But then Lucy's lips start to move. Then her hands, stroking the soft down of blond hair on baby Simon's head.
"Simon, Simon... my rosebud boy..." The words almost sound like a song. The Mage's shoulders start to shake, and he hides his face in his hands.
"I don't want to leave you, baby," Lucy continues, her voice growing fainter and fainter. More forced.
"My sweet, sweet boy... I need you--" Lucy coughs, cutting herself off again. "I need you to help your daddy for me... I need you to help him save the world. But-- but first... I want you to grow up. I want you to... to find yourself. To find love... To find... find your Magic. F-find your home. I love you, sweetheart..."
A little pink fist curls around a blonde curl that's come loose from Lucy's braid. As if Simon's saying he understands.
The Mage's hand reaches up to grip the dying woman's tightly.
"Lucy... Lucy please..." The Mage whispers desperately. I almost feel bad for him.
"I love you, Davy."
The scene fades, and I'm back in Penny's room. My arse sore from sitting on the hard ground. Tears clinging to my cheeks and jaw.
Quickly, I wipe them away. Penny can't see me crying.
"What was that spell?" I ask. I can't decide if I'm angry or in awe. (Mostly I just miss California, where there was no Magic and everything was perfectly Normal).
Penny rubs her eyes, pushing her glasses up into her hair.
"It-- It's an old spell. It lets you hear the last thousand seconds of conversation the people in the photo had together."
"So Lucy's--"
"Dead."
The word hits me like a punch.
Lucy, the woman who got away, the woman who I have looked up to so much in the past few years, is dead.
And so is the Mage-- Simon killed him (accidentally)(everything Simon Snow does is an accident).
Simon Snow-- the hero to all Magic and Magedom-- caused the deaths of both of his parents.
Oh my God.
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Author's note:
Some of this is repurposed dialogue and/or quotes from Carry On; they are property of Rainbow Rowell.
-Lefty
P.S.
One more week till my winter break, guys! I'll finally have time to write and finish this fic! STAY TUNED!
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