OK NOW IM DONE I SWEAR

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BONUS

THREE YEARS LATER

"We need to have a talk."

I smile nervously at Danielle's parents, one of whom has her hand on her hip and the other of whom has his arms tightly crossed. "Of course," I reply, signaling for them to continue.

May Notch have mercy on me.

"It's about Danielle," her mother says, and I find myself wishing they would just get on with it.

"Yes..?"

The father sighs in exasperation. "She has a British accent!"

Brice snorts out a laugh before clamping his hand over his mouth, and I bite my lip as hard as I can. "... I see," I say after a moment of laughter-containment.

"This isn't funny!" her mother shouts.

"Yeah, man! Every time she says 'Mummy,' I get creepy Doctor Who flashbacks!" Jenny complains, groaning in discontent. "Can't you up the American just a little bit?"

Her parents, by now comfortable with the fact that I will not smite their daughter for sassing me (rather, I will simply sass her back), nod along in agreement.

"Gee, dude, 'm real sorry 'bout that. How about we all gather 'round a couple of flags and eat McDonalds and talk about politics together to try to get past this bump in our relationship?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Brice has to leave the room because no one can hear anything over his laughter.

"Not enough?" I ask, sighing. "Fine. Uh, football, freedom, and homonyms. Dump the tea!"

Jenny has to leave, too.

"Also, Donald Trump."

Danielle's father chokes on his spit.

"First orange president. Absolutely, ten out of ten, would freedom again."

Jenny's mother sighs.

"... 'Merica."

She and her husband turn and leave.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Danielle laughs, somersaulting out from behind the couch. "So can I be British?"

I shrug and pull her onto the couch next to me, and she laughs again. "You can, at the very least, sport the accent."

"Ew, sports."

I roll my eyes and push the girl off the couch, and she giggles as she jumps to her feet. "Where did you even come from?"

"Behind the couch, obviously!" she screeches. "I heard my parents were going to have a 'talk' with you about me saying 'bloody tea crumpets' all the time, so I came along for damage control."

I raise my eyebrows. "Damage control?"

"Yeah!"

"What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"Um, okay, well- pretend you just told them you were actually going to cut down on the Britishness!" Danielle instructs me, running behind the couch again.

"All right." I clear my throat. "Yes, ma'am, sir. No more British accent. I understand," I say in my best American accent.

"BLOODY TEA CRUMPETS!" screams Danielle, flying out from behind the couch. "Seto, no! Never submit! You can be whoever you want to be, remember? Also, you're my favorite person! And your hair looks pretty today! And I love you! And your cloak is very, um, purple! And, and fitting! You look good! Now tell them I can be British!"

I resist the urge to slap the palm of my hand against my forehead.

"You planned to use flattery to solve your problems."

Danielle sniffs. "Brice calls it butt-kissery."

I snort and stand up, grabbing Danielle's hand and tugging her out of the air as I go. "Perhaps we should go have a bit of a word with Brice. You're only-" I tap my chin. "What, eight?"

"Nine, tomorrow!" she screeches.

"Yes, I haven't forgotten, don't fret," I laugh, ruffling her shoulder-length hair as I lead her outside toward the above-ground half of Our City. "Quick question, dear: Have you seen Payten?"

"Mhmm! I think they're drooling over the new videogame store Louis' dad put up. Hey, can you take me by there after today's lesson? Mommy says video games will rot my brain," she rambles, pouting up at me.

I gasp, putting my hand over my heart. "Such blasphemy!"

"I know, right!? And Jenny's too busy looking at-" she scoffs, "boys to help me win Mom over."

"Your sister's finally getting boy-crazy?" I ask, laughing a little. "I was starting to think she never would."

Danielle pouts again. "Seto, they're not even real boys? She just kind of sighs at a book all day and then mourns on that tumbling site!"

I bite my lip, trying to hide how much I completely understand Jenny's predicament. "Well, I suppose that's just a teenager thing, dear. Perhaps you'll understand when you become a teenager."

"No! Boys are gross, especially fake boys. Except for Louis, but he's not fake, and plus he's really gay and plus plus I really just want to be his best friend forever."

"Sounds like a plan," I say, smiling slightly, and then I guide Danielle into the magic school located in the middle of the mostly-cleared-out forest. Hopefully, Brice will be here.

He's not, and I sigh when I realize. But Payten is here, at least, and they grin and walk over to me, still sporting the same sort of all-black style they were sporting when they first asked to be one of my students that day in front of my house. "Yo, Seto!"

"Hello, Payten. How are you?"

"I'm okay." They bend down and grin widely at Danielle, who giggles in anticipation of being tickled. "Aw, calm down, I won't getcha today. Where's your sister?"

"Crying over some anime."

"Dang. Got any news concerning you-know-what?"

"Sorry, Pay, she's still more interested in Sebastian from Black Butler than in you."

Payten blushes tremendously. "Oh my Notch. You're so lucky no one was in here to hear that."

"I heard it," I point out, grinning devilishly, and Payten sends me a fairly terrifying glare.

"Don't you dare, Seto," they growl at me.

I laugh and put my hands up in a defensive position. "Calm down, now, I won't say a word. But, Danielle, weren't you just talking about how you didn't want your sister dating anyone?" I ask.

Danielle groans. "It's okay if she dates Payten, 'cause Payten is nice and they make Jenny really happy!" She huffs and furrows her eyebrows. "But Kirito and Sebastian and all the other made-up boys just make Jenny cry a lot."

"That's sweet," I comment, ruffling her hair again, and she huffs one more time before I lift my head up to face Payten again. "I give you my best wishes, dear. You'll get her someday."

"Thanks, Seto," Payten breathes, glowing slightly in the magical sense.

"Dani, Dani, Dani!" Louis screams, barreling through the double doors, and I grab onto his torso as he passes by to prevent him from running into a desk. "Ahh, Seto, let go, I have to talk to Danielle!"

"Right beside you, Lou."

"Dani!" Louis shrieks, hugging Danielle tightly. "You won't believe this!"

"What?" Danielle asks, looking equally excited despite not knowing the reason.

"That guy is here! The guy guy!"

"What..?" Payten mumbles, furrowing their eyebrows in confusion.

"Oh my gosh, the guy guy!?" Danielle screeches.

"Yeah, him! But he's being super nice and he says he wants to see Brice! Should we let him in?"

"We let everyone in," I but in, but I'm frowning. "But I'd like to meet this man. Why is he asking for Brice?"

"He says he's Brice's brother!" Louis shouts, biting his lip in excitement afterwards.

My eyes go wide. "Hold up. Brice's brother – the head Light Mage? How do you know him?"

"He's the guy guy!" Louis laughs. "He comes once a year with a letter in his hand but he never drops it off, he just kind of watches Our City gates for a while and then leaves."

"How do you know about him?"

"We go up to meet him each year, 'cause he always comes on the anniversary of you and Brice's exile thingy!" Danielle tells me. "He's really nice but he's also really shy. But this year he isn't leaving! He wants to see Brice!"

"All right, class is off for today. What say we all go meet this man?"

Payten shrugs. "Okay. Wait, let me go spread the word that class is out for the day. I'll meet you by the gates..?"

"Sounds lovely. The front gates, Louis?"

Louis nods eagerly and leads Danielle and I out the door, and then we all weave around buildings and trees to get to the front gates. With all the tiny detours we have in our effort to find Brice, we end up arriving at the gates around the same time as Payten, and still without a Brice.

"Hello, sir," I say sharply but politely as I step up to the decorative bars of the gates. "Can I help you?"

"Seto... Hi," Brice's brother says quietly, seeming ashamed. "I... have come to apologize to my brother."

"Oh?"

He looks up at me with desperate eyes. "Please. I just want to say sorry. I never stood up for him around the other Light Mages like I should have, and then I went and exiled you both, and... Please. I need to see him."

"It's been three years," I reply dryly. "Perhaps you should have apologized sooner?" I ask, and Payten elbows me gently but I send them a mental message to just go along with it.

"I know," the head Light Mage replies. "I should have, but I couldn't... couldn't find the strength to face him after what I did."

"He is under my protection," I warn him, "along with the rest of Our City. And we both know who would win in a fight between you and me."

"I just want to say sorry," he promises.

I sign the word "Open," and my light purple magic does just that to Our City gates. "I'm trusting you with the presence of my people, who, at this point, I think of entirely as my family. Any hostile moves toward anyone here will not be taken lightly."

"Thank you," Brice's brother sighs, wrapping me up in a tight hug and lifting me off the ground slightly. My eyes go wide, and I huff. Notch, I hate people who are taller than me. "Where is he?"

"Not sure. Would you like a tour?" I ask, relaxing now that I'm fairly sure his intentions are pure. "We'll look for him on the way."

"Yes, thank you," he breathes, seeming very grateful.

"Lovely. Introductions are in order, then, I suppose," I say, beginning to walk back into the heart of the city with Payten, Louis, Danielle, and Brice's brother trailing behind. "I'm Seto, as you seem to already know. The tiny one is Louis-" ("Hey! I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!") "-the slightly less tiny one is Danielle-" ("No fair, I'm way less tiny than Louis!") "-and the one who is getting alarmingly close to my height is Payten." ("Gettin' scared, huh?")

"You've got quite the group here," the man chuckles good-naturedly. "Nice to meet you all. My name is Michael."

"Nice to meet you, as well, Michael," I reply as we approach the most populated area of Our City. "Now, I must warn you: Everyone here is quite friendly, almost fear-inducingly so."

Before Michael has had a chance to fully process this information, a group of my students basically attacks him. "Hello!" a tall child pipes. "You're new! If you need a place to stay until we get your house built, there's a complimentary hotel just a few blocks away from my street!"

"I'm Lizza," says a small girl matter-of-factly. "My mom named me after her favorite character from Seto and Brice's adventures." She looks Michael up and down. "Yes. You are smol bean material."

"Woah, hey, guy!" shouts a preteen boy. "How do you get your hair to stick up like that!? Brice does it, too, but he says he doesn't use any gel or anything?"

"For the love of all things holy, tell me you are not married," begs a shameless woman who has recently approached.

"U-Uh-" Michael tries, stepping back a bit.

"Now, now, give the poor man a bit of room, dears," I instruct them all, rolling my eyes. "This is Michael, and he's looking for Brice. Have any of you seen him?"

"Is he Brice's dad!?" the preteen asks. "Do you know the hair secret!?"

"Please don't be married," the woman mumbles.

Lizza rolls her eyes. "Smol Bean Brice is getting Fairly Tol Bean Jason out of a tree in the park."

"A tree?" I ask, raising my eyebrows, and she nods. "Well. All right, then, we'll head to the park."

"Ooh, ooh, can I come, too?" asks the tall child.

"Certainly," I reply easily, and Michael smiles uneasily. "Let's hurry along, now."

"Why is Jason stuck in a tree?" Payten asks, raising a single eyebrow. (I taught them that. I'm quite proud.)

"Feline rights," Lizza answers.

Payten rolls their eyes and starts toward the park, and I and the others follow after them, all slightly dreading what could have possibly gone down at our destination.

"No, Jason, it's totally okay! I'll catch you, I swear," Brice promises, looking up at Jason, who is, indeed, stuck high in a tree. He doesn't look very confident in Brice's ability to catch him.

"I just don't see why this was necessary," Ty deadpans, sitting at a picnic table nearby and resting his chin in his hand.

"That kitten was afraid," Jason whines as though that justifies climbing into a tree when you are apparently too afraid to then climb back down.

"You are literally a sorcerer."

"I panicked, okay!?"

"One moment," I sigh, casting a spell on Jason that instantly teleports him down to the ground, and he sighs in relief.

"Oh my Notch, Seto, thank you. You are so much more helpful than some people," he says, glaring at Brice and Ty. Brice pouts, and Ty shrugs.

"Always my pleasure," I say, rolling my eyes, and Ty frowns and stands up.

"Who's this?"

"Right. May I speak to Brice privately, please?" I ask politely, trying not to make it too blaringly obvious that we're harboring his brother. Luckily, our insanely large group of children and adults mostly hides the man.

Brice jogs over to me, looking worried, and I lead him around the corner of a nearby building. "Oh my Jeb. Are you breaking up with me? Agh, this is like three years overdue, but, like, please don't-"

"Three years overdue?" I snort. "I'm actually a little offended, Brice. The day I'll stop being your boyfriend is the day I'll start being your husband."

Brice blushes, and I smirk.

"But that isn't the point, Brice. This is serious," I say with my best serious face.

He bites his lip. "Okay... What is it?"

"Your brother is here. He wishes to see you, but if you are uncomfortable with that, I will not allow him to."

Brice sucks in a quick breath, and his eyes go wide. "I- Michael? Like, m-my actual brother?"

"Yes, Brice."

"I-" He bites his lip and clenches his hand into a fist repeatedly, and I frown.

"You don't have to meet with him. I can tell him to leave this very moment," I assure him.

"No!" Brice shouts. "Er, I mean- Why is he here?"

"I believe he'd like to tell you that himself."

Brice bites his lip again and runs his hand through his hair. "Um- I-" His eyes dart up to look into mine. "Will you stay with me?"

I smile softly and pull him close to me. "Of course."

"Okay, then," Brice says decisively, breathing in deeply. "Let's do this!"

Smirking, I snap my fingers, and Michael poofs next to us, looking surprised and disoriented. "Um-?"

"My apologies," I reply without missing a beat. "You wished to see your brother?"

"Brice," Michael breathes. "Brother."

"H-Hey," Brice says, waving awkwardly.

"Brice. I- I want to apologize. I'm so sorry for exiling you and Seto, for putting the Light Mages above my own brother."

"I mean," Brice shrugs helplessly, "it's your job, you know? Get rid of the guys the City doesn't like."

A smile breaks out on Michael's face. "But the City loved you – both of you."

Brice glances over at the people in the park, who have taken to scolding Jason in our absence. "Yeah," he says quietly. "They did. They do."

"And I love you, too." Michael laughs. "I'm your brother! And... I'm tired of not being able to see you anymore. So, if you'll have me – if it won't make you uncomfortable – I would like to move into Your City."

"Our City," Brice corrects him, and his eyes go wide.

"Was that an 'okay?'"

Brice nods shyly.

"Thank you for this second chance, Brice," Michael whispers, throwing his arms around his little brother. "I won't hurt you again." Then he turns to me, towering over me with his height, and I raise an eyebrow. "And you. If you hurt my brother, you're gonna be in big trouble with me."

I snort. "I'd be in big trouble with the entire city if I broke up with Brice or anything similar to that; we're basically Our City's power couple." I pull Brice closer to me and peck his check, and he blushes. "And for good reason, clearly."

"Hey, Seto?" Brice asks.

"Yes?"

"I hung sixty-two American flags in your bedroom."

"Oh my Notch." He giggles and runs off, and my eyes go wide. "You little- Hey, get back here!" I yell, running after him. "How did you even manage to get that many flags!?"

"Magic!" he shrieks, laughing wildly as he ducks behind Jason.

Jason's eyes widen in fear. "Oh, no. No, I am not getting in the middle of whatever's going on with you two."

"Hand him over or you'll have to pay the price," I growl, and Jason bites his lip and then spins around, grabs Brice, and shoves him toward me.

"Jason, no!" Brice shouts, utterly betrayed, and I smirk and tackle the boy to the ground. "S-Seto! Have mercy!"

"I shall have nothing of the sort," I deadpan, straddling his waist, and then I lean down to place my lips on his, and I'm pressing him into the soft grass of the park and he's putting his hands up to hang around my neck and-

"Cover your eyes, kids," Payten whispers. "It's getting good."

Brice squeaks and pushes me off of him, and I groan and roll over to lay beside the boy. "Payten," I huff. "I thought we were friends."

"You thought wrong," they joke, and I sit up and glare at them. "Anyways, you owe Dani a trip to the game store."

I sigh and get to my feet, holding out a hand for Brice afterwards. He takes it, I help him up, and then I refuse to let go, but he doesn't seem to mind all that much as I pull him with me. "Michael, yo, you gotta come check out the game place, too!" Payten calls before we can get too far, and Michael smiles softly and jogs after us.

Suddenly, Danielle skids to a halt in front of me, and I stop just before running into her. "What's wrong-" I begin.

"JENNYYYYY!" Danielle screams, and I realize we're right outside her house. "GET OUT HERE!"

A window on the second floor flies open, and Jenny glares out at us. "Sebastian was about to say the line," she hisses, and I roll my eyes and teleport her down here next to us.

"I sincerely hope you paused your show," I chuckle as she stares at me in horror. "Come, now, Jenny, you ought to meet Michael, Brice's brother."

"Hi," Jenny says flatly before turning and trying to walk back inside.

"Wrong move," Brice sings as I teleport Jenny in front of us once more.

"Jenny, dear, I'm worried," I tell her, frowning slightly. "You don't hang out with your friends as much as you used to."

"Yeah, well." She scuffs her shoes against the pavement a little. "I'm, um, I'm actually not always watching anime," Jenny says quietly, and my eyebrows shoot up as I pull her aside, putting a soundproof bubble around us so the others can't hear.

"Go on?"

"I, uh... Well, um- you know how Payten is really good at Call of Duty? I've sort of been... practicing. So that maybe I could play with them someday, because, like, if I beat them, maybe they'd be impressed, you know?" Jenny blushes terribly. "A-And maybe they might ask me out on a date or something, I don't know."

My shoulders shake with laughter as my head shakes with disbelief. "Jenny, dear. I don't think you need to impress Payten; somehow, you already have."

The teenager's eyes go wide. "What?"

"Ask them out on a date," I suggest, nudging Jenny's shoulder. "Do it."

"U-Um- But what would we even do, like- um-"

I smirk. "Jenny. Jenny. All you have to do is ask Payten to show you how to play. They're competitive, but they're also patient, and, plus, they might even wrap their arms around you from behind and put their hands on yours on the controller."

Jenny's eyes go wide. "That's... Seto, that's genius."

"Yes, I'm aware."

She groans. "Hurry up and get rid of this bubble, loser."

"Yikes. Sassy," I huff.

"Whatever. Um, thanks, though. When I sort of subtly asked Brice how to pick up a soulmate, he was all like, 'First you gotta get locked in a prison cell!' and so I walked away."

I snort as I call off the bubble. "The route I suggested seems a tad less war-filled."

"Little bit."

"What were you guys talking about?" Brice asks, tilting his head adorably as we step back toward the group.

"You," I reply, which is not completely a lie. He blushes quite impressively, and I chuckle and grab his hand. "Going to the game store. Need anything?" I ask, knowing quite well what his response will be.

"I need you," he tells me, as he always does, and I spin around to face him again.

"You've already got me," I say quietly, as I've started to always do, and Brice smiles softly and tugs me just that little bit closer to him-

"Mm mm mm, Seto is gettin' it," Jenny says. Payten snorts and then bites their lip trying not to laugh, and Louis and Danielle exchange confused glances while Michael just puts his hand over his mouth.

Brice blushes again and pushes me away, and I sigh. "Jenny. Dear," I deadpan, glaring at her.

"Fireworks tonight?" Brice asks.

I nod my head, and Michael raises his eyebrows. "What do you guys do during the fireworks?"

I shrug. "We make fireworks."

Brice squeaks. "Literal fireworks!"

"Occasionally figurative fireworks, as well."

"Seto!"

"Brice?" I ask, calmly raising an eyebrow.

"Ha, ha," Brice says, narrowing his eyes at me. "You can't fool me. You're fricking glowing."

I glow brighter, and Jenny, Payten, Danielle, and Louis burst into laughter while I try to get myself under control.

"I hate you all," I deadpan.

"Nah, you love us," Payten laughs, and I let a small smile break through.

"What a shame – you caught my bluff."