DM is back babyyy!!

Crazy that it's been almost a whole entire year since I updated this haha..

•°•

Everyone stared as Xisuma broke down after Keralis left.

"I'm sorry," X said through his sobs as he tried to regain his composure. "I didn't mean to... Oh, gosh, I messed up..." He laughed pathetically at himself and turned away from his friends. "I'm such a screw up," he murmured.

"You are not a screw up," Zedaph said, then walked over to hug Xisuma. "Things happen, we get upset, and we're set back from the things we want sometimes. We'll have another chance to find out just what's going on, I know we will. Just relax."

Xisuma took a long, deep breath and smiled a bit as the two of them parted. He felt a lot better all of a sudden. "Thank you, Zed."

Zedaph smiled. "Any time." He gasped when he realised Xisuma's cheeks were no longer soaked with tears. "Did I just make you feel better with my power?!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

X laughed a little. "Yeah, I think you did," he said, nodding.

"Guys, I made him feel better with my power!"

Bdubs rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's cool and all," he said, "but we know nothing about our powers or who we are, and did you hear what Keralis said about Grian? What if he's telling the truth and Grian is sucking up all of our magic? What happens if he gets all of it?"

Xisuma huffed. "I wouldn't believe Keralis," he said. "After everything that he just let happen to me, nothing he says deserves a second thought."

"But he knows things about all this," Shelby tried to reason with X. "I know you're upset right now, but just think about it. Keralis has probably been alive thousands of years if he's really and Eldritch being. He might be telling the truth and Grian might be dangerous."

"Oh, be serious," X said. "Grian is not a-"

"X," Zedaph said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I think Keralis is right. I also started to feel faint when Grian touched me, and I almost passed out like you did. It makes sense."

Xisuma gave Zedaph a heartbroken look, then looked away, not saying anything.

"I know you're upset and you have a right to be," False said, "but let's be logical. Grian is suspicious as hell. Along with Jimmy and Scott."

X sighed. "I don't want to think about that right now," he mumbled. More specifically, he didn't want to question everything he knows. He was confused and hurt, and he didn't want any more of it.

He couldn't take any more heartache.

•°•

Keralis was outright furious with Gri- no, Xelqua. That damned deity was really starting to get on his nerves, especially now that they've been able to manipulate Xisuma, too.

Keralis knew for a fact that the Virtues would be susceptible to their dark magic. It was only natural that their magics would clash and create a negative energy that could harm the Virtues, and unfortunately benefit the deities. But he didn't expect Xisuma to be influenced by them at all. Xisuma's magic was considered dark magic and wasn't likely to clash with the deities, not to mention that him being an otherworldly prince lessened that chance even more, but... apparently Keralis was wrong to assume that it wasn't possible.

Unfortunately now that the Virtues are starting to get an idea of who they are, they've earned themselves a much larger target on their back for any other creatures or entities to take advantage of them. Not to mention how vulnerable they all were considering Keralis had hardly even began to explain everything to them. He needed another chance to talk with them, but he doubted Xisuma would want him to go anywhere near them after their argument. If only X knew how much danger they were all in...

•°•

"The Swaggon Café," Grian mumbled, reading aloud the vertical neon sign that stuck out from a small building. "This is the place. All we have to do is convince them to let us perform here the same night as those losers." He walked inside without another word.

Jimmy and Scott exchanged glances, both of them feeling a bit uneasy, before following Grian inside.

It was unlike any café they'd ever seen before, though they vaguely remembered Xisuma mentioning that it wasn't quite a normal cafe. There was a large, empty stage opposite the door and an empty space that separated it and a couple rows of tables. Along the left wall there were a few smaller, tall tables with a couple stools to each, and on the right side there was a bar. The wood plank walls were a beautiful shade of spruce that seemed to be stained for a darker colour and the floor was a very nice black tile. The whole place was pretty dimly lit by soft lights that hung from the ceiling, but it gave way for a cozy atmosphere. There were no bands on stage, so instead ambient jazz played from speakers somewhere above them to fill the space with sound.

"This place looks cool," Jimmy said excitedly, looking around with wonder in his eyes as he took everything in.

"It's not very busy," Scott commented, fidgeting with the necklace that Grian gave them. They were right; there were only a few people there aside from the bartender and a janitor. "Is this the right place?"

Grian rolled his eyes. "It's probably not busy because it's meant to be like a night club," they grumbled. "Not that your dense ass brain would've figured that out without me telling you anyway."

Scott frowned, but didn't say anything.

"So how do we perform?" Jimmy asked.

Grian smirked. "We do a little... convincing." He winked and started for the bar, Jimmy and Scott following close behind. "Hello," they said to the bartender, hopping up onto one of the stools and leaning over the counter.

The bartender smiled kindly at them as he set down the glass he was cleaning. "Hi, can I get you something to drink?" he asked. "We have a brand new coffee menu."

"No, no, that's alright," Grian said. "We actually wanted to know if you had any available performance times."

The bartender hummed to himself for a moment, untying his apron to take it off. "I think we're fully booked for the next four weeks," he sighed, "but I can check the calendar. Is there a particular date or timeframe you had in mind?"

"Two weeks from yesterday."

The bartender nodded and pulled out a pen and a small pad of paper. "If you give me your contact information, then I can call you and-" He stopped when Grian began to laugh. "I'm sorry?"

Grian sighed and made eye contact with the bartender, both of their eyes glowing a soft purple. The bartender looked completely expressionless. "I don't think you understand what needs to happen here," Grian said softly, yet unsettlingly. "You're going to check for an available spot on that day, and if there's none there, then you're going to make an available spot. Got it?"

The bartender nodded and Grian smiled from ear to ear, clapping their hands together happily.

"Perfect!"

The bartender's eyes returned to their normal blue colour and he cleared his throat. "May I have your group name?" he asked, acting as if nothing had happened. "And your preferred performance time?"

"Euphorica," Grian answered, swinging his feet under the table. "And I thiiiink I want us to perform just before the band called Stage Revolution."

Scott, who had been distracted by the very long coffee bar menu, looked over at Grian, who was smiling at the bartender. Whatever Grian had planned...

That poor little band definitely wasn't ready for it.

•°•

"Maybe we should try to figure out who is which Virtue," Tango suggested, hoping that if he threw it into consideration that maybe it would lighten up the mood.

The group had all settled into a sort of circle around the room. Zed, Impulse, Tango, and Bdubs were all on the sofa. fWhip and Joel sat in two cushioned seats on the adjacent wall. And Shelby, False, Xisuma, and Scar sat on the floor, cushioned by folded up blankets.

"That might be a good idea," False said reasonably, "though... how are we meant to do that, exactly? We're kind of new to this magic thing and I don't doubt that Keralis had more to say before he left."

"Maybe they have to do with our personalities and magic," Bdubs said. "And going off of that, it feels pretty obvious. Like, False is probably Courage. Her magic lets her become some sort of hawk or eagle and she's pretty outgoing."

Tango hummed in agreement. "Then maybe is Zed is Kindness because he can heal things."

"Or he could be Charity or Humility," Joel said, then he yawned. "False could also be Patience or Temperance. There's too many possibilities for us to just guess and hope we're right."

fWhip groaned, slumping in his seat. "At what point do we even know if we're right?" he asked, sounding almost defeated. "We have no idea what could possibly indicate if or when we've discovered who is who."

"And based on what Joel said," Impulse started, "we could be at this for hours. There's way too many possibilities."

Scar sighed. "If only Keralis were here to help us."

"Well he's not so get over it," Xisuma snapped suddenly, leaving the rest of the group to stare at him in slight shock.

Nobody said anything for a moment before Impulse spoke.

"Perhaps we come back to this another time," he said nervously, shifting his position on the sofa. "What's something we can do to pass the time?"

"We could go back to the school and practice for the gig," Joel said, yawning again. "We could use a lot of that right now."

Bdubs nodded. "I agree."

•°•

Bye I'm going to sleep it's literally 3am right now