[ chapter twelve ] everything's under the sun

A LOUD BANG OF THE CLOSING DOOR made the whole house disappear in a dark fog of nothingness, trying to prove his point that Mrs. Harkness got it all wrong.

All he received from the conversation was uncertainty. He was not sure if the others saw the good in him. Also, how could they, when he was trapped in a valley the good seemed to be forbidden.

Nicholas wandered around the town, repeatedly looking behind at the place where the house was, still intimidated by the interaction. Agatha Harkness knew what was going through his mind the entire time his reality got suddenly erased. He walked by, frightened, ready to tell Loki what Agatha told him in the nick of time when he was left alone. An unexpected and sudden surge of solace struck him, perceiving the two Lokis exchanging words respectfully. Which was so beautiful in its own way.

Everything was perfect for a moment and then faded away as the promises that were given during the freezing hour, were trapped at the top of the mountain of the dead. It wasn't the right time to tell him that he doesn't feel welcome here.

He hoped that one time Loki would tell him his story, as he inquired about Nick most of the time without a proper reason which made him feel terrible, but still he carried on being a good person.

Loki trusted only those who were alike to him and he respected it as he wanted to do the same, nevertheless, there wasn't anyone like him as his nature didn't fit the viciousness hidden in any of these storylines but he was trying to appreciate them from a different perspective.

He smiled as a thrill engulfed his mind full of hurt, seeing them laugh as well as pointing at a parade that was passing the streets which in the end was captured by the darkness as the town decided to seal the retelling of someone else's story behind a tall wall.

Nick frowned as he observed a man coming through the enclosure, dusting his hands with a mumble he couldn't figure out. The vivid purple cloak was brushing off the dirt from the cobblestone road.

"I hate musicals!" a man yelled across the square, holding his hands in fists as they sometimes glinted in anger.

"Scratchy, can you please transform the stage into a graveyard? And could you please turn off the fan? Also could you please make sure that no one doesn't interfere with each other?" he said, perfectly imitating his mother's voice as he was slowly transforming into her and then back to his old bearded self.

"I should've told her that this whole idea was messed up!"

"Yes, mommy. I can do that, mommy. Sorry, mommy," Nicholas Scratch muttered as his shiny yellow boot automatically stomped a cockroach.

Nicky silently examined the man running around in circles, uncontrollably waving his hands in gestures that he didn't know a bit about but they seem to change every single thing about the surroundings. The light gush of fresh breeze cleaned the stuffy air and the dust stuck in the joints of the pavement.

He closed his eyes as the wind clashed with him and then the swirl of dirt went past him. That was impressive, yet the boy was hesitant to approach him. Was he truly a villain as the hex theory of the New Salem proved? He couldn't sit in a corner with thoughts of despair.

What if he proved to the town that he wasn't a bad guy after all? He took a deep breath, ready to show that deep down he was good, and none of his past decisions changed that.

"Maybe... Maybe I could help," Nicky suggested, his voice quavering as the man, dressed in a color that was typical for Halloween, walked by.

At first glance it looked like he was ignoring him as he made a few steps forward, however, he stopped. Mr. Scratchy snorted loudly, backing to see what individual offered him help. He raised an eyebrow.

"Who do you think you are to offer me help, huh?" His eye twitched as he got a bit closer to him, scanning his posture.

"Oh! I'm sorry— I... I—" Nicholas stuttered, perceiving the death stare. He felt like one move or one bad word slipping on his tongue would be the end of him.

"Do I look like I need help?"

How should he respond? Son of the lady of the house of Harkness looked desperate, doing his best to bring his mother's expectations to the fullest. She wanted a squeaky-clean square and she got it. Not only that he was a special effects expert, but he was also a supervisor as well.

The man brushed through his raven spiky mustache, waiting for a response with a bitter expression printed on his face. Nicholas Scratch radiated with independence, well, sort of. He complained by right, there was a lot he needed to take care of, even though he was a wizard. Casting a lot of spells, drained him, meanwhile, his mother was in the safety of her house feeding all of those rabbits, his corrupted variants.

"Ye-Yeah— I mean... No!" Nick uttered, instinctively straightening his back when those blue eyes analyzed him. He stared into his soul.

"That's what I thought! I do not need your help. Now get lost!" Mr. Scratchy demanded, pointing somewhere. He was impatient as another performance was coming and he couldn't miss it. Once he did that, his mother took his magic for a week. So he was making sure that he left the square in time.

Nicky thought that he might finally find someone that he could accept their alikeness, yet they weren't similar at all as if he didn't have a parallel, to begin with. Maybe the town was right, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. He left with his head hanging down.

He felt insecure. Nicholas Scratch and Agatha Harkness were to blame.

Little did they know that Nicholas Strange always had good intentions. Or at least he thought he had. Nick, completely spellbound, observed a prismatic smear that looked like a silhouette of a person for a moment that was heading toward him in a hurry.

He was daydreaming too fondly, lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that he stumbled across something that turned into a collision of two worlds — the one that was trapped inside his mind and the prism of reality.

Nicholas fell to the ground.

"Again?!"

"I'm so sorry!" Nick blurted out almost immediately, realizing that it was the same man from his first arrival.

Nicholas looked behind to see if the streak of distorted light continued in its journey but it was gone, now a dark figure was watching him from afar. Druid placed a hand on his forearm and forced him to get back to his feet as he fell to the ground due to the unexpected encounter.

Nick locked eyes with a Druid that looked unearthly. The expression in his face was undetected. What was he thinking about? Surely Anthony Druid was mad that he had run into this strange boy again.

Nicholas' hand was pulled so hard he almost lost his balance and was kind of surprised that it wasn't ripped off yet. He expected to be scolded again and humiliated the same as their first meeting delivered. Druid was suspiciously quiet. Nevertheless the grasp — now on his arm — tightened and deepened by repeating the same movement on the boy's left arm.

"I know how it might look but I— I swear I'm not doing it on purpose," Nicholas uttered quietly, secretly afraid to say anything more. The way Druid shook with him and also the grip brought uneasiness to his soul, "Is everything alright?"

"How's that—?"

"Huh?" Nick vocalized. It took a moment for him to realize that the man was focusing on one exact spot on his chest. Instinctively he gazed down, trying to understand the fuss. Nothing was there. His eyebrows were scrunched in confusion blended with panic, "What is it?"

Druid shook his head with a gulp that left his eyes wide open as if he saw something he wasn't, an orb peeking through with energy. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but his sixth sense — being able to sense a power — tingled as soon as he touched him. He clutched his eyelids together in a quick blink of awareness, "That's strange."

"W-What? Me?" Nicholas questioned back, not understanding a single thing about this encounter. The boy tried to back away but he held him too tightly as it was uncomfortable to feel his breath bursting to his face. Nicky's head tilted as he observed a sudden change in his posture, he was more relaxed, completely ignoring that he was still grasping him. Anthony Druid looked beside him, just for a second, and then looked at the boy who was about to shiver in fear.

"No! Nothing. Forget it," Doctor Druid declared and patted him on the shoulders, continuously adjusting Nicholas' coat that it covered the left side of his chest, although it was already protected with the turtleneck's fabric.

Nothing? That was a damned lie. Sometimes that look, where you couldn't really tell what are they looking at exactly, staring blankly, was worse than words.

"Why?" Nicholas was still frowning as this meeting brought him yet another distress to his weakened heart. He wanted to take a glimpse in the same direction as the man in front of him was hesitant to look. Was he staring at the ray of light just like him before?

"Apologies should be on my side," Druid proceeds in his tremulous monologue while his eyes drifting away and back more confidently, "I was in hurry, head up in the clouds, you definitely know that feeling. When you don't know what is real and what isn't. Anyways..."

Nicholas was stunned by that saying.

I don't know what is real and what isn't, boy's mind recalled a memory of the pinching frost on his face. He quoted the exact words Nicholas uttered as he was attempting to escape death on the mountain of the same name. He described that, only because those nightmares he started to have, seemed almost real as if he was awake the whole time.

"Scratch is sometimes a grunt, therefore I would avoid the town's square. I really suggest you go to the diner and look around. Lots of drinks, food, lots of people. Maybe you will like something," Druid now pressed his hand onto his back and slightly pushed him forward, giving him an impact to move. Nicholas had no choice but to follow him as his head was trying to process almost everything that happened in the past hectic moments of his life.

The looks to the distance and sudden change of behavior, although he seemed that despised him. The emphasis is on the word people. It clashed. He must have been followed this entire time and he had no idea.

The letter said that he was being watched. That must be him. Or was it? How would he know?

"There's someone watching me, right?" Nicholas asked instantly as the puzzle pieces fit together. He quickly turned around, searching for Druid's sulky face but he was gone. Still feeling the pressure of his hand on his back.

Nick looked around with misery engraved on his face as he locked eyes with someone hiding behind a corner.

I thought everyone was only looking through me

The girl's heart stuttered as Nicholas Strange locked eyes with her, quickly hiding behind that corner. She covered herself with a red shawl, leaning on the building's wall, and eventually made her way somewhere else.

But they do the same when you're around

Nicholas passed by as if he was following her. She held an apple in front of her face to disguise herself as she was standing still next to a fruit market. She peeked at Nick and dropped the apple in the end as a worm crawled out of it, thinking it touched her skin, unfortunately, all that were her fingertips as she was invisible.

Do they know that you're hurting?
Why do they startle when you make a single sound?

The girl sang as she peeped down the alley watching him safely go through the black market, where she eventually scampered as well to follow him.

You're the one who suffered and was told
to walk the world without doubts

She successfully avoided a collision with grace as a man holding a wicker basket full of snakes, crashed into another. Unfortunately, the visible ones, especially one of the men fell on his back and one of the snakes bit into his nose with a scream fading behind her.

You should know that you matter
you're far from being bad

Wight jumped over a box and when she landed back on the ground it was covered with snow, studded with twinkles. She tried to pick up a handful of snow that eventually fell through her translucent palm. She perceived Nick sitting on a blanket telling Loki that he thinks that he wants to be a better person. Nicholas suddenly stood up.

Why do I feel like we're the same
even though you don't know me at all

Now she was standing not far from him, feasting her eyes litten up with sparkles as he was searching through the goods of one stall. Apparently, he wanted to ask the stallholder something as his mouth moved, but the old man behind the stall didn't notice him as he was talking to his neighbor.

We're both so invisible

Wight stared at him with regret filling her eyes, but just as soon he made another glimpse of her direction she panicked and hid behind a column. She calmed down with a loud exhale as he walked by, allowing herself to continue singing.

I hope one day
the world will see you as I do

The cobblestone underneath Wight changed its color whenever she landed on a specific tile. They gradually formed a pattern of blooming flowers on the ground.

If you were going through something
The time would rewind itself around

Wight spun as her red skirt twirled, imitating the petals of poppy fluttering in the subtle wind as the tile gradient encircled her to represent the clock with the hour hands turning back.

I know you feel just like me
when I'm see-through and ghostly

She slowly glanced back at him, watching him trying to talk to others. They looked miserable the first time, nevertheless, when he continued his journey, a warm beam appeared on their lips. This made Wight realize that she was looking at it from the wrong perspective.

But Nicholas Strange,  you're still the one who makes me visible

Wight ran in his direction, taking peeks at those who seemed excited that someone finally talked to them, exchanging doubts.

This is unreal
Did he just see me?

(No! He makes us visible)

This is unreal
Did he just see me?

Wight's eyes flashed in eagerness, as many people were trying to get to know if he really meant those sweet notes.

I thought I'll be always unseen
and then you came out of the blue

Now she was sitting in the pub, holding the menu, trying to cover her face. Wight looked at him as she recognized the fact that he was so different from others. He was debating something with Loki and then peeped right at her for a second.

So strange, your presence is making me perceived
I haven't met anyone like you

Wight sighed, seeing the sparks in his eyes, he was so happy watching Agatha's performance. She stumbled as her elbow went right through the table when she wanted to lean dreamily.

You're the one who I look up to
to see how to walk the world without doubts

Please, say that I matter
even though I might be bad

Why do I feel like we're the same
even though you don't know me at all

To me, you were never invisible

The scenes of the musical shifted one more time with Wight outrunning Nicholas, throwing petals in the air. Then she looked back to see him looking up at the skies, enchanted by the leaflets reshaping into butterflies.

I hope one day
others will see you as I do

if you were going through something
The time would rewind itself around

The stallholders began to reach for the butterflies whose wings were quivering, attempting to follow Nicky. Some of the petal butterflies descended down, coloring the ripple of his footsteps that were instantly changing the color with upcoming tones of the melody.

You shouldn't feel the same
when I'm see-through and ghostly

The excitement came across everyone's mind as New Salem was suddenly filled with vivid colors, reflecting the light from the heavens because it was the first time the sun had risen since it was hiding behind grey clouds this whole time.

You're Nicholas Strange, the one who makes me so visible

Wight was bright-eyed as her tricks coming from shifting the sun rays were seen by many passersby and put a smile on their crinkly faces. The warmth of the radiating sun was touching her cheeks, skipping from one stone to another as she went across the streamlet, not even registering that Nicholas led her out of the town.

Your heart is too
pure to be here

Please say something so
I wouldn't remain invisible

I know, you can fix those who are
see-through and ghostly

Everything's under the sun when you're near me

Now she was walking briskly to feel the fresh air of nature, looking around the mountains that bordered the valley. Wight didn't know why but after leaving the magic town, she felt sudden pressure relief in her chest.

I hope one day
others will see me as you do

If you were going through something
I would be the one rewinding the time

I don't want to be
see-through and ghostly

The joyfulness inside Wright slowly faded as she realized that she was forbidden to come here and he probably did too, he just didn't know about that. If he just read the rules. When she saw what was out there, she was trying to do everything to stop him.

Gosh, I wish I wasn't invisible

"We are not allowed to go there," Wight insisted, trying to gain his attention with fright concealed in her eyes. 

She thought it was too late when Nicholas Strange suddenly stopped and turned around.