Chapter 36: Feelings Long Held

Like the other three Overblot incidents, Briar finds herself in some dark abyss. Now she is somewhere deep in Jamil's mind. Briar looks around and sees the memories appearing before her eyes. Soon, Briar finds herself in what seems to be an Arabian palace. And then, four figures appear before her. She recognizes two of them to be Jamil and Kalim as children. The other two are grown adults that she doesn't recognize.

Little Kalim happily rushes to Jamil and says, "Hey, Jamil! Let's play! I'm gonna beat you!"

"This again, Kalim?" Young Jamil asks, sounding uninterested, "You know I'm just going to keep winning. Can we play something else instead?"

Suddenly, the grown woman, who is really Jamil's mother, scolds Jamil, "Jamil! Don't you take that tone with Master Kalim!"

And hits him on the head.

Jamil yelps, "Ow!"

Then the grown man, Jamil's father, quickly says, "Master Kalim, thank you for playing with our foolish son."

"You're kind enough to share your company. Truly, you've been brought up well," Jamil's mother says.

Soon, the memory disappears. Briar begins to walk through the darkness and begins to hear Jamil's voice.

Jamil says, "My very first memory as a child was seeing my family bow before Kalim and his parents. I couldn't stand the sight of it."

Continues to walk forward and is starting to understand a bit of Jamil's living situation.

Just then, the scenery changes, and they find themselves in the hallway of the same palace. There, Jamil is with his father and mother.

Jamil's father says to him, "Listen, Jamil. You must always win twice and lose thrice when competing with Kalim. You must never outdo him at anything."

Then Jamil's mother says, "I know you're a smart boy. Surely you understand the position we're in?"

"...Fine," Jamil answers, sounding a bit reluctant.

Then the memories disappeared.

Briar continues as she hears Jamil's voice, "Kalim's parents were far more important than mine. Therefore... Kalim was more important than me. Which meant... Whether in studies, or exercise, or games... I could never do better than Kalim. I had to keep myself beneath him. I had to pretend I was incapable."

Then a memory changes to the home hallways.

A little older Kalim happily says, "Jamil, look! I won first prize at the festival dancing contest!"

Another scene, Kalim happily says, "Aha ha! I did it! I won, three to two!"

Then when they are admitted into the school, Kalim and Jamil are together.

Kalim says, "I scored a 75 on the magic history test you helped me study for, Jamil!"

Then looks at Jamil's paper and says, "What? You got a 70?"

Then happily says, "Hey, it's okay. Cheer up!"

Then the memories disappeared again.

Jamil continues, "You're not beating me. I'm just letting you win. Look at you, smiling obliviously. Get a clue, you dunderhead!"

Then the scenery of the Scarabia Dorm Lounge appears.

Kalim asks in surprise, "Me? Housewarden of Scarabia? I don't know what that entails, but sure! You can count on me." Then turns to Jamil, "Right, Jamil?"

Just then, the memories also change, Briar soon finds herself in the Headmage's office. And then, Jamil and Dire Crolwey in the scene.

Then Jamil asks, "Headmage, why are you making Kalim housewarden? He's a poor magician, and more to the point, he's just a sophomore. We've got my hands full cleaning up after him as it is."

But Crowley says, "A sophomore housewarden is hardly unheard-of at Night Raven College."

"But..." Jamil says.

But Crowley interrupts, "Viper. Providing education comes with costs. And our young friend's family has been quite generous in their support. It places me in a position where I must make certain...compromises. You're a clever student. Surely you understand what that means."

Soon, the memory disappeared as well. Of course, Briar is rather shocked to hear that Crowley is also saying the same thing Jamil's parents are doing.

Then hears Jamil's voice again, "All the grown-ups tell me the same thing. 'Surely you're smart enough to understand.' But who's trying to understand ME?"

Then the Scarabia Dorm Lounge appears again.

Then Kalim appears and says, "We'll keep helping each other out, Jamil!"

"Stop," Jamil says, annoyed.

Then hears Kalim's voice again, "I know you'd never betray me, Jamil."

Just then, Briar sees Jamil sitting on the ground with his head on his knees and the negative emotions and energy continue to circle around him

Jamil continues to express his anger and resentment, "Just stop! Kalim, your mere existence means that I... I... I have to live my whole life deferring everything to you! I... I want... I want to be number one, too."

Briar walks over and calmly says, "Jamil..."

Jamil sits up and turns his head to see Briar standing before her.

"What do you want?" Jamil asks, bitterly.

"I just want to talk to you. Are you okay?" Briar asks and sits down next to him.

Jamil however, refuses to say anything.

"I can tell that you're not alright," Briar says.

Jamil refuses to say anything.

Briar sighs and says, "It's freedom you want, was it? What's why you kept bringing it up, why do you think you can't have any freedom with Kalim around."

"Yes," Jamil says, frustrated.

"And that's kind of why you wanted Kalim at the school. As long as he stays there, you can't have the freedom to show everyone what you can do, or how smart and strong with magic you really are. To you, Kalim is a big obstacle that you are unable to get through. Is that right?" Briar asks.

Jamil sadly sighs, "Yes. It is true. That's why I did all this. And what's more, I got you and your friends involved as well. Hearing and seeing how well, close to Crowley per say, I figured that you might be the one who will help me with my plan. However, I ended up being exposed by you and the others instead. And now, everyone in the Dorm knows what I've done," Jamil says.

"Yeah. That sounds about right. But um, I know it might be tough to swallow, but Kalim really thought of you as a friend, and I'm sure he'll be able to understand. Maybe," Briar explains.

Jamil sighs and says, "I don't think he would, but it wouldn't hurt to try."

He then turns to Briat and says, "I apologize for getting you and your friends involved in it."

"Well, I accept your apologies, but you'll have to make up for the mess you kind of caused," Briar says.

Jamil calmly smiles and says, "Fair enough."

"Now then, let's get back to the others," Briar says as she stands up and reaches her hand towards Jamil.

Jamil reaches his hand out and takes Briar's hand. Then they both take each other's hands and Briar begins to sing the song.

Briar:

Flower, gleam and glow

Let your power shine

As Briar sings, the bright gold yellow glow begins to appear on Briar's hand, and the aura begins to surround both her and Jamil's body.

Briar:

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Briar continues to sing as a golden flower appears below their feet as multiple roses of red and white blooms around them. Jamil begins to feel at ease as Briar continues to sing and the gold yellow aura surrounds him.

Briar:

Heal what has been hurt

Change the fates' design

Just then, the black blotting ooze dissolves into gold dust, and Jamil reverts back to his original human form.

Briar:

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

And soon, Jamil's is free from the over bloat and back to his original self, and the black ooze disappears completely.

Briar:

What once was mine

Soon, the gold flower below them turns to gold dust as the red and white rose petals circle around them, as the song and the spell continues. Soon, everything fades into darkness, and the two soon black out.

Suddenly, they both hear Kalim's voice, "Jamil... Jamil!"

Healing Incantation: Tangled

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