Chapter 61: Words & Toys
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So, it turns out casting the most powerful spell to ever exist in a location lined with protection and discretion runes and defenses was not as cleverly protected as Max had thought it would be. Meanwhile, Max's concubines have some world-shaking realizations…
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[Maximus Westphall-Bennett]:
So, it turns out casting the most powerful spell to ever exist in a location lined with protection and discretion runes and defenses was not as cleverly protected as Max had thought it would be — At least, not from someone at the absolute true zenith of power. An almighty being. The exact kind of trouble Max had been looking to avoid.
Max had barely completed his spell, only just beginning to feel the power coursing within him when he felt himself get instantly transported to another place against his will.
Max suddenly found himself on a small island in the middle of a dark blue lake. Beyond the waters were the forests of pine that seem to go on eternally before vanishing in a foggy mist, obscuring his vision of whatever was beyond that horizon.
The island itself was the size of a high school football field, maybe half that, with well kept green grass, sandy white beaches, and at the center, a small house made of perthwood and pine. The faint sound of music wafted from inside the little cabin; classical by the tune.
"What the—?" Max wasn't sure where he was; he was surprised at being yanked from his own protected space and being placed in this settings. "A cabin in a cabin in the middle of the woods. Not like there are countless movies about such a concept...?"
As he muttered to himself, he noticed there wasn't a door on the cabin... Which was weird because Max could've sworn there was an oakwooden door a moment ago.
"Because that's not creepy. That's not creepy at all," Max murmured, realizing the meaning instantly. "Looks like whoever brought me here clearly want me inside...."
Max steeled his nerves. He knew whoever brought him here had to be at least a transconceptual being, possibly even a Paraconceptual entity or a Tier 1-A level being.
Max had to swallow a gulp before forcibly stilling his trembling limbs and make himself move. He walked forward, to the cabin's doorless entrance and walked inside.
Inside the cabin, the interior defied its external appearance; spanning vast distances with countless levels of shelves, stalked to the brim with artifacts, and books and trinkets that Max hadn't been able to identify. Stairs led to upper and lower floors while pathways arched and curved and straightened in many directions. Study tables were noticeable every few floors and, before Max, was a middle aged balding man, who seemed to be in his early fifties. He had well-worn hair and strikingly blue eyes. He carried a mature bearing, and wore a white longsleeve over brown pants, with matching suspenders.
"You know, it's rude to perform such a massive spell on the populace of another being's omniverse," the man was typing away on a type writer as he spoke. "And very inconsiderate, not asking for permission to do so in the first place."
It took a minute for Max to realize the being before him was talking to him and another second to digest his words. "What?"
The man paused from his typewriter, looking deadpan at Max with a look that said 'I could obliterate you without even batting an eye'.
Max's senses picked up on the irritation instantly, and he understood the message. Some part of him recognized the man as a supreme being — An absolute.
'Crap. This is bad. I thought I was dealing with a transconceptual being or an Outerversal level entity,' Max thought to himself, paralyzed by this being's vibrant blue eyes. 'This guy is an Absolute. An almighty. I've messed up, and severely, too.'
After another second of studying Maximus, reading his existence like a book, the man merely chuckled to himself before returning his attention to his typewriter.
"In my reality, magic is a matter of equivalent exchange," the man stated, as he typed away. "I designed the rules that way for a reason. You created a spell of transconceptual levels.... In payment, you will be required 3 favors unto me."
Max's heart dropped.
'Three favors? To him?!' Max was panicking internally. 'What favors could an absolute being possibly want with a transconceptual one?'
"What favors... am I to uphold?" Max tried speaking through his dry throat. He knew the being before him could erase him if he so choose, and, honestly, three favors didn't seem all too bad in the long run.
The man smiled.
"I'll tell you when I feel like it?" the man made a shooing motion. "Now run along now. My manuscript is nearly at a critical point. I've decided to dub it 'The HalfBlood Prince'."
Suddenly, Max found himself back at his manse, sweating up a cold, sweaty storm as he shivered in his recovery.
'That guy....' he came to himself, but the terror was still present.
When he fully recovered from the encounter, Max wasted no time. He figured it was time to leave the Potterverse, so he instantly grabbed the essentials, anchored this place to his dimension and jumped inside his bio-ship and left the Potterverse quite quickly.
As he travelled, he had become increasingly aware of a string of fate that had been tugging on his soul since even before he had left the TVDU verse. He hadn't followed it yet because he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to investigate it.
Now, though, his magic power was at the very apex of transconceptual power. The power up he received from the incantation drastically enhanced every aspect of the concepts that embody Max. Before, he was only transconceptual in his Charm Factor and, by channelling that in his magic, his magic had become transconceptual.
Now, he didn't need to channel his 9/10 Charm Factor to perform transconceptual magic — Because his magic output was now high transconceptual in scale on its own.
'Now I can investigate why fate wants me to head to the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina multiverse,' Max thought. 'What could possibly go wrong?'
Meanwhile, in said universe, a certain fallen celestial was grinning like a madman, while back home, in the TVDU verse, two men had just become aware of the strings of fate....
[Kol]:
The first thing Kol did when he noticed the trajectory of his life had been intentionally altered was walk away.
He didn't kill anyone. He didn't seek destruction. He didn't give into his anger or frustrations.
Counter to popular belief, the First Ripper was fairly reasonable a person.
He knew giving into his anger — into his emotions — would lead him down a path of no return.
He saw his fate. How he was supposed to die to the Gilbert boy. Then to Damon Salvatore nly to be seduced to join his mother while on the Other Side. He saw his resurrection and his rebellion against his siblings.
And he saw her. Davina Claire.
Deep down, he knew he could never be the Kol he had been fated to be. His relationship with Maximus prevented that from happening.
Kol watched an alternate version of himself on a date with the witch, somewhere in the French Quarter. Since his recent upgrade, hopping between universes, realities and timelines weren't hard enough to cause a sweat for Kol. It required effort, but so did walking. Between the two of them, there was hardly a difference.
Kol watched his variant self interact with Davina Claire. He seemed lighter. Happier. Freer.
At least, compared to himself before he met Maximus, that is.
The truth was that, despite the anger he felt from having this future overwritten with one from Maximus, Kol felt genuine love for the boy. And yeah, part of Kol wonders how much between them was said and done genuinely and without some form of manipulation on Max's end — But there's another half of himself that knows that Max genuinely loves him, that there are truly genuine moments between them.
Yet, as Kol watched his variant self laugh alongside Davina, his presence so completely hidden that not even a locator spell would've been able to detect him nor would Maximus have found him — At least, not without difficulty, anyways — He couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pettiness.
While he loves Maximus, he had no intentions of letting him slide away with this unscathed.
A smirk tugged at Kol's lips — A smirk that would've had Maximus swooning had he been present. His eyes glowed an unnatural red on black sclera, while the veins around them both darkened, as Kol's gaze shifted through dimensions, through realities, through timelines and alternate universes until he found the one he was looking for.
When he found it, he took a step forward and vanished.
[Kai Parker I]:
Kai wasn't all that affected by the revelations of having his fate altered. If anything, from what he had seen of his original fate, it was an upgrade.
He saw the events that led up to his death — The first one, by the hands of Desmond Salvura, or whatever his name was, as well as the second one by Alclaric Seltzman.
Decapitation is such a bloody way to go out.
He saw his banishment — Again. He saw so much of his future — All of it, really.
But it was prevented.
Re-routed
By Maximus.
Kol Parker was glad. He was a better person… Well, at least, more tamed, anyway.
He was still a homicidal sociopath — But he was a homicidal sociopath in love.
And that counted for something.
Max kept him from going too far. He let Kai be Kai most of the time and even laughed at his jokes — Genuine laughs that cannot be faked.
And yeah, he gets to kill people every now and then and Kai enjoys that almost as much as he enjoys annoying Kol — But, in the end, he would die for Max — Kol, too, but he'd never say that to his face.
As Kai stalked his prey — A Seattleite on the outskirts of the city of Seattle — he mentally told himself he would still have a talk with Max. He wanted some answers only a face-to-face exchange could provide.
And, as he sank his fangs into the neck of his latest victim, enjoying the nectar of his hearty meal, Kai Parker knew he would not make it easy for his lover. Not one bit.
Because what was the point of altering his fate if he couldn't toy with the one who had?
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A/N: So there will be an upcoming crossover event between this story and my House of Hewitt fanfic. Just a heads up.
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