Everyone knows those long, tiring days. You’ve experienced one. You can just admit it. After busting a shoplifter, sneaking into a prison, hearing a noise louder than a Green Day show, and practically being death threatened by a huge guild of Scavengers that shouldn’t exist anymore; you’d be tired too, just admit it.
Surely, you have your own special place where you go on those tiring days; some would call that special place home. Mystic has his own world. Of course, he doesn’t own that world, but he calls it a home.
***
Mystic walked around the city for a little bit. To any normal person who watched him for long enough, it would seem like he was just wandering around endlessly, with no place in mind. But don’t be fooled like any normal person; he knew exactly where he was going. Mystic walked down a shady side street with a small pub on the corner. When he reached the entrance, he paused and stared at a lock on the main door that appeared to the human eye to be completely broken. Mystic pulled out a set of very abnormal looking keys, looking at all of them to make sure he chose the right one. Once he found the right one and put it in the lock, he began to slowly fade out of existence; into another one.
The Magical World. That broken-down keyhole is one of the many portals to allow beings to switch between the two planes of the Human World and the Magical World. The rest are scattered across the city, and Mystic owned a copy of every key. Humans never see it as more than a broken lock, and humans never try to replace or remove the lock because they never see a reason why they have to. Mystic’s body began to appear in the Magical World; slowly, with a flash of light, he fully appeared and looked around. The layout of the Human World and Magical World was eerily similar. The pub that Mystic had used as a portal was still a pub, and, in fact, his favorite magical pub.
As for the inside of this “magical” place, it’s incredibly loud. I’m sure you can imagine a normal human pub or bustling restaurant; now, imagine that but almost ten times as loud and with weird demonic noises, and occasionally a large fight. The pub has been like that since the first day it opened and flooded with Demons. That’s right, Demons, all sorts of them as well. While “Demon” is a very general term, since there are hundreds of different kinds and most magical creatures would take “Demon” as an offense, Mystic generally called them all Demons as well, as he himself had grown fond of the term. Most humans would still call them “Demons” or “Monsters” because humans had invented those terms, and it was a way for them to feel like they knew something they truly know nothing about.
Anyway, the pub was normally abnormally loud; but today, however, those qualities of the pub were stronger than ever. Half the Demons that you could see were in a fight; the rest were screaming bloody murder, possibly just trying to talk over all the chaos or simply trying to add to the chaos, who knows? Despite all the insanity, Mystic felt calmer here than he did in the Human World. Perhaps because he had become familiar with this world or perhaps because he was so connected with magic. Mystic looked around and managed to see two much calmer figures in the back of the pub, one slurping down an inhumanly large chug of beer, and the other, who didn’t have a drink in front of him. He recognized the two instantly.
“Pazak! Tabi!” Mystic called out. For some reason, when he called those two names, some of the ruckus calmed down. Pazak, the one with the inhumanly large glass, headed over to Mystic. He had stocky arms and legs, and was partially covered in dirty yellow fur.
“Mystic? Buddy, it’s been years,” Pazak exclaimed.
“Demon years, maybe, but for me, it’s only been a few weeks,” Mystic replied.
“Right, I forgot how weird the Human system works,” Pazak said with a sense of annoyance.
Mystic and Pazak saw another figure walking towards them; he was shorter in comparison to Mystic. His name was Tabi.
“Tabi! You’ve changed quite a bit since the last time I saw you,” Mystic told him as he approached.
Tabi opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, but Pazak interrupted him.
“Yeah, ever since he traveled to the Human World, he got soft,” Pazak told him.
“Hey, I’ve lived most of my entire life in the Human World, and look at me,” Mystic said
with a bragging tone.
“Right, a poor old man who ain’t in a relationship!” Pazak jokingly yelled; he laughed at his own joke as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.
“With the life I have, that’ll be difficult; and tonight, well let’s just say things like that won’t be easy,” Mystic replied.
“Ah, bad night, I’m guessing?” Pazak asked.
“Worst in a long time, bud,” Mystic said with a frustrated tone.
“Lemme guess, still hunting lawbreakers as a night job?” Tabi asked.
Mystic had forgotten how different Pazak and Tabi’s voices were; Pazak sounded more like Louie Armstrong, and by comparison, Tabi’s voice was high and squeaky.
“Every day of the week, Tabi, and whenever I can,” Mystic replied.
“Don’t you ever sleep? Humans do sleep don’t they?” Pazak asked jokingly.
“Consider me nocturnal,” Mystic told him.
“That’s no life for a normal man, and you know it; what are you doing by stopping crime, anyway? It doesn’t pay you,” Pazak responded.
“Well, you can keep trying, but, if you ask me, you’re not going to save the worlds or end world hunger; you’re just fighting the little battles,” Tabi said.
“I could always try,” Mystic told him.
“No, I mean, you may be a talented magic user, but you aren’t some warrior in a red costume with super strength and flight who can save an entire galaxy,” Tabi exclaimed.
“Then, I can always fight the little battles; there’s nothing bigger I have to fight,” Mystic fought back.
“One day, you might need to fight something bigger,” Tabi told him.
Pazak smirked when the two stopped talking; the three all suddenly went silent. Mystic suddenly remembered the state of his snake ring; he looked at it, with all its visible cracks and indents. Pazak looked down to see why Mystic was staring at his fingers and noticed the cracked snake ring.
“You might wanna get that repaired,” Pazak said. “As a matter of fact, I might know just the person who can fix it.”
“Tell me who,” Mystic asked quietly.
“It’s not exactly easy to get in touch with him; he stays quiet these days and wanders around. I’m a mutual friend of his, however, I’m sure I’d be able to contact him again,” Pazak told him. Pazak’s words stunned Mystic; the fact that he said it wasn’t easy to get in touch with this repair man brought back memories of when the Scavenger told him it wasn’t easy to get in contact with his guild.
“I need you to find him as soon as possible; this snake ring…” Mystic began, but was interrupted by Pazak
“…is one of your most valuable magical items; I know who gave it to you after all,” Pazak reminded him.
“Give me this man’s name,” Mystic ordered him.
“His name is Teth. Much like you and Beyonce, he only goes by one name,” Pazak said.
Tabi blinked twice and gave Pazak a questioning look, as he had no idea what a Beyoncé was.
“You know Beyonce?” Mystic asked.
“Music transcends dimensions, too; Mystic, you should know this.” Pazak told him.
Mystic laughed with Pazak as he said this; the two shared a small pause, then, Mystic thought of his ring once again.
“I need to get this ring repaired,” Mystic said.
“Yeah, I know how much it means to you; we’ll go now,” Pazak said.
“I think I’ll stay here; I’ve never been into dodgy magic, anyhow,” Tabi told them.
“Alright, kid, don’t drink too much, and stay safe,” Pazak said jokingly.
“Will do,” Tabi replied.
The next thing Mystic knew, he was on the Demonic streets with Pazak. The two saw a plethora of different kinds of Demons; as in the Demon world, there are more types of Demons than there are animals in the human world. However, unlike humans with other animals, all Demons live in the same cities and environments. The intelligence of Demons vary; most kinds of Demons are about as intelligent than average humans, while others are about as intelligent as monkeys.
“Let’s hope he’s still in this location,” Pazak remarked. “Like I said, this guy moves around a lot.”
Pazak pointed at a strange building; describing it wouldn’t be humanly possible, so simply imagine. However, the building did let off a strange vibe, as if you were passing a creepy looking Fortune Telling shop that was hidden in a back alleyway at night; that’s right, that’s how creepy we’re talking here.
The two entered the building quietly; there was an instant change in sound from the crowded and bustling demon streets to the completely empty candlelit shop. The sound was so minimal, Mystic could hear his heart beating and a slight ringing in his ears. Mystic wandered aimlessly around the room; it looked a lot bigger on the inside then it did the outside. The ceilings were high, and there was a small desk with magical tools stacked high behind it, as well as a large wooden staircase on the left.
“Teth!” Pazak exclaimed.
Pazak’s deep voice seemed to quickly echo across the room. Suddenly, slow footsteps were heard, as a silent old human man walked carefully down the large wooden staircase; this man was Teth. He had somewhat of a hunchback; yet, he walked without a cane or a walker, and his hair was a solid blonde, despite the fact he seemed to desperately cling to the banister of the staircase.
“A human?” Mystic asked himself under his breath.
“That’s sure right. A human with good hearing,” Teth said.
Teth had a thick Brooklyn accent, which you could hear despite his rather low monotone voice.
“It’s been far too long,” Pazak exclaimed.
“Agreed. What do you need? As you know, I have a full job in this world now; I am a very busy man,” Teth told him.
“We have a broken magic item for you to fix,” Mystic told Teth before he let Pazak say anything stupid to him.
“What kind of object?” Teth inquired.
“A possessed snake ring; the spirit of a Scorpiurus embodies it; it’s cracked in multiple places,” Mystic said.
“A cracked spirit ring; that’s incredibly dangerous; if the spirit leaks out, it could create a very…” Teth said, but paused, thinking clearly about what he was about to say.
“…unwelcome entity,” Teth said in a sharp tone.
“Time is of the essence then; it looks like you’re going to have to drop your other work,” Mystic told him.
“Kid, I don’t like your tone,” Teth said jokingly.
Teth moved over to the desk and pulled out a small monocle.
“The ring is cracked in five different places; look closely,” Teth said, giving the monocle to Mystic. Mystic took the monocle and examined it closely. The ring was cracked, but the cracks seemed to emanate a powerful blue light.
“That light, that must be the spirit?” Mystic asked.
“Indeed,” Teth said simply, taking back the monocle. “I need to get to work immediately,”
Teth pulled out a magical tool, and with it, he smoothed down the surface of the cracks. One by one, Mystic watched as each crack disappeared in front of his eyes. Mystic was amazed; never had he seen a tool that could simply fix broken objects with little effort required at all.
“Unfortunately, this tool isn’t going to seal the cracks forever; it’s simply so the spirit doesn’t manage to escape while I work; you’re going to have to give me a day on this snake ring, and I need to focus on this, so I request that you both leave,” Teth told them.
“Are you kidding me, Doc? We just got here!” Pazak exclaimed.
“He’s dealing with dangerous magic here, Pazak; I’d expect that you would know that,” Mystic told him.
“Listen, Teth, we’re gonna catch up sooner or later, okay?” Pazak told Teth.
“Of course; right now, I need to focus on my work,” Teth told him.
Mystic and Pazak both left the shop and walked down the Demonic streets once again, spotting and walking past a group of unusual biker Demons with antlers, causing some mild chaos.
“Teth, he’s not what I was expecting; he’s kind of…” Mystic began but was interrupted by Pazak’s loud voice.
“Old?” Pazak asked.
“I was going to say more human-like than what I was expecting,” Mystic said.
Pazak laughed a long, drawn out laugh.
“You’re getting less blunt over time, Mystic. About a decade ago, you totally would have said ‘he’s old’ and not mention the fact that he’s human, no matter what was going through your mind,” Pazak said.
“How’d you meet him?” Mystic asked.
“I met him way before I met you, but he spent all his time in the Demon world once he discovered it, learned magic from a few dodgy Demon types; unluckily for him, since he stayed in the Demon world, he aged at the rate Demons do, making him grow older faster, if that makes sense,” Pazak told him.
“I think I follow,” Mystic said.
Screaming was suddenly heard behind them; Pazak and Mystic turned around to see a relatively young Demon being thrashed across the street; he hit the ground with a large thump. Mystic looked to see who threw the kid and saw the same unruly antler Demons from before, with their pointy ears, vibrant orange skin and fashionable motorcycles. Pazak didn’t need to watch to know exactly what Mystic was about to do.
“Don’t even think about it; this ain’t our problem,” Pazak said sternly.
Pazak saw a small smirk run across Mystic’s face; he knew what was going to happen next, but he didn’t have enough time to react. Mystic punched Pazak in the stomach, running to the poor Demon kid, who was slowly getting back on his feet.
“Come on, get up, kid! Aren’t you going to fight for yourself?” asked one of the Demons. The Demon cracked his knuckles and made a fist with his seven fingers, getting ready to strike the kid once again.
“Whatever magical items you have on you kid, I want to see them, now,” another Demon said.
“Hey, that’s enough!” Mystic shouted, stepping in front of the kid.
“Get lost, old man, this is none of your business!” The Demon shouted back.
“It bloody sure is now,” Mystic replied.
Suddenly, Pazak ran towards them, and punched the Demons, knocking back the one talking to Mystic.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” the Demon said with a smirk.
“What were you thinking? You don’t have your ring on you,” said Pazak, shouting at Mystic.
“I can handle this the old fashioned way,” Mystic said with a much calmer, cooler voice.
The Demon kid looked up in shock at his protectors; yet, he said nothing. He simply watched.
Mystic and Pazak tried their best to punch the antler Demons back, but to not much avail. The antler Demons fought back using magic; the one Mystic was talking to had speed magic, allowing him to not only be a lot faster then Mystic and Pazak, but making it harder for Mystic and Pazak to see him. Another Demon used energy magic, making him able to shoot energy out of his hands. Another with flight magic, which, as you can imagine for Mystic and Pazak, was just really irritating as he flew about and occasionally dropped down for an aerial punch attack. The two quickly learned that they were completely outclassed and that the antler Demons were much stronger. Mystic was struck across by the speed Demon when trying to protect the kid.
“Hey, you,” the speed Demon exclaimed. “You’re the famous crime buster, Mystic!”
“I’m famous?” Mystic asked.
“Oh, buddy, for us, you’re legendary! You captured some of my contacts easily, and I wanna make you pay!” the speed demon howled. The speed demon ran behind Mystic, and in the second where Mystic wondered where the speed demon went, he was struck in the back of the head by him.
“Guess the legendary Mystic lost his touch! Or maybe you just aren’t as tough as everyone says you are,” The speed Demon continued. Mystic was knocked off his feet by the speed Demon and fell on the cold pavement.
“I’ve heard of your little snake ring; a couple Scavenger guilds are after it,” the speed Demon began. “It’s worth thousands now, and since you don’t seem to want to sell it, I guess that means I can sell it to the Scavengers for myself!” The speed Demon exclaimed. The speed Demon quickly checked all of Mystic’s fingers and ungloved his gloved hand.
“Unlucky break, buddy, I don’t have my ring right now,” Mystic said, smirking at him.
The speed Demon tried to punch him again, but Mystic dodged easily. The speed Demon went into a fit of rage.
“Where is it? Tell me now!” The speed Demon said, grabbing Mystic by the collar of his shirt. The speed Demons’ infuriatingly bright orange skin burned Mystic’s eyes; it was bright, exotic, and overwhelming. His eyes were an even brighter shade of orange, but the annoying orange color of his eyes gave Mystic somewhat of an idea. Mystic spat in the speed Demon’s eye. The Demon didn’t even flinch, however, and rambled on.
“If you won’t tell me, you’re useless to me!” The speed Demon yelled, ignoring the spit, which, by now, had covered most of his face. Meanwhile, Pazak wasn’t faring so well against the Demons; the one using energy magic created a massive fist out of energy, punching Pazak with it and knocking two of Pazak’s teeth out. At this point, a few Demons pulled out small weapons from their pockets; it looked like a knife but with no handle and a very large point. The antler Demons managed to knock Pazak and Mystic on the ground.
“You’re not so good at the old-fashioned way!” Pazak exclaimed.
The antler Demons managed to surround Mystic, Pazak, and the Demon kid.
“You have a plan, magic boy?” Pazak asked.
“Hey, you’re a Demon, Pazak; you’re the one who should know magic, not me!” Mystic retorted back at him.
“Remind me to learn; that speed magic is pretty cool,” Pazak added.
“I know, right?” The speed Demon said, slowing down and standing proudly in front of Mystic, Pazak, and the Demon kid. He looked like a predator who just killed his first prey; proud, yet cold and calculating, ready to hunt again.
“So, human, I think in your world they ask: any last words?” The speed Demon asked. Mystic carefully took the pack of gum from the deli out of his pocket.
“What is that?” the speed Demon asked.
“Gum. It’s edible,” Mystic said, taking out the first stick of gum.
“Is it some sort of weapon?” Whispered one of the Demons in the background.
Pazak and the Demon kid looked on questionably as Mystic began chewing his first piece of gum. However, what Mystic failed to notice was a blue light shining through the pack of gum. Without further notice, the gum came alive, attacking the Demons; the gum grew exponentially in size, and a huge wave of gum shot at the antler Demons.
“I knew it was a weapon!” The same Demon shouted before being drowned out by the incredible amount of gum that shot at them.
When the gum attack died down, Mystic and Pazak could see clearly again; the antler Demons were scattered across the floor; most were covered completely in gum, the speed Demon being one of them. A few had managed to escape and were running away.
“Can we take them?” Pazak asked.
“Let them go; they learned their lesson, and if they haven’t, we’ll get them next time,” Mystic told Pazak.
“Damn. Whatever that weird pink weapon is, it’s useful,”
Mystic laughed loudly but quickly stopped.
“It doesn’t normally do that,” Mystic assured him.
Mystic looked down on the ground; gum had gotten everywhere, and the demons were completely still.
“This is going to make for some weird chalk outlines,” Mystic said jokingly.
“Stop your smart mouth for a second, okay?” Pazak told him. “And look!”
The two saw large vehicles quickly driving down the streets; these cars seemed to hover on magic, as they had no wheels, but they were large and bulky.
“Those are the Magical Authorities, and, to them, we just knocked out a dozen antler Demons for no apparent reason,” Pazak told him.
“Can’t we just tell them they were criminals who were beating up that kid?” Mystic asked.
“Do you really think they’re gonna believe that, Mystic? The crime system is a lot tighter in the magic world; there’s barely a trial, and all criminals are put to death,” Pazak told him.
“Tabi is lucky he didn’t come along; he wouldn’t be able to handle getting beating up then getting chased by the law,” Mystic said. Mystic looked back at the demon kid.
“You’ll be safe,” Mystic said to him. “But you need to run, now,”
“Thank you,” the Demon kid said in a meek sounding voice, as he ran off into the night.
Pazak began running in a different direction; Mystic quickly followed. Mystic looked back slightly to see four Authority Officer Demons stepping out of the vehicles and putting the antler Demons in their vehicles while the Officers handcuffed them. One of the Authority Officers clearly saw Mystic and Pazak running away, as he began chasing after the two. Mystic faced forward and began running faster.
“We need to get lost,” Mystic suggested to Pazak.
“There’s a subway down there!” Pazak said, running towards it. Mystic followed quickly, but he just managed to see the vehicle stop, the doors to it slide open. Mystic and Pazak ran through a crowd of Demons, while they saw a subway with the doors that had just closed.
“Dammit,” Pazak said.
Pazak and Mystic tried their best to blend in with the crowd, but it didn’t help that Mystic was human, as there were no other humans in the station. The Magical Authority Officer, accompanied by another one, who also must have noticed Pazak and Mystic running away, suddenly entered the subway station, hands clutched to the weapons they were carrying in their belt buckle. The Officers wandered around, glancing at everyone; they even glanced at Pazak twice, obviously not recognizing him, and luckily they weren’t able to see Mystic, who had crouched down. Around that time, another subway arrived; Mystic and Pazak quickly got on board, hidden in between a group of other demons. Mystic got another quick glimpse of the Authority Officers; they seemed to be looking at two demons covered in yellow fur, who were the same type of demon as Pazak. The subway took off with a magical whir.
“Listen, Pazak, I have to get out of this world,” Mystic said.
“Don’t worry, I know a portal by the Empire Magic Building; we’re going to get you out of this world,” Pazak told him.
“Perfect; right now, all I wanna do is go home and sleep all day,” Mystic mumbled to himself.
“Say, is your pretty face okay, Mystic?” Pazak asked jokingly.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine once I get my beauty rest,” Mystic joked back. “How are your teeth?”
“They’ve been better; I’m sure I’ll find some dodgy magic guy who specializes in repairing teeth,” Pazak told him
“I think they’re called orthodontists, Pazak,” Mystic said sarcastically.
“Right, right, I knew that; that’s what I meant, of course,” Pazak said to pretend he was joking. The two suddenly became silent; they listened to the sound of the magical subway car whirring across the track.
“Are you going to be okay alone? You’re an outlaw now, Pazak,” Mystic asked.
“Don’t worry; I can survive on my own, besides I have Tabi to protect me,” Pazak joked.
“True, very true,” Mystic said in a joking tone.
“Besides, if I ever need to get out of here, I can come to your world and crash at your place,” Pazak said.
“Of course,” Mystic said, figuring Pazak was joking.
The two got off the subway and got to the building with the portal. Mystic once again took his magical keys and put them in the broken looking lock in the door; he said his goodbyes to Pazak as he disappeared.
“See you around; tell Tabi I said hi, oh, and remind me to pick up my ring in a few days,” Mystic said as he slowly disappeared back into the human world. Then, there he was, standing in front of the pub where he was before. Mystic looked around at the human world, comparing it to how it was back in the magic world. Everything was so much quieter now; he walked around again. The sun was rising, and you could see the horizon line clearly, despite the array of buildings in Sweden. He figured the only reason he should ever return to the magical world again was to get his ring back. Sure, the magic world was his own special place, but right now, that special place he wanted to be was home. Now that the sun was up, he would get unwanted attention, as he gave off a magical aura which grabs people’s attention in broad daylight. Mystic looked down at the pack of gum which was once again stored in his pocket, he thought back to the deli and the Scavenger, then how one of the sticks of gum came to life, and how the spirit of his snake ring must be possessing the gum. The gum could be useful in battle; though, one thing is for sure, he isn’t going to eat it. Mystic did wonder what possessed serpentine flavored gum would taste like, however. Another thing that crossed his mind was that the spirit could easily come alive, and, judging by Teth’s reactions to it, could probably destroy a couple dimensions or so. However, Mystic didn’t care; he may try to follow the law, but no law says to defend the earth valiantly as it’s being wiped off of any existence. It’s like Tabi said; he can’t fight the big battles, so why should he try? If Sweden was going to go under because of a huge spirit demon, so what? It wasn’t Mystic’s job. There were Authority Officers for that. Besides, will anyone really care if the world suddenly ends?