The Magic Box, Friday morning

[livingartifact]

Jenkins had been up all night. The results of all his usual magical tests were becoming increasingly alarming, as had the number of giant slugs he'd seen sliming by through the shop windows (though, honestly, it didn't take very many giant slugs to be alarming). He'd already discovered in his tenure on Fandom that the resources of his own Library were rather lacking when it came to Fandom — a fact he was slowly but surely correcting, of course — and as such was reliant entirely upon the meager offerings of the Magic Box thus far in his investigations.

It wasn't going well. He would soon be forced to give up here and move on to the island's primary library, up at the school. Not that he had anything against school libraries, but it was rather a point of honor that he be able to find at least the beginnings of a clue without outside assistance. . . .

[for one]

Comments

[ruinedartifact]

What if that assistance were only outside in a purely metaphysical sense? Jenkins, after all, had made his way through the portal with the other world savers, and had aimed, in his way, for the nearest potential source of eldritch intel into the evil cult's nefarious plans. It was only natural, then, that he managed to seek out . . . himself.

"Ah," he said, after a slightly befuddled glance up at the bell above the Magic Box door (as a rule, dystopian hell-worlds seldom contained cheerful little bells). "I suppose I might have guessed."

[livingartifact]

Jenkins frowned at the visitor. The resemblance was, of course, uncanny, save for the large firearm the other man was carrying. "And you are. . . ?"

[ruinedartifact]

"I've had many names," Jenkins said, resting said large firearm against his shoulder. "I've forgotten the majority of them, but most recently and, I believe, applicably, I am Jenkins."

[livingartifact]

Jenkins approached with trepidation, making sure to keep one eye on the gun to make sure it was never aimed in his direction. He might be immortal, but bullets still hurt a tremendous amount. "Interesting," he said, circling and making note of the subtle differences between himself and his doppelganger. The other Jenkins was clearly older, for instance, and he would venture to guess had experienced even more magical horror than himself. "Presuming you're not simply a sophisticated fabrication or illusion, that narrows my field of research considerably."

[ruinedartifact]

"Foolishly optimistic, but factually correct," Jenkins said. "Presuming you mean that in observing me, you have concluded that the source of the evil currently invading your existence is an alternate universe."

[livingartifact]

Jenkins smirked faintly, then returned to his bookshelves. "Yes, very droll. Thank you." He took down a thick hardcover and flipped through the first few pages, before rejecting it and putting it back. "Judging by your complete lack of surprise, I'd say I can comfortably conclude that you are in fact not just from an alternate universe, but one directly connected to Fandom. While we may have seen a great deal of madcap and strange working for the Library, I do imagine encountering myself unexpectedly there would have at least merited a raised eyebrow, perhaps even an 'oh dear'."

[ruinedartifact]

"Amazing, Jenkins. How do you do it." Jenkins raised the barrel of his gun, pointing it towards a shelf three cases down from the one Jenkins had been looking at. "Have you tried this volume, yet?"

[livingartifact]

Jenkins gave Jenkins a long, suspicious look, then went over to see what he was pointing at. A slim volume, a tattered folio titled Ye Olde Bestiary of the Eldritche. "I taught a class on zoology this year," he said as he took the book down from the shelf. "I am almost certain I would have noticed this book there while researching for that."

[ruinedartifact]

Jenkins did raise his eyebrow at that, giving Jenkins an even more scathing once over. "You taught?"

[livingartifact]

"I most certainly did. And intend to do so again." He flipped carefully through the pages. "This purports to track the primordial creatures residing in the interdimensional spaces below the island." He sighed and shook his head. "It's like Wexler University all over again."

[ruinedartifact]

Jenkins lowered his gun back to his shoulder and tilted his head thoughtfully. "I can't remember, which one was it that exploded? The school or the man?"

[livingartifact]

"Let's not get into that now." Jenkins was rapidly reaching the end of the book, but hadn't spotted any entries for the giant slug creatures he'd been seeing. "This cannot be a comprehensive guide. Whomever put this together must have either been exceedingly lazy or — oh." He raised the book and held it out at arm's length, peering down his nose to get a better look at the text. "'Last, the Beaste was found in the 1760s. We credit the Good Work of Sir Thaddeus Crowley, whose efforts vanquished the Creature before it could wreck its Terrible Havock upon us all. May God have mercy on us.'"

[ruinedartifact]

"I never could abide by written early modern English," Jenkins said, rolling his eyes.

[livingartifact]

"Hm," Jenkins nodded slightly flipping the page to find he'd come to the end of the book. "And naturally it's a Crowley. I don't know why anyone ever trusted the Crowleys, after that first one." He snapped the book shut and tucked it under his arm. "Well, unless you'd like to enigmatically point me towards any other ominous clues, I suppose I'd better make my way up to the school, see if the library there has anything further on this ill-omened vanquishing. Come along."

[ruinedartifact]

"And what makes you think I'm going to go along with you?"

[livingartifact]

"I'm certainly not going to leave you here by yourself. Who knows what damage you would do?"

[ruinedartifact]

"I'm you."

[livingartifact]

"I'm aware." Jenkins held the door open and gestured for Jenkins to precede him. "After you."

[ruinedartifact]

"I could shoot you."

[livingartifact]

"If it would make you feel better. But we both know it'd be pretty pointless."

[ruinedartifact]

Jenkins glared, then strode with great dignity to the door, his gun held cocked and ready for whatever waited them outside.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Jenkins?" Verity leaned against the doorway of the Magic Box, looking--and feeling--considerably worse for wear. "Jenkins, you around?"

[livingartifact]

"Ms. Verity!" Jenkins set aside his research and hurried over. "Come in. Are you quite alright?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"I don't think so," Verity said, looking up at him. Her skin was clammy. "I've just got this awful headache that I can't seem to shake and my stomach's in knots. It kinda feels like the flu or something..."

She shrugged. "But it came on between my apartment and here."

Low-level psychic protection didn't play nicely with cultish magic influence, apparently.

[livingartifact]

"So it's remarkably fast-acting," Jenkins mused. "I can certainly give you something for the symptoms, but until we ascertain the cause, I'm not sure how much help I might be." He looked over the shelves, pulling a few items down. "Tell me -- you didn't happen to interact with any giant slugs on your way over, did you?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"I stepped in something sticky," Verity said sitting down on the first thing that seemed solid and holding her head. "And something rustled in the bushes, but I didn't check."

She'd been busy cleaning gunk off her shoes. "...Is there some kind of Christmas slug thing the island is doing?"

Because Verity wasn't impressed with this holiday festivity, no.

[livingartifact]

"Not as far as I'm aware." And he'd met several of Santa's incarnations, over the centuries. "I suspect the slugs have more to do with whatever caused the small, magical quake yesterday morning."

[arboreal_priestess]

"That was a magical quake?" Verity asked. "I just figured..." She shrugged. There'd been a quake at the end of November, too which hadn't led to anything terrible.

[livingartifact]

"It may not have seemed like much physically, but I assure you, my readings were high enough to be of note. Even in Fandom." He finished mixing together a couple powders and looked around for something to dissolve them in. "I don't suppose you have a bottle of water on you? I seem to have forgotten to make my morning tea."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Uhh..." Verity looked around for her purse. "Can of soda work?"

[livingartifact]

"I don't see why not." Jenkins offered her the powder. "This should at least take care of the headache and other flu-like symptoms."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity cracked the can and dumped the powder in, swirling it around. Once she judged it was well and truly dissolved, she knocked it back, drinking the can in five long swigs. When she lowered the can, she was grimacing at the bitter taste. "How long till it kicks in?" she asked.

[livingartifact]

"Should only be moments."

What a nice change of pace to have someone accept one of his treatments without gagging or fussing about the taste!

[arboreal_priestess]

This was nothing compared to the sludge you had to swallow to stave of petrification due to a basilisk. Come on now, Librarians, honestly.

Verity was quiet for about a minute more, feeling the pain slowly leave like a wave going back out to sea. And not noticing the tide of evil rising in its wake. "Oh god, that's better," she said.

She needed to be clear headed. She had work to do.

[livingartifact]

"Excellent. Delighted I could assist. You will let me know if you observe any further symptoms?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"I will," Verity said, standing up. She rolled her neck, feeling the tendons loosen. "I actually feel fantastic right. Like I could do anything."

And she had a few new ideas to she'd like to try out.

[livingartifact]

"Really. I've never observed euphoria with that particular mix before." He was going to have to investigate that further.

You know, after he got the whole slug situation resolved.

[arboreal_priestess]

Evil was a hell of a restorative!

"Maybe it's the caffeine," Verity suggested, all chipper. "If you normally mix it with water, you might not have seen this particular chemical reaction."

[livingartifact]

"That is certainly a possibility. I'll be sure to check."

[arboreal_priestess]

Now that she was feeling better--more than better, inspired--Verity started prowling around the Magic Box, looking for anything she thought might be useful for what was coming. She didn't know much about magic, but her Grandma wandered through the planes of Hell looking for her Grandpa. In a family like hers, you sometimes picked up a few things.

"What do you know about snake cults?" she asked. You know. Idly. "Or the honeycomb theory of reality?"

[livingartifact]

"If you've been pondering either, I am unsurprised that your brain hurts," Jenkins said. "Please tell me you're not contemplating joining a snake cult. I would hate to have to tie you up and lock you in a closet."

For one thing, it probably wouldn't hold her for very long.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm offended you think a closet would hold me," Verity declared with a grin.

And not answering his question, as one did. Or didn't when you were eeeevil.

[livingartifact]

"Mea culpa, Ms. Verity. Ah -- do be careful, would you?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"Of course," Verity promised, looked up at him. "It's far too soon to be overconfident. We have too much work to do still."

That was...comforting?

[livingartifact]

"Uh . . . huh. Good. I suppose."

[arboreal_priestess]

"So, no books on the honeycomb theory of the universe then?" Verity checked. "You should make sure. It's important."