Phoenix flashed the words across his mind. “Cross walks and cross-hearts and hope to dies,” he muttered, saying them aloud. “Silver clouds with gray linings… those sound a lot like Pete’s lyrics…”
Phoenix made a motion like a shrug as if saying, I’m not the one who controls this stuff. Patrick gave her a faint smile. “Well, if you say so,” he said and once again he pressed one of the gemstones to his chest. It was cool there, comfortable and Patrick thought if he focused, he could hear, no, feel the magic humming underneath it. In a voice that was hardly a whisper he repeated the magic words.
The change was gradual. At first it was just a faint tingling sensation on his chest where the stone was, but it spread throughout his body, making it prickle then heating it up, little by little. Patrick began to tremble as the strange sensation turned to pain. He gasped and all the animals reared back before a few of them stepped forward again as if to comfort him. But Phoenix fluttered in front of them, holding them back. Patrick gnashed his teeth as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. “What is happening to me…?” he whispered, his voice laced with fear, but Phoenix gently calmed his heart, slowed its beating and the pain lessened, somewhat…
Patrick lay there as the flame ignited upon his chest, a small spark at first before subtly, softly spreading over his fair skin. The world faded and the night sky grew distant. Am I dying, he wondered but Phoenix assured him that no, he wasn’t. Not in the way that his friends had in the very least. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was her face.
But the animals were still awake, and they watched, concerned and in awe as Patrick was engulfed in flame and reduced to gray ash, glinting silver under the moonlight.
The world stilled for a moment.
And then a tiny spark ignited atop the pile of gray dust.
All the animals reared back in shock. All of them except Phoenix, who simply fluttered back and watched. They gazed intently as the flames, soft and hesitant at first, licked up from the ashes, growing bolder, braver, shooting sparks like magic. Sparks of magic did shoot up from the flames eventually, deep red like the ones Silence the Noise used, but this time the animals did not hide. Not even when the fire began to crackle, not even when it rose higher than them, higher than Patrick had ever stood, higher than the dark trees that loomed over them. A tower began to form in the clearing, one made of fire and magic, stretching all the way up to the moon and casting the forest in a bright, almost blinding light. The animals ducked their heads to block out the pain in their eyes, but they did not hide away.
And all over, everyone turned to look.
Mrs. Wentz had been sitting in the living room when it happened. She and Meagan because they couldn’t bear to be alone, even if all they did together was say nothing and stare at the space where Pete and his friends had lain that morning. Ashlee was still at the home as well, taking care of both of them. At that moment, she’d been bringing them tea.
It was only when a flash of light was reflected through the room that the three of them looked up towards the window, just in time to see a spire of warm light shoot up from above the rooftops of the Chicago suburbs. All three eyes widened. Teacups fell to the ground and shattered as they each rushed to the window, eager to see what was happening. “What the hell...?” Meagan muttered.
“Mommy!” Someone shouted from upstairs, his voice loud and out of breath. Beau’s voice. Ashlee flinched and ran up the stairs to her son, eager to comfort him after he’d already had such a hard day. But Meagan and Mrs. Wentz stayed rooted next to the window, completely uncomprehending of the sight before them.
The members of My Chemical Romance were preparing to fly back to New Jersey. They sat at the terminal, silent and solemn as the airport bustled around them. Frank and Bob tapped away at their phones, Ray checked the flight information as if afraid the gate would get up and leave if he wasn’t keeping a constant eye on it, and the Way brothers put their heads together and whispered.
“So, are we really just not going to address the fact that there might have been two witches at Fall Out Boy’s funeral?” Gerard asked his brother, glancing around so none of their bandmates could hear.
“That’s the key word,” Mikey whispered back. “Might. They might have been two strangely dressed fans.”
“I know you know that’s bullshit,” Gerard retorted. Mikey frowned. His older brother was right again, of course. He’d always been pretty good at reading him, he was the only one who could other than Pete. But since Pete was gone, Gerard was back to being the only one. Mikey felt a pang in his heart.
“Okay, well, yeah. Maybe there were witches at the funeral. That doesn’t mean anything sinister is happening. Maybe they were collecting rainwater or grieving energy for a spell. You know we’ve definitely hung around some funerals back home for similar reasons.”
“But none of those funerals involved three members of the same band who died under mysterious circumstances on the same day, states apart,” Gerard said. “I feel like those girls, if Patrick really saw them, definitely had something to do with what happened to Fall Out Boy. My gut is telling me so.”
Suddenly, light flashed through the windows, red and fiery, so that it seemed like hell had opened up outside. The crowd in the airport gasped and all five members of MCR turned to look. Everyone saw the spire of fiery light rise up from above the Chicago skyline, looking like the end of the world. The airport patrons muttered uneasily, asking questions about delayed flights and air traffic control. My Chemical Romance’s concerns were simple.
“What the hell is that…?” Frank asked, growing pale. Ray and Bob cast him uneasy glances, muttered that they didn’t know. But the Way brothers turned straight to each other, each of their expressions full of meaning.
Sure, others might have called them crazy, but they knew magic when they saw it.
Elisa was just finishing up her errands, wheeling a shopping cart of essentials towards her car. Nothing much was in it, only some groceries and some ibuprofen for Patrick, who always got the worst headaches when he cried. She was nearly to the car when the spire of light rose up from above Chicago and the clouds overhead were bathed in a sinister red light. Elisa yelped and stumbled back, but didn’t fall. All around her, people in the parking lot stared up, took out their phones to record. But when Elisa pulled out her own, she dialed a number.
“Patrick?” she asked after the tone when her boyfriend didn’t pick up. “Are you seeing what’s happening? Are… are you alright?”
She tried to keep the hysteria out of her voice but couldn’t help it. Her heart was already beating so fast for him. She knew logically that he was most likely fine, that the reason he wasn’t answering the phone was because he too, was in shock from what he’d seen (because he was definitely seeing this, right?) or he just didn’t happen to be next to his phone right now.
But still, she couldn’t help but worry.
“Please, don’t be scared,” Elisa continued. “I’m coming home right away, alright?”
With that, Elisa pocketed her phone and dashed to her car, leaving the cart of groceries in the lot. Right now, the only thing on her mind was Patrick. And she was going to get to her boyfriend no matter what.
Courtney couldn’t believe this. This was the second time that stupid falcon had evaded her in the past month. And the first time that one of her victims had managed to get away. Not that she was too worried about Patrick Stump. She had heard of how he’d fainted at the funeral, seen the way he’d broken down in the face of her taunts, ran away like a coward into the forest where her subordinates were almost certainly pummeling him to death by now. Still, it was frustrating that she had lost the briefcase, the gemstones, that it had all spiraled out of control. She was trying to get it back by calling the people she had set after the last Fall Out Boy, trying to make sure they had done it. But she couldn’t get ahold of them. Well, that wasn’t too much of a concern, Courtney didn’t imagine there was a lot of service in the forest. She was sure they would come back with Patrick’s body any moment now, his soul still inside and the gems in their briefcase. Then she would infuse Patrick’s soul into the stone, and they would be one step closer to casting that spell.
Courtney practically salivated at the thought. The spell, finally complete. Music gone forever and then she would receiver her reward, her love back in her arms like she had always wanted… But for now, she had to stand in the messy ruins of this pathetic musician’s house and wait for a couple of idiot girls to kill one stupid man.
And then she saw the light.
Warm colors flashed on the wall for a moment and Courtney turned to the window. A spire of light, red and fiery rose up into the black sky outside the window. But unlike the regular people of Chicago, she didn’t fear it. Unlike them, she knew what it was. And it filled her with frustration and rage.
“Shit,” she muttered, glaring hard at the light show high above her and she marched off towards the tree line. She was going to wring those girls’ necks when she found them.
In the forest, the light faded as soon as it appeared. Slowly, the tower of fire lowered to the ground and the animals uncovered their eyes. The flames died down to nothing, fading into the chest of a human figure as if it were simply an illusion. Patrick Stump lay on the moss just as he had before. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He stirred, passed a hand over his face. The tingling sensation still coursed through his body. There was a faint sensation of burning in his chest, but it was warm, powerful, like an old friend instead of something painful. He groaned and sat up. “What on Earth…” he muttered. “What happened to me…?”
He opened his eyes, looked out at the sea of animals who were gazing at him with awe and reverence. Patrick furrowed his brow in confusion. Already he hardly remembered what had happened after he’d said the magic words. Why were they looking at him as if he was some fallen star?
“What’s wrong?” he murmured to them. “I’m alright, see? Though I do feel a bit strange…” The last part Patrick said mostly to himself. He pressed a hand to his chest, felt the fire underneath it. That hadn’t been there before, had it?
Finally, Phoenix fluttered before him. She chirped softly. You want to see what happened, she seemed to ask. Follow me. Then she flew off into the air.
“Follow you?” Patrick murmured. “But I can’t even walk…” But even as he said that he found himself rising to his feet painlessly, as if the cuts and the pain from his chase in the forest had instantly healed. He and all the other animals followed Phoenix as she led him to the pond in the center of the clearing. It was still and clear, so clear that it seemed more like a hole opening up into the sky than a body of water, for the moon and stars were reflected perfectly in it, as if it were a mirror.
Phoenix gestured at him to look in the reflection. What Patrick saw took his breath away.
Gone was the tattered dark suit from the funeral and the muddy shoes from running in the forest. Instead, Patrick was dressed in a deep red suit with gold embellishments on the shoulders and golden gloves, the sort fit for a prince. A bright golden cape was draped around his shoulders floating gently in the evening breeze and upon his head was a small, but beautiful golden crown where the red gemstone sat, glinting in the moonlight. His bright, blonde hair rustled in the wind and his blue eyes shone softly. Even his skin glowed silver in the moonlight and seemed so ethereal that Patrick had to touch his face, gently, to ensure he was real, that this was real.
Phoenix sent a feeling of reassurance to Patrick’s heart. Yes, this is real, she seemed to say, and he swallowed. He stood up straight then, pressed a hand to his warm chest as the animals surrounded him, looking up at him with quiet awe. “So… I’ve transformed then,” Patrick whispered to himself. “But what does that mean…” He looked at himself, at his gloved hands at the way he subtly glowed with a fiery light in the darkness. “What can I do now…?”
“You IDIOTS!!” someone screamed, yanking Patrick out of his thoughts. He gasped, for he recognized that voice, the woman who had been leading the attack in his home. Swiftly, the animals scrambled for cover and Patrick followed suit, diving behind a tree just as the head bitch appeared, face contorted in rage as she chewed out her servants.
“I tell you to go kill one man!” she screamed. “ONE MAN!! And what do you do‽ You let him retrieve the gemstones and… and unlock his full powers!!”
“W-W-We’re sorry, Courtney,” said one of the girls, trembling. She seemed so scared that Patrick almost felt bad for her, until he remembered how they’d chased him through the forest, of course.
“I-It was just… well, he got ahead and then we couldn’t find him,” said the other girl. “We assumed he fell off the cliff-”
“Assumed?” Courtney interrupted, disapproval coloring her tone. “You know what they say about assuming, right?”
The two girls deflated. “Sorry, bitch…” they chorused.
“I can’t believe this…” Courtney said, and Patrick watched as she trembled with rage. “I gave you girls one job… ONE JOB!!! And you couldn’t DO IT!! It’s bad enough that we don’t have the souls of the members we did manage to kill! But now, it’s going to be almost impossible to kill the last one!! Argh, we might as well start the spell completely over! Ooh, all that work. All that work finding a band that didn’t go through like a million members and was actually friends and then hunting them down for this! This incompetence! This stupidity!” Courtney lashed out then, kicking a tree and screaming in rage. Patrick flinched. And to think that this woman was wielding such dangerous magic and actively looking to kill him…
“Um…” said one of the girls uncertainly. “So… what do we do now…?”
Courtney turned to look at her slowly with murder in her eyes. “Are you kidding me?” she growled.
“Uh… well, um…”
“We LOOK FOR HIM, YOU FUCKING IMBICILE!!” Courtney shouted and she pulled out her magic staff and tossed to smaller staffs that looked like wands to her subordinates.
“But you said it would be harder to kill him,” said one of the girls.
“Harder not impossible,” Courtney drawled. “And we don’t have to kill him. Not anymore. You let that ship sail. For now, we just need to neutralize Patrick, even capture him. But we cannot let him go. Now, move it!”
The girls flinched and did as they were told, walking off in opposite directions in search of their prey. Patrick watched it all, heart pounding and hid again behind the thick tree. He hugged his arms, hardly breathing, willed the glow around him to dim, though of course, that didn’t work. Phoenix landed on a branch not far above him. A sense of confusion tugged at Patrick’s mind. What are you doing?
Hiding, Patrick thought to her. I don’t know what else to do.
Phoenix’s gaze drifted to the gemstone on Patrick’s crown.
Yes, I have magic powers, he thought. But I don’t know what they are. I don’t know how to activate them. I can’t fight back…
Suddenly he heard it. The sound of a trumpet in his ears, a keyboard, a French horn. A guitar gently strumming a folk song, a flute playing a faraway, mythical tune. Patrick understood instantly. Music… that was his power. It all made perfect sense. But…
I don’t have any instruments, Patrick thought, looking up at Phoenix.
At Phoenix only gave Patrick a long, slow blink. No visions, thoughts or memories. It was so obvious that he realized it on his own. Oh right, he thought. My voice… Patrick pressed his hand to his chest, felt the warmth there once more. It had been months since he had sung a single word and after his bandmates had died, he hadn’t believed he would ever sing again. Still, he knew now that so much depended on his voice. So, he tried to open his mouth.
Only a strained, strangled sound emerged.
Patrick’s heart sank in disappointment. He couldn’t summon the courage, he realized. But a sense of reassurance tugged at his heart. You can do it, Phoenix was saying. So, he tried again. A single, simple note. Soft, but sustained for quite some time. Patrick wasn’t sure what he expected to happen. Certainly not for the branches in the trees to sway just slightly, certainly not for sparks of deep red magic to rise up from the ground below him, or rain down from the leaves in the trees and down the winding branches. Patrick gasped softly, and it was then he realized that magic had always been a part of the world, woven into every plant and rock and person, waiting to be discovered.
And now it was at his fingertips.
Patrick took a deep breath. He clasped his hands and closed his eyes, focused, summoned his voice from where he’d buried it in the deepest depths of his soul.
And he sang.
“I’m coming apart at the seams. Pitching myself for leads in other people’s dreams, now buzz, buzz, buzz. Doc, there’s a hole where something was. Doc, there’s a hole where something was…”
Patrick’s voice rang out through the forest, loud and clear. Beautiful. The foxes and the bats and the owls that had been hiding from Silence the Noise perked up as if excited and comforted by his voice. As for Silence the Noise themselves, they perked up too. But not because they enjoyed Patrick’s singing.
“My wand just glitched!” shouted one of the girls and she gazed at the instrument with concern.
Courtney snarled. “It’s him!” she snapped. “He’s somewhere around here. And he’s figured out how to use his powers…”
“Really…?” asked the other girl and she and her companion exchanged uneasy glances. Courtney’s attention, meanwhile, had already turned back to her prey.
“I know you’re there, Patrick!” she shouted into the night. “Hiding in the darkness, in the trees, among the useless animals who, by the way, can’t protect you! You may have escaped me once, you may have harnessed the power of the gemstones, but you can’t handle them! You never will! You think your fate will be any different from your friends’‽ HA! They were stronger than you, they were fighters and you’re clearly not! Evidenced by the fact that you’re still hiding! You won’t show yourself to us! Alright. Fine! Then, we’ll find you. And when we do, we’ll destroy you!”
Courtney and the two girls cackled for the millionth time that night. But for once, Patrick wasn’t frightened by them. Interestingly, he felt a touch of indignation stir in his chest. You want me to show myself, he thought. Alright, Courtney. Then you’ll see me as I am now. Patrick looked to Phoenix as if to confirm their game plan (although really, they weren’t forming much of one) and Patrick sensed the determination in her eyes. Yes, they were going to put a stop to this. And they were going to do it together.
When Patrick emerged from the darkness, he was silent as mist. But Courtney and the girls sensed him immediately. The subordinates took in Patrick’s soft glow, his princely attire with wonder and awe. But their leader remained stoic. “Ah, so you did decide to show yourself,” Courtney smirked. “You think you’re all powerful in that magic get up? Well, I still see you for what you really are, Patrick. A short, sniveling, scared young man without the people he relied on most. And no amount of singing or powers is going to change that.”
“Oh, is that so?” Patrick asked, his own expression stern in a way it hadn’t been before. Courtney had her staff with her, and it still frightened him, but not as much as when he had been completely defenseless. “You had magic on your side before. But now so do I. And I have Phoenix. She killed two of yours before. What’s to say she won’t do it again?”
The two girls with the wands paled at that, but Courtney barked out a laugh. “Wow, listen to you! So brave now that you’ve got toys now as well! Well, let’s see how full your words really are. Surely your little music making powers will be nothing in the face of my raw strength!”
With a manic smile, Courtney pointed her staff at Patrick and shot out a blast of energy. His blue eyes widened as he panicked internally but a single word from Phoenix overrode all feeling. Sing, she thought to him, so he did. Loud and clear, he sang out Pete’s lyrics.
Fell out of bed, butterfly bandage but don’t worry!
Courtney’s energy blast ricocheted off the force of Patrick’s voice and each of the girls had to dive out of the way. Patrick gasped, smiling wide. Goodness gracious, he was powerful!
You’ll never remember, your head is far too blurry.
One of the girls’ wands sparked, nearly fritzed out ,but she blew on it and the magic went out. “He’s going to destroy my wand!” she shouted.
“Then destroy him first!” Courtney screamed. She pointed her staff once more at Patrick, fired another blast but this time he dodged it.
Put him in the back of a squad car, restrain that man. He needs his head put through a cat scan.
The force of Patrick’s voice sent a surge of magic up through the Earth, bringing the three women to their knees and finally shattering the girls’ wands. “Now, what do we do‽” one of them asked Courtney.
“Step out of the way and let me finish this!” she responded, glaring daggers at Patrick.
But Patrick wasn’t afraid. Not anymore. He just kept on singing. Voice ringing loud and clear.
Hey editor, I'm undeniable. Hey doctor, I'm certifiable.
Another surge of magic. Courtney yelped as she struggled to grab hold of her staff as it spasmed and burst. She bared her teeth at Patrick, murder in her eyes. “You don’t know what you’re doing!! Stop this instant, now!!”
Oh, I’m a loose bolt of a complete machine. Courtney fired again. Once more, Patrick dodged, continued to sing Pete’s lyrics. What a match. I’m half-doomed and your semi-sweet.
So, boycott love. Detox just to retox. And I’d promise you anything for another shot at life. And I’d promise you anything for another shot at life. Imperfect boys with their perfect ploys. Nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy.
As Patrick sang the chorus to Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes the Earth reacted to his voice. Red sparks rose up from the dirt and rained down from the trees, overwhelming Courtney’s staff until it burst. A shockwave of red magic burst forth, blasting Silence the Noise away. The staff crumbled to pieces. Even Patrick was knocked back by the force. He scrambled to his feet, as if preparing to prevent another attack, but it was pointless. They were already on their feet, glaring daggers at him, but without their magic wands or staffs they were just as useless as him.
Patrick stared at them, panting. For a second, he was sure he’d won and that they’d retreat. And then Courtney pulled out a knife.
“Wait!” Patrick shouted, backing away on the grass. He opened his mouth, tried to sing again, but the closer that bright, silver blade came towards his neck the tighter the fear twisted around it.
“Not so strong now, songbird?” Courtney teased. “Fool! You thought the magic was on your side? Prepare to meet your friends very soon...”
CAW! Patrick watched, astonished as Phoenix swooped in then and pecked Courtney in the face. Her two subordinates shrieked and ran away, gibbering about not “wanting to die,” or “ending up like the other two”. Courtney fell to the ground, scowling and clutching her bleeding face. She cussed out Phoenix, but her final words, when she spoke, were for Patrick.
“You can’t hide behind your little friends and your little bird forever, Patrick! I killed your bandmates, I can kill you too, no problem! And once you’re gone, each and every one of Fall Out Boy’s souls will be mine, and none of what you and your pathetic band ever did will even matter!”
And with that, she took off after her subordinates, vanishing into the tree line before even Phoenix could go after her.
ns18.188.180.227da2
and then Add to home screen.