THE BEAST

Start of the fire

Brett realized something was off when he realized that it was snowing.

"Please tell me that it can snow on July," Brett groaned.

"I'm afraid not, young one. Some time has passed, unfortunately," Eddy picked up a tattered poster rolling on the sidewalk.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?

LAST SEEN IN THE SCHOOL VILLAGE OF ASNADEL. KIDNAPPED BY THE BEAST.

PLEASE CONTACT THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY IF YOU SEE THIS MAGICIAN.

And there was Brett's goofy face on the poster.

"We're in more trouble than I thought," Eddy muttered.

Brett gulped, grabbing an old staff more tightly to his chest. They did found Reia's staff from the fairy's home, stored away in the attic, covered in dust. It was a red mahogany wood, a little heavier than what Brett used before. He has left his own staff back in Eddy's house because it was broken anyway. After that, they walked out of the fairy's territory, landing in a small village next to the forest.

Brett had some hope that Reia's staff will help Eddy clear his name in Asnadel but everything sounded much worse now. The beast was not only accused of trying to eat the magicians outside of school but he was also charged with kidnapping Brett for a solid 6 months.

"You can't do a teleportation magic, right?" Eddy asked.

"Um, I can try..?"

"Nah, it won't work. We're too far from the school anyway. It will require tons of mavis," Eddy sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

Now that Brett was back to his usual inconvenient self, there was no real way to get back to Asnadel by themselves.

"We should call the police. They will take us to wherever we need to go."

"I left my phone back at my school so we will need to ask around and walk there..." Brett shivered from the cold.

Eddy turned his head toward an old house in the center of the small village. He let out a small whistle and the roof of the house exploded with fire. The villagers screamed as they ran away from the house, scrambling to call the police and the fire department.

"Eddy!"

"Cool, the police will come soon. The house was empty anyway."

Brett rolled his eyes, too fed up to comment anything. They sat next to the burning house, waiting.

Eddy was right. The fire department and the police team came a few minutes after the explosion. When the officers realized who they were, they were immediately escorted to the station. Brett fidgeted nervously while the officers contacted his family and school, asking for teleportation permission.

"My parents would probably kill me if the council does not kill us first," Brett murmured.

"Yeah, a thousand-year-old beast with an eating disorder was probably not what they were looking for in their future son in law," Eddy kissed Brett lightly, laughing.

"Stop flirting with me," Brett laughed along despite the anxiety.

"Might be my last chance, young one. Let's enjoy it while it can," Eddy ruffled Brett's hair, smiling playfully.

Eddy knew what would come after they were transported to the front of the council. Everything was pretty clear to him, as an old beast who lived long enough. There was no way Brett could convince the council no matter how good of an evidence he had. The beast was hated and he was dangerous and he was to be executed. Eddy was merely playing along with Brett, trying not to stomp on Brett's fragile hope just because he couldn't stand seeing Brett so sad.