The Parts We Play

Your Hand at The Level of Your Eyes

Douxie paced backstage at the theater, waiting for the younger Champions of Arcadia to arrive. He had to be there early to talk to the director about the choreography for the opening scene, and so he now had plenty of time to think.

He'd spotted another of the masked beings the night before (not to be confused with raccoons), and he needed to warn his friends somehow. He just had to figure out how to do so without panicking them. Jim would likely be unfazed, but Toby or Krel? Not so much.

The moment he saw the others walk in, he pulled them all aside.

"Is something wrong?" Claire asked.

"Possibly," Douxie told them, forcing his tone to remain calm. "I've been seeing signs of something strange- stranger than usual, going on in Arcadia lately. It could turn out to be nothing. But in case it isn't, I thought you should know to be careful. And stay away from any people wearing all black leather on the streets at night."

"We can keep our ear to the ground, see what we dig up," Jim offered.

Douxie shook his head. "I don't want whatever's going on to overwhelm anyone before we know how dangerous it is. Just- fortify your homes. Try to be inside before nightfall. And watch the shadows- they move when you're not looking."

"... I feel like I shouldn't be hearing this."

Everyone spun and saw Cara, halfway between the curtains- she'd arrived early as well, of course she had.

"Uh," Jim blinked, freezing briefly.

"We can explain," Toby said quickly.

Cara shook her head. "Please. I'm not an idiot, and I'm directly connected to Arcadia's paranormal population through my family." She stepped closer and joined them, then pointed to each in turn. "Trollhunters. Umbramancer. Akiridion King. Wizard. I'm somewhat of a concealment connoisseur, a safekeeper of secrets, if you will. I know or know of virtually everything strange going on in Arcadia, be it magical, monstrous, or otherworldly." She frowned a little. "But this threat in the night is new. I don't like that I haven't heard about it." She shook her head. "I'll keep your secrets, like I have been- they're not mine to reveal, and I'm quite good at hiding paranormals. But I want you to keep me updated on this so I can prepare the rest of the- shall we say, oddballs, in the area."

The others looked at each other, eyebrows raising. A couple shrugs were passed around.

"That sounds fair," Jim said. He smiled a bit. "And it'll be nice not to be handling things alone, for once."

Cara smiled back. "Thank you. And I'll pass along anything odd I hear from anyone. My parents run a paranormal free clinic in their backyard- we keep days and times on the down-low to keep people safe, and then occasionally we get emergencies too. I gather quite a lot of intel that way."

"Like a secret spy network," Toby said with a grin.

Cara chuckled softly. "It's not secret to most of us. You guys have this weird gap between you and other paranormals- it hasn't served you well. But there are plenty of y'all here. There's upwards of 300 extraterrestrials and countless Earth oddity races- werefolk, banshees, elves, magic users, shapeshifters."

Douxie went wide eyed. "I had no idea. How did I have no idea?"

"Because most of them don't know about the apocalypses- apocalii? -in time to get tangled up in them and exposed," Cara shrugged.

"... fair enough," Douxie noted.

"So let me guess, Violet is secretly some sort of druid creature," Claire said dryly.

Cara smiled a little. "Well, no. But I don't think my friends would appreciate me revealing their secrets. Jessi and Kendra are on tech crew, though, so you could ask them and Violet yourselves what they are."

"None of your friends are human," Toby realized, eyes widening.

"No duh. Humans are boring," Cara smirked.

"Here here," Jim said dryly.

"Hey! You guys aren't that bad, or I wouldn't have stayed on Earth," Krel protested.

"Aw, we're 'not that bad', how touching," Cara laughed.

"Ballerinas!" The director called as other cast gathered backstage. "To your places!"

"Oop, that's us," Cara said to Claire, and the girls hurried to the stage.

"I'm not even surprised anymore," Jim admitted wryly.

"Who is?" Krel agreed. "I'll be going on soon, excuse me."

***

Douxie got home with Krel and Jim to find a slip of paper on the counter, Archie loafed nearby.

"What's this?" He asked as his roommates dispersed, talking, and Jim shooed Archie off the counter.

Archie hopped to Douxie's shoulder. "I made a house call to Victoria and got Irene's phone number for you."

Douxie wrinkled his nose at that. "But- she's a sorceress."

"Is that a problem-?" Krel asked, puzzled, looking at Jim.

"There's a very old rivalry between true sorcerers and wizards," Douxie said. "Sorcery is the harnessing of raw magic, bending its power by force of will. Wizardry is the harnessing of magic through precise spells and study. Their version of magic is brute force- barely magic at all, really. Like a temper tantrum compared to what I do."

"That doesn't change the fact we may need allies sooner than later," Archie noted quietly. "And Victoria has never mentioned any such lack of discipline from Irene. She has described sorcery as using willpower to turn the intent of the mind outward. Perhaps you ought to set aside your biases and..."

"- not with her," Douxie stated firmly. "I'll find other allies. The Hall family hated Merlin back in the day, and me by proxy. I don't want to be in their debt."

"Fine. But keep her number," Archie told Douxie firmly. "I want it saved into your phone in case something goes badly wrong."

"Again," Krel added flatly, and Jim got a very tired look in his eyes with a groan of agreement.

"Again," Archie agreed with a nod.

Douxie sighed and put the number in his phone. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you about that family."