The Strangler.

I awoke in the infirmary to the fervent tapping on Yue. No, she was slapping me.

"I'm awake. I'm awake." I groaned, "Undo the forcefield. They can't help you otherwise." Yue said, caressing my face.

Right. My forcefield only allowed Yue to get through. Even when the Beast pet my head, it was because I covered myself in a skintight forcefield. He didn't actually touch me. Just the forcefield.

But when I fell asleep, my control over the forcefield slipped and it went from a skintight defense into it's default state of an elliptical hamster ball that could make sure I survive a nuke.

"No need. The curse he applied was via Voodoo. There's no actual wound on my body. Just the curse."

"And what curse is this?" Henry asked.

"The Strangler, I think. He stabbed us with the Virgo Blade. It's this enchanted knife that sprouts vines from the point of impact that slowly spread across the body by feeding on the target's life force, till they strangle the heart and kill them. It's a Fillorian weapon. Quentin probably knows more about the weapon itself. I just know about the curse." I gestured at him. He was standing to the side, by Eliot's bed.

"Great news." Eliot clapped sarcastically, "Any solutions to this problem?"

"There was some way to deal with it. Jane Chatwin...s-she....uh sacrificed this plush toy that looked like her. Her mother gave it her and she carried it with her everywhere. So the curse accepted the toy as a substitute."

"Yup. But it won't just accept anything as a substitute. Let me show you."

I asked a nurse to bring a bowl.

"It needs to be something that you hold dear. That is worth as much to you as your life." I lit a magical fire in the bowl and pulled off a simple ring from my finger. It was made of bone, and littered with veins of iron in an intricate pattern.

My wedding band with Offee. Or a copy at least.

I could feel the roots digging into my gut, running through my veins causing excruciating pain as the curse progressed.

Immediately I shut off my pain receptors.

"This is my wedding band from my first wife. I wear it everywhere to remember her. To remember why I'm doing this." I said with emotion.

It was indeed a copy if my and Offee's wedding band. I had literally coded it into my immortality so it would always regenerate alongside me.

It was a precious reminder of the life I could have had. Just me, my wife and my children. Happily ever after on Naboo. The good days.

I reminisced and looked at the flames hesitantly. It was veing used for magic this time.

What if it doesn't regenerate?

I sighed.

Well, at the the original is with my true body, safe and sound.

No point worrying so much about it.

I tossed the ring into the fire and lifted up my shirt.

The ring cracked and the fire crackled as a phantom images of the vines burning up appeared in the flames.

On my stomach the vines retreated back into the point of impact and disappeared in wisps of smoke.

"And voila! The curse is gone." I demonstrated.

"I have so many questions." Eliot said.

"How did you know about this curse?"

"I did my research." I said.

"And where exactly did you do this research." Henry asked.

"You know, here and there." I deflected.

"I see." Henry just gave up.

But Eliot didn't.

"You knew he was the Beast, didn't you? Don't lie to me J. I know you knew."

Time for the time tested technique, my favourite bullshit no justu!

"I suspected. Especially after the rabbit sausages. When I went to Fillory, I saw them. Talking rabbits. I held them, noted their magic signature. So when I found one of those being grilled in Brakebills? On Earth? I was well within my rights to be suspicious." I explained, "And I poked around a bit, poking holes into his story to see how he would react."

"Hence those mind games." Eliot sighed, "And you couldn't tell me first why?"

"Because I saw the googoo eyes you were giving him. Tell me, honestly, if I told you that Mike was a monster from another world, would you have believed me? Or would you have gone up to him and confronted him about it like a lovelorn idiot, putting us all in danger?"

Eliot clicked his tongue.

"Fine. I guess you're right. I was blind. But that sweet ass...."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You're taking this rather well. I half expected you to try to punch me for something like this."

"Nah. I'm just all zonked out. Too out of my mind to care." Eliot said in a sedated haze, "And besides, that's Margo's job."

"What-Ow!" Margo punched me.

"What was that for? And weren't you in Ibiza? At Encanto Oculto?"

"I came back in a rush once I heard. Here." She handed Eliot a T-shirt.

On the front was a brown chocolate stain. Washed halfassedly and starched for some reason.

It was an old T-shirt, I could see.

Button down my ass.

This was the T-shirt he wore the day he killed Logan Kinear. This was the chocolate stained shirt that marked his first foray into magic. This was Eliot's trauma.

"This is the shirt I shirk all of my shame onto. This....." He grit his teeth, "This is the short I wore as I killed a boy. A bully. The day I discovered telekinesis. This is the shirt I wore when I.....when I betrayed my friend, to save myself. This is the shirt that hold my worst mistakes. And my greatest regrets. I carry it as a reminder of what I must live up to. What I must atone for." He said and dropped it into the fire, releasing hinself from the curse as tears flowed down his cheeks and Margo rushed to comfort him.

"You know....I just said all that exposition to show you how significant it has to be." I giggled, "You don't actually need to confess anything for the spell to work."

Eliot gave me a deadpan look, wiping his tears.

"And you couldn't have told me this a minute earlier?"

"Nope. You were having a moment there and where would be the fun in ruining that?" I said with a smug grin and Eliot threw a bandage roll at my head, groaning in frustration as I laughed.

"If we have had our laughs, and the problem is resolved, I'd suggest vacating the beds. Other patients need them too." Lipson said, curtly.

"Oh, I'd hardly call this resolved." Margo stepped in, "Where's the cocksucker who did this? And can I kill him?"

"No. We have an expert working on the case a specialist. She's interrogating him as we speak." Henry informed us.

"Wait, is it...?" Henry nodded when he saw the expression on my face.

"Clean room?" I asked with urgency.

"Yes why-"

But before he could ask, I had already disappeared.

.

I apoeared in the Clean Room and instantly found Mike chocking the life out of Jane.

There we go.

I ran up to him and gave him a kick square across the jaw woth full force, sending him tumbling onto the floor.

"Sheesh. What did I tell you about you dying this time, huh?" I scokded Jane, helping her up to her feet.

"What were you thinking going into a room with him alone?"

"If a certain someone had been more forthcoming with the details of my doom, I wouldn't have ended up here anyway." She replied with her usual british passive aggressiveness.

I sighed.

"All well that ends well, I suppose." I walked over to Mike, sprawled on the floor and smiled.

"Any last words?" I asked, before immediately stomping his neck through, decapitating him with one move without giving him the chance to answer.

"On second thought, I don't care." I added, watching the light leave his eyes.

"Now then." I turned to Jane and extended a hand.

"Gimme."

She rolled her eyes and hesitantly handed over the Time Watch and the corresponding Time Key.

And then, she hadned me a small notebook too.

"What's this?" I flipped through it.

"See for yourself." She said with a smug smile.

It was full of formula and spell models. Charts and cosmic math. Mapped circumstances too.

It was like a primer for ....time magic.

A user manual for the Time Watch.

"Why go to this length?"

"I'm almost offended you think so lowly of me. I'm a woman of my word. I promised to give you the Watch. I kept my word. But if you are to use it, I'd rather you didn't dislodge our reality from time because of some stupid math error. Use it. And use it well. Or don't. It's none of my business anymore." She shrugged.

"That's awful cavalier of you." I chuckled.

"It is a great burden lifted off my shoulders. You don't know what it's like to be a 1000 year old witch who spent 900 of those years fighting her own brother over a primitive piece of land. I just want an out. Besides, I know you will kill the Beast. You are strong. Stronger than I could ever be." She smiled, and disappeared.

I grinned as I did the same and tucked the watch and key into my pockets.

That's one goal achieved. With time magic in my hand now, I have another weapon to wield against the gods. Especially Nameless, who's mentally a child and doesn't have the mental capabilities of other better gods.

Besides, it has other uses. Ones that could be very productive in the right hands.

My hands.

Now, all that's left is to go to Fillory and kill the Beast and rob the world blind.

But that is some ways from here yet.

Maybe.... in the meantime, I can work on some other projects.

Conquering the rest of the seven dungeons.

Working on locating my true body.

Saving Wanda from the mirror dimension.

There were also projects Inhad stalled for a while.

Project Enkidu. To create an artificial god.

I can't proceed with that yet. Not without direct access to the Wellspring in full.

The underworld? Inaccessible.

But I have one more project I am working.

The creation of a fully functional Gamer style system. And a gullible idiot to beta test it.

I grinned.

If this pans out, maybe I will even create an alternative way to extract god seeds.

It remains to be seen.....

_________________

MC gets his shit together.

Jane gets saved.

Thanks for reading and see ya at 600 powerstones!

Bye~