Ch. 38 Loose Ends

Myrddin walks into the cafeteria and sees the rows of tables. It's not his first time in here, but it will be the first time he will be eating in here.

After 3 hours he's been able to start coming to terms with what happened the previous night. But he's still a little messed up.

"Hello stranger"

Turning around, Myrddin sees Allison with a lunch tray in her hands. "I let you draw me and now we're strangers?"

"Yes" Allison rolls her eyes before looking at his face. "But actually, it's because I heard you disappear at lunch. Lydia never once saw you in here last year. And neither had anyone else really. And you look like shit, are you feeling alright?"

Myrddin slumps his left shoulder. "I'm fine. I just had a rough night. Is it really that easy to tell? And thanks, I think you're the first person to tell me I look like shit though"

"You look han- like you usually do. But you just give off a mood that screams distressed or something" Allison moves her head to get some hair out of her face. "So are you really joining us today?"

Myrddin nods. "Yeah, guess I'll be joining the 'popular kids' for lunch today"

Allison cracks a small grin. "C'mon Merlin, wizard of the lacrosse team. Join the round table~" She teases as she walks past him and leads the way.

Myrddin walks behind her and they find Lydia, Jackson, Danny, and a few other people sitting at a table. There are only two open seats. One next to Lydia and one across from Lydia. Jackson is to Lydia's right. Danny is across from Jackson with an empty seat to his right, in front of Lydia.

He walks around the table and sits down next to Danny while Allison sits next to Lydia. And he does ignore the glare Jackson silently gives.

"Hey Merlin, how's your day been?" Danny asks while moving his tray slightly over to get it out of Merlin's spot.

Myrddin sits down and gives a half smile. "It's getting better I guess"

Lydia interjects. "You definitely look better than this morning~"

Jackson wraps his left arm, the non injured arm, around Lydia. "What happened this morning" He bluntly asks, but in a demanding tone.

Lydia moves her index finger around on the back of Jackson's hand on her shoulder. "Oh, nothing much. He just caught Prada when she got out again. And he even gave me a ride to school~"

"W-" Jackson looks surprised for a second before he looks pissed again.

"Jackson. I understand you are competitive in lacrosse and academically. But let's leave that on the field and in the classroom? I'm not trying to steal Lydia from you, so take it down a notch please" Myrddin takes his lunch out but barely even feels like eating.

The table is silent for a few seconds.

"Yeah!" Danny puts his hand on Myrddin's shoulder. "Let's just get along! So are you ready for practice? I heard…"

Danny steers the conversation to various topics that everyone can agree on and get behind. Myrddin can understand why everyone basically likes Danny. He's a friendly and kind guy that tries to engage everyone.

——————

Myrddin is waiting in the gymnasium at the usual spot. He's sitting down against the wall and is waiting for Erica to come out of the locker room.

It takes a little longer than usual but she comes out in her slightly baggy gym clothes with her hair down and a little messy.

"Hi Erica…" Myrddin raises his left hand and gives a small wave. "… you doing alright?"

Erica looks paler than usual and she isn't walking very fast. "Y-yeah. I'm just feeling a little off today. How… how about yourself?"

He shrugs. "Not great. But I'm good enough. Kinda just wanting to take this class easy"

"Same…" Erica rubs her left knuckles with her right thumb. After a few seconds she asks: "How was your lunch today?"

"I ate with some friends today I guess. It was different, but not bad. I usually eat alone, old habits" Myrddin slowly stands up. "Do you eat at the cafeteria?"

"Y-yeah… But I've never seen you in the cafeteria at lunch…" Erica moves her feet closer together.

"I've found some secluded spots around the school. They don't force us to eat at the cafeteria" Myrddin rubs the back of his neck with both his hands.

"They don't?" Erica doesn't specifically know, but she's almost certain that they do require students to eat in the cafeteria.

"Technically I guess? But nobody has found or stopped me so…" He shrugs. "Did you want to eat together? Every now and then I mean. I'll probably eat with the people I ate with today once a week and some days I'll want to eat alone…"

Erica smiles. "Yes!" She blushes when she answers too fast. "I m-mean… every now and then would be nice"

Myrddin lowers his arms but keeps his hands on the back of his neck. "Sounds like a plan…"

They spend the majority of the rest of class going through the motions. Barely jogging for the first 5 minutes. And just passing a soccer ball to each other for the rest of class.

Myrddin walks with Erica to the practice field. "Hey Erica…"

"Myrddin?" Erica carries her bag over her shoulder and looks up at Myrddin who is looking at something that isn't there.

"If something… weird or unexplainable happens… will you let me know?" Myrddin doesn't want to get Erica involved just yet. He will eventually have to if he wants to heal her, but for now she can live her life like a normal teenager.

"Like… you becoming the 'Winter Cadet'?" Erica remembers how Myrddin explained his mom's reaction and she likes the Winter Cadet. It fits him.

"Yeah, things like that" Myrddin holds his helmet and stick in one hand. Getting Erica involved beyond healing her would be a death sentence. Even if he healed her epilepsy, her body would still be weak. She would feel better, but she would still be human. But he wants to make sure that she is safe in the meantime.

"I doubt… there will be things as weird or unexplainable like that… again" Erica kinda hopes it happens to her. Just kinda. But she's happy for Myrddin. "Are you ready? For practice I mean"

"As ready as I can be" Myrddin isn't sure how today's practice will go. Most likely first line will be working on actually working together as a team, but who knows what Bobby Finstock will have them do.

——————

Myrddin is in his room writing down some more magic notes. He thinks that he is close to being able to use 2 elements or magics together soon. But at the same time it feels so far away.

*Knock-Knock*

Myrddin knows that it's his sister. Mostly because his mom would have just walked in and knocked after. "It's open Gwen"

The door opens and his sister stands in the hallway in sweats, what she usually wears to bed every now and then.

"Did something bad happen?" She bluntly asks, with some hesitation.

Myrddin puts his pencil down. Already having moved a different notebook over his magic one. "Not really, why?"

Gwen looks her brother in his eyes. "Because you didn't seem right today at practice"

"I still made every goal like usual" Myrddin states.

"Yeah…" Gwen grabs her arms behind her back. "… but you didn't seem into it today. Like you had something else on your mind the entire time. And something bad. I've seen you when you aren't feeling well. And you never really frown…. But today you frowned a lot. Like right now"

Myrddin brings his right hand to his mouth and notices he is frowning. When he saw his sister, he couldn't stop himself from imagining the various ways that she can die. Torn apart by a we're wolf. Captured by goblins. Stomped to death by a minotaur. Drowned by a merman or siren. Dragged to hell by Cerberus. Her blood sucked dry by a vampire. Or turned to stone by a gorgon. "Just had a rough night yesterday. I'll be fine tomorrow"

"Are you sure? This doesn't look like something one nights rest can fix, or was caused by one night without rest…" Gwen pushes the issue a little.

"I'm sure. I just have to come to terms with a few things" Myrddin leans back in his chair.

Gwen gives a smile. "Isn't it a little early for a mid-life crisis?"

"Never too soon or too late for one of those" Myrddin jokes back, remembering how they used to act when they used to get along. "And it was just a reality check is all. Thanks for worrying about me. How are you feeling though?"

"Like I never wanna drink alcohol again" Gwen gives a small roll of her eyes. "But I'm feeling much better than Saturday…. That was horrible…"

"Yeah, looked like you were in a lot of pain that morning…" Myrddin remembers it very well. "How are you mentally doing after that though?"

Gwen drops her smile for a second. "Ok. I don't remember much from that night. But I'm looking for some better friends now…"

Myrddin doesn't respond but gives a brief nod.

They talk for a little bit longer before Gwen heads back to her room for the night.

The situation between the siblings is still a little tense, but they aren't pretending the other doesn't exist anymore.

——————

Thursday Night, 9pm:

"We're here! Now come out and tell us how you figured it out!" A guy shouts with another guy next to him lokking pissed but scared for his life.

Myrddin walks out from the entrance of the alley. "Why is it always drugs? If you are so scared of everyone finding out you shouldn't have done it to begin with"

Both guys immediately turn around and take a step back. Myrddin wasn't behind them directly, but he just appeared out of nowhere.

"I-It's you?! What the hell do y-you want?! We haven't done anything since Friday!" The first guy shouts.

Myrddin shrugs. "What did I tell you about lying to me again?" He looks uncaringly at Dave and Michael, the two guys who tried something with his drunk sister at the party.

"L-look man… we haven't even seen your sister since Friday" Dave defends themselves.

"What about Samantha? Kelly? Heather?" Myrddin takes a step forward with each name.

"How do you-!" Michael shouts but gets cut off. He and Dave don't move back. It's a 2v1 after all.

"I recently have come to hate certain crimes even more. Specifically ones that don't involve consent…" Myrddin takes some papers from his jackets inner pocket. "Now besides those 3 girls. I've also got a plethora of other crimes you two have committed. I was going to just hand these to the police and let them deal with you. But you made this personal when you went after my sister"

"Dave, let's get this guy. Teach him he shouldn't be overconfident" Michael taps Dave on his chest.

"But he knows! Not just about the smaller shit Michael, about everything!" Dave says harshly through gritted teeth.

"But there's no way he can know everything dumbass. He's just got a few bigger things we've done. So let's make sure he doesn't spill the beans" Michael does his best to not seem afraid. Just the things that Myrddin knows is enough to get him in a lake of trouble.

Murddin puts the papers away. "You'll find it much harder to keep me quiet than the other guys"

Michael closes the short distance with Dave not far behind him.

Myrddin simply moves to the side and kicks Michael's knee to the side which causes him to fall to the ground hard. And when Dave swings at him he grabs the fist and twists it hard.

"Agghhhh!" Dave shouts as he feels the pain from his twisted wrist. He does his best to stay on his feet.

"Do you know how many bones are in the human body?" Myrddin asks.

"W-wha?" Dave says while he tightly closes his eyes due to the pain.

"Wrong answer" Myrddin grabs the guy's pinky.

*Krrr-Shcluck!*

"AGGHHHHH!" Dave hasn't felt the pain of dislocating a finger before and he wishes he never had to find out.

"The right answer is 206 to 213. But maybe that was me expecting too much from you two" He brings Dave's hand forward and forces the guy onto his knees next to Michael who is moaning and groaning while holding his knee. "Now you know what happens if you get a question wrong or if you lie to me. So, now you know the rules and the punishment..

———

Dave and Michael tried to resist but Murddin easily subdued them with a kick to the diaphragm to keep them from being able to breath as they would want to. But he made sure to only hurt them enough to where they could still answer his questions.

By the 3rd finger Dave was talking like a broken dam. It actually took 2 fingers to make sure he stayed on topic and didn't waste time. They only had 30 minutes since the beginning of the interrogation, after all there was a curfew.

Michael was a bit resilient. But after showing him the various bones in the hand that are fragile, he came around.

Myrddin made sure the two idiots wouldn't be touching any girl anytime soon. Or anything for that matter. They won't even be able to wipe themselves for at least 6 weeks.

The information he got was just a bonus. These two were basically Jeff's replacements for the drug dealers in the next town over. It was like a hydra. He got rid of Jeff but two more sprung up. At this point he's going to sick the police on the criminals in the other town. No point in dealing with them personally. And with the information Dave and Michael will give the police he really won't have to do anything.

Myrddin hates threatening family members. But he technically isn't. He's just expressing what will happen to them if Dave and Michael don't do as he says. Their family will be shunned by the town a little bit when the town finds out that their son or brother was dealing drugs to the other kids in the school. Sure the families weren't at fault, but nobody is going to look at them the same.

Long story short. He got rid of the loose ends. Or they got rid of themselves technically after the drug dealers damaged their hands so bad. They did the 'honorable thing' and turned themselves in for the various things they have done.

Dave and Michael were loud, but nobody goes around this side of town after 8:45 on a normal day. So when there is a curfew there really wasn't anyone nearby. And Myrddin forced them to keep it down.

After he got home he felt much better. Not that he hurt them, but that they wouldn't be out there after the things they have done.

He wonders how Gwen will react when she hears about them going to the police. Myrddin isn't sure, but he hopes it helps her somehow.