5. Tock

The bus had felt spacious and I’d slept for part of the trip, but even so, it was nice to stand on solid ground again. The night air was cool, but comfortable, and the deluxe invitation of the setting made the evening feel young and full of possibility.

I thought we would be swarmed by bellhops and someone directing us to go inside, but instead, we were greeted by a fairy boy about as tall as my hand. He looked like someone had tried to draw a picture of the love child of Peter Pan and Timothee Chalamet. Only, they couldn’t draw very well, and instead, had just cobbled the little guy together from pieces of clipart.

His little wings buzzed as he flew up in front of us and waved to get our attention.

“Greetings, everyone,” he said in a deeper voice than I would have expected from such a tiny guy. Even if he didn’t look cute, at least he sounded that way. “My name is Tock, as in Tick Tock, and I will be your personal concierge for your stay here at the Palace.”

He swept into a deep bow.

“The first thing we need to do is validate your identification and get your team checked in. Once that is accomplished, we will unload anything you’ve brought with you and deliver it to your suite. Now, who would like to be first?”

“You can start here,” Sandy directed. “I’m the support leader for House Louisville, and I believe our reservations should be in order.”

Tock started to fly over, and then paused.

“Did you say you are House Louisville? As in—you are the team from the Houses?”

“Yes, indeed,” Sandy nodded. “Our participation was sudden and unexpected, so we went with the team name of House Louisville. Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no!” Tock quickly exclaimed. “It’s just that I didn’t expect to be partnered with such an infamous team. Please hold one moment while I see if you are to be reassigned.”

He froze in mid-air, and we all looked at each other in surprise.

‘Of course. He’s a shop friend,’ my Analytical Side noted. ‘That makes perfect sense as they probably wouldn’t have real flying pixies out here greeting people.’

‘You’re right,’ I agreed, ‘and that would explain why he looks like a badly drawn cartoon.’

Tock unfroze and gave us another deep bow.

“I apologize for the slight delay. I communicated with Central Command, and they indicated that I am to continue as your concierge. Apparently, this is my lucky day.”

Wait. Was he being sarcastic? Had he just thrown shade?

His expressions weren’t great, as all his moves were jerky, so it was hard to tell. It was sort of like watching a Netflix show with a bad internet connection.

“Might I inquire as to why we are infamous?” Sandy asked as she extended her wrist. Tock tapped her Bank Stamp as he replied.

“You’re the first team from the Houses to compete in several cycles. As you no doubt know, the Houses are terrible fighters, and their use of magic is positively ancient. Central Command was shocked to get your entry, and there has been a vigorous betting pool on whether you would show up or not.”

He froze again as he processed the information he’d received from Sandy.

“Well, at least we won’t be overestimated,” John joked.

“I don’t think there is any fear of that,” Sandy agreed.

Tock still hadn’t unfrozen, so we just stood there a minute, waiting for him to rejoin us.

“Thank you for your patience,” Tock said as his wings buzzed into motion. “Your reservation has been confirmed. Now I just need to register each of you and verify your support staff and your team members.”

“Of course,” Sandy said politely, stepping to the side. “Just out of curiosity, did you win any money from our arrival?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Tock said sadly. “I’m just a class E apparition, and I barely have enough power to sustain my own existence. I certainly don’t have enough resources to engage in frivolous wagers.”

John stepped forward and extended his wrist. Tock touched his Stamp and froze again. This time it was at least three minutes before he returned to us. I wasn’t in any hurry, and Annabeth and Tyler seemed fine, but Sandy was starting to fidget. I’m sure she felt responsible for the team, and she was anxious to make sure everything was alright.

“Thank you, John,” Tock bowed. “You and Sandy are registered as team support personnel. Once again, I apologize for the delay. We have a full Palace at the moment, and there are no spare resources to assist with later check-ins.”

Without prompting, Annabeth stepped forward to go next.

“I’m sorry you got stuck with us,” she said sympathetically. “I’m sure you didn’t expect to be attached to a team like ours.”

“Oh, my dear mage, please don’t misunderstand me,” Tock apologized quickly. “I’m excited to work with your team. I know you don’t have any hope of success in this tournament, but I’m thrilled to be with a team that has some level of notoriety.”

He paused with a sad look.

“It’s just that I was feeling bad that you had to work with me. You see, they only use class E apparitions after they have exhausted all their other support staff. This is your first time at the tournament, and you should have someone grander and more majestic. I truly want this event to be wonderful for you and for you to have the best time. Then you might go back and tell the others there is nothing to fear, and they might venture out into the sunlight as well. I know this all can seem overwhelming, but it is going to be okay. I promise.”

He gave us all a bright, but lopsided, smile.

“Anyway, I feel like an ambassador to an underserved portion of the supernatural community. I feel unprepared for such an honorable and yet delicate situation. I’m sure your customs are very different in your underground holes, so I pre-request your forgiveness for any unwitting offense I may give. I assure you, my only hope is to serve you well.”

“I’m sure you will do just fine!” Annabeth gave Tock her trademark happy smile. “We couldn’t ask for a more helpful or more dashing fairy such as yourself. I’m sure we will all get along very well.”

Her pink magic swirled around him, and Tock seemed to relax a bit. Her magic settled on him and was quickly absorbed.

“You feel wonderful!” he exclaimed and fluttered over to land on her hand. Then he took a deep breath and gazed up at her with dreamy eyes. “You smell like sunshine and honey.” Then he gave a sigh of pure contentment.

“Annabeth, I think you have a new friend,” Tyler noted.

“Well, good!” Annabeth replied, and she hummed at the little fairy on her hand like she was humming to one of her charms for Etsy. He loved it and soaked up her pink sparkles like a sponge soaking up water.

He even did a little happy dance, before he remembered he was there for business and touched her new Bank Stamp.

Once again, he froze. But this time, it was much shorter—about thirty seconds.

“I wasn’t aware we lived in a hole in the ground,” I remarked to Tyler.

“I wasn’t aware of that either,” he laughed. “I’m beginning to think the rest of the supernatural world has a distorted idea of what living in a House is like.”

“Yep,” I replied. “It seems like they think we’re part groundhog and part ancient relic. Let’s hope we really aren’t as outdated as they seem to think.”

“I’m sure you will do just fine.” Tyler gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

I would have said more except a huge bus pulled up next to us and started to unload. This wasn’t a mini rental bus like ours. Heck, no. This was a luxury Prevost, like the rock stars and the millionaires use when they travel. This wasn’t a rental either, as it had one of those fancy custom paint jobs. The bus looked like it was wrapped in vines with purple leaves and purple flowers. They had the words “Ivy League” on the side written in a script font, and under that was the phrase “Path of the Flowering Vine.”

There must have been about fifteen people on the bus, and it was easy to see they were all together, as they had matching uniforms—black with purple accents. Their team name was on the front and their last name on the back, sort of like a sports jersey. It was easy to see who the actual tournament players were, as they had large yellow stars by their names.

Unlike our arrival, they were immediately swarmed by bellhops and shop friends. Their luggage was unpacked and whisked away at top speed, while the shop friends greeted them with loud, boisterous voices. They must have been a special team because there was at least one friend for every two people, and these friends were all full-size people. They had tons of detail, and there wasn’t any freezing or delays with them.

“Thank you, Annabeth!” Tock said happily, then he froze for a moment. “I am looking forward to working with…” he froze again, “you,” he finished.

He looked over and saw the bus that had arrived and all the activity happening right beside us. He didn’t frown, but somehow, he didn’t look pleased.

“I am sorry but…” he froze again. “It looks like we will be further delayed. I will attempt…to do my best, but Ivy League is a top…team and seeing…to their comfort is the highest priority. I won’t have…many resources coming my way…until they are finished.”

He sounded frustrated and aggravated, and I could appreciate why. I’m sure it wasn’t fun seeing the higher level shop friends flaunting their size and status. He was obviously trying to do a good job, but now he was just being embarrassed.

‘Why don’t you see if you can provide a bit of power to the little fella?’ my Analytical Side suggested.

‘Will that work?’ I asked. ‘I think Tock is part of this establishment. If I start messing around with their shop friends, they might not be happy.’

‘I think Tock and our team are very low down on the list of their priorities,’ my Analytical Side replied. ‘If this Central Command cared about us in the slightest, they would have given Tock enough power to do his job. As it is, it may take us a while to get through our check in and orientation.

‘Plus,’ he scowled, ‘all this stopping and starting is driving me crazy.’

‘Okay,’ I mentally shrugged. ‘It’s worth a shot. If it doesn’t work, I’m sure it won’t hurt anything.’

I tapped Annabeth on the shoulder, and she stepped out of the way. I gave Tock my full attention, and that’s when I noticed the poor guy seemed slightly transparent. That made him seem even more like a badly drawn cartoon.

I knew a thing or two about cartoon characters, though, so when I reached out to connect with him, it felt familiar and easy. His basic form came into focus, and I could feel his magic as well as his connection to the Palace. I could also feel another connection going deep underground. This connection was much more permanent and seemed to be a link to his home, or wherever he came from.

His little form barely had any magic in it, and his connection to the Palace was only providing him with a trickle of power. No wonder he was stopping and starting all the time. He was like a cell phone with only five percent battery left. This was his version of extreme power saving mode.

“Oh, hello,” he said, surprised, as he briefly came back to life. He looked at me, and then Annabeth, and then back to me again. I guess from his point of view he’d been talking with Annabeth, and then suddenly, I’d appeared. He looked like he was going to apologize, but instead, froze again. This time I was touching him, and I could clearly see him run out of magic.

Most of my creations are about two inches tall. So Tock, at about six inches high, should have had a lot more magic than one of them. Instead, he had less magic than one of my first edition Miners. On top of that, the magic he had looked dirty. The colors were faded and mixed together in a messy gray sludge.

The only fresh magic I could see was the little bit of pink magic he’d absorbed from Annabeth. No wonder he’d gone all moon-eyed for her. She was the bright light in his otherwise crappy power source.

He was still frozen when I pushed some of my magic into his form. It wasn’t as easy as filling up one of my creations, but they were my soul fragments, so of course they were going to be easier. My magic flowed into what looked to be his core and mixed with Annabeth’s pink magic and the dirty sludge.

I thought that his core was interesting, as my creations didn’t have anything like that. They were more like a skin, and their entire interior could be filled with magic. The closest thing I had to a core was my Surfer Dudes. They were made up of individual cubes, like sand, so in a way, each cube was its own core.

Tock’s core wasn’t as powerful, but it did have one big advantage. It seemed like it could take any color or saturation of magic and work with it. It sucked up what I was offering, spun it around, and pushed it out to the rest of his construct.

For the first time, Tock really came alive. His surface filled in, and he became completely opaque. He woke up, and when he looked around, his movement seemed smoother. Even the colors of his clothes and skin seemed more vibrant.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “Wow! Wow! Wow!”

He looked down at himself in wonder.

“What happened? I feel like a fresh young lamb in spring time. I could prance and sing and play the day away. Wow!”

He patted himself down like he couldn’t believe his body was real. I’d filled him up with about as much magic as I would a Granny Godmother, and I’d planned on stopping, but he seemed so amazed and happy I decided to keep going.

Tock looked around in wonder, like he hadn’t seen the world before. Then he did a little happy dance on my hand. It was cute, and we all smiled as he shimmied and shook his money maker in pure joy.

Then he seemed to realize where all his new magic was coming from, and he suddenly looked alarmed.

“Oh! Young mage! You must stop!” he cried.

I quickly cut the flow of magic to a trickle. Was I hurting him somehow?

“Are you alright?” I asked anxiously.

“Me? I’m fine,” he replied. “I’m better than fine. I’m great! But it’s you I’m worried about. You can’t just give away magic like this.”

He peered at me intently.

“Your team is going to be competing in the tournament tomorrow. You need to be conserving your magic as much as possible. You’re going to need every scrap of magic you can find to just survive the first round, much less make a good showing.”

He gave my thumb a little pat-pat, like I was a dense child.

“I’m supposed to be taking care of you—not the other way around. I admit I wasn’t at my best, but there wasn’t any need for you to beggar yourself just to get me back into shape. I always accept a tip, of course, for good service, but this is extreme.”

It sounded like our little fairy was enjoying the magic he’d gotten, but he was proud too. He wasn’t going to accept anyone feeling sorry for him. He seemed to want to do a good job for us, and any magic he received he wanted to earn. I could work with that.

“I’m just taking care of our team,” I replied simply. “The Palace appears to be overloaded at the moment and can’t give you the power you require to do your job. We need you at your best so you can help us navigate this tournament. This is our first time, after all, and I’m sure you know lots of information that will be helpful to us.”

Tock fluttered his fairy wings and gazed down thoughtfully. He seemed conflicted, which made sense. On one hand, he had fresh magic and seemed to feel much better than before. On the other hand, he didn’t feel like he’d earned it.

The truth of the matter was that I did feel for him. There was obviously no way he could grow in power from the meager amount of magic he was getting from the Palace. If I had to guess, he was stuck at his level, and since he was only used for lower-end teams, there was probably no chance for him to provide enough service for him to get tipped to the next level.

Without something drastic happening for Tock, he was stuck where he was at. Maybe I was reading too much into this, but I felt empathy for him, and a little anger at the system that kept him there.

I hated being stuck. I always wanted to feel that there was some way out—some way to improve myself. That’s why I loved how versatile my magic was. It wasn”t the most powerful or the flashiest, but if I had enough time, I could use it to figure my way out of any situation.

“Just consider this a downpayment on the services you will provide us. In exchange, I would appreciate it if you would look out for our team and provide us with any information you feel we should know in order to win. After all, we’re so new at this, we might not even know what to ask you.”

He still looked conflicted for a moment, but then he bowed deeply. His movements were so much smoother now.

“I will be more than happy to do as you ask. I will do everything I can to make sure you are as well-informed as possible.”

He bowed again, but this time he looked hesitant.

“I know that there is a saying that knowledge is power; however, I feel I have to point out that there is only so much I can do.”

He danced from foot to foot and looked to Annabeth for support. She gave him an encouraging smile.

“From the notes I have on your team, it seems like you are only starting out with two contestants. And both of those contestants are first-year mages. I want to do the very best for you, and I will do everything in my power to give you an edge in the quests. I’m just afraid it won’t be anywhere near enough support for your team to win.”

He hurried on quickly, like he was afraid I’d get mad at him or something.

“I can tell you right now that the top teams get more information and resources. Sometimes they get a heads up on what the quests will be so they can prepare. Sometimes they get an even bigger boost, like maps of the quests and clues about the challenges. It isn’t fair, but they pay a lot more for top-tier service like that too. I’ll be listening for any rumors I think will be helpful, but I’m just not going to have access to the knowledge the top-tier teams get.”

“That is quite alright,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll do your best, and we’ll appreciate any help you can provide. Don’t worry about us doing well on the quests. I think you’ll discover we have more ability than you think.”

“It is as you say,” Tock replied tactfully. It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but at least it was a bit better than thinking we’d come out of a hole in the ground.

“Are you ready for me to check you in?” he asked.

I nodded, and he touched my Bank Stamp. This time he didn’t freeze at all. Instead, I saw his connection with the Palace light up briefly and then go quiet again. Apparently, just sending the data was fast and easy.

“Welcome to the Palace, Jason,” Tock buzzed happily, although he stayed on my hand. “From what I see, you and Annabeth are the only two contestants for your team. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” I replied, although I was getting distracted. As soon as Tock had touched my Bank Stamp, my Mark of the Deep Earth had woken up.

‘Magic? Stone?’ it asked.

Tock was going to say something else, but team Ivy League finished disembarking their bus, and they started walking past us, heading inside. Everyone seemed to be talking loudly, and it made for quite a racket. They did look sharp, though, with their matching uniforms, and all the team members seemed fit and powerful. That included the women, two of whom had yellow stars on their uniforms. One of them in particular had lots of powerful muscles, although she still managed to look graceful and feminine. The other one scowled at us and looked bitchy. It didn’t look like she was having a good day at all.

“If they are a top team, why are they just getting here now?” I asked.

That wasn’t an essential question, but the thought just popped out.

“They had a last-minute substitution for one of their team members,” Tock reported. “I’m sure that caused some of the delay. There are also rumors that there are more problems than just that. There has also been a betting pool on them—if they would show up or not. Unlike your team, however, most of the money was on their arrival.”

As they passed, Tock stared enviously at the full-size shop friends. They were completely focused on team Ivy League, though, and ignored everyone else. I couldn’t blame them, as they had a job to do. Still, a glance of support or a slight nod would have been nice.

‘Magic? Stone?’ my Mark of the Deep Earth spoke up again. This time it sounded louder and more excited. Tock was still on my hand, and I was still sending him a trickle of magic. I could feel the Deep Earth questing towards Tock’s link to the underground.

‘Stop that,’ I told it. ‘You don’t know what you’re getting into. Some things are private, and I’m sure Tock won’t appreciate you messing with him.’

The Deep Earth ignored me and continued reaching for Tock. It sent me a brief mental thought that nothing in the earth was private. That whole concept just didn’t exist. Things like heat, pressure, and connection, along with a whole other bunch of concepts flashed before me. I got the sense that connection and influence were some of the primary concepts in the underground world. Everything wanted to be as connected as possible and influence as much as it could. Not connecting seemed totally foreign to it.

Plus, it had a mandate to seek out parts of the earth with magic. My Mark was curious and excited to connect with a new magical stone, and I already knew it was going to ignore me just like Bermuda did when he wanted something.

“Are you, by any chance, based in stone somehow?” I asked Tock quickly.

“Why, yes,” Tock replied. “I’m old school, as the new apparitions say. My origin crafter made me out of a pebble from a stream by his mill. I was originally a simple shop friend, and my job was to alert him when his customers arrived. He had a bad habit of getting caught up in his projects and ignoring the rest of the world.”

“So you were like an old-fashioned doorbell?” I asked. Then I wished I hadn’t. That didn’t sound very glamorous, and I didn’t want to hurt Tock’s feelings.

“That’s exactly right,” Tock replied. The comparison didn’t seem to hurt his feelings at all. If anything, he sounded rather proud of how he’d started. “The master originally installed a clapper, but he gradually started ignoring that too. He was going to install a bell, but they were expensive back then, and he wanted to try his hand at making a shop friend anyway. I was his first shop friend, and he often said I was his favorite.”

‘Magic! Stone!’ My Mark was excited. If I didn’t move my hand and break the connection with Tock, then it was going to reach out and get all earthy-touchy-feely on him. I’m all for touching, and Tyler could certainly attest to that, but I still wasn’t sure if it was appropriate or not.

“Do you mind if my Mark of the Deep Earth connects with you?” I asked as quickly as possible. “I think it just wants to say ‘Hi’.”

“I don’t know what that is,” Tock said. “However, you have been very generous with my simple self. As long as I come to no harm, I am more than happy to greet whomever you wish.”

He started to bow, but the Mark of the Deep Earth had waited long enough, and it surged through my magic across the small distance between my hand and Tock’s core.

Tock snapped erect, and his eyes got really big. The Deep Earth didn’t stop there. It surged down the thread of Tock’s connection to the underground and pulled me with it. I got flashes of the space as we moved through it, and it seemed like the Palace extended underground as much as it rose into the air. I had an impression of layers of parking and kitchens and warehouses. There were luxury suites, servant quarters, and very cramped, almost slave quarters. I got a flash of what could only be a luxurious sex dungeon as well as some sort of torture room.

I zoomed into a space filled with runes and bundles of magic churning in the air. I only saw it for a moment, but it kind of reminded me of one of those high-end computer server rooms like you see in the movies. Next was a room with floor to ceiling display cases containing crystals and precious gems. All of them had a small image of a person floating above them, so I guessed these were the high-end shop friends. From there, I saw another room with floor to ceiling shelves with regular looking stones nicely labeled and laid out for viewing and access. At the back of the room, stuffed into a corner, were two cardboard boxes on the floor that had stones haphazardly thrown inside. The boxes looked old and rotten, and the sides had mostly fallen apart—allowing many of the stones to fall out.

The Deep Earth followed the link to one of the stones on the floor, and I felt that we had arrived. This smooth, flat stone was Tock’s home—the source of his power. It wasn’t that big, a little smaller than my palm, and I could have fit it into my pocket.

Actually, all the surrounding stones were about that size. Maybe that was the idea for apparitions like this? Maybe they were made with smaller stones so they were easy to carry around? I’d never seen anything like this before and I wanted to ask Tock a bunch of questions, but the Mark of the Deep Earth pulled me inside.

Just like when I’d connected with the rune stone back at Bitty’s shop, Tock’s stone woke up and came alive. Every part of it tried to glow with power and welcome us inside. I felt feelings of happiness, connection, awe, and a bit of sadness.

It was as if Lady Gaga had walked into a poor gay student’s apartment and her presence was blowing his mind. He’d probably wished he’d cleaned up, put on a fresh shirt, combed his hair, and had some of her music playing.

In this case, the stone and its magic were stumbling over themselves to let us know we were welcome and how happy it was that we were here. It also felt terribly embarrassed at how little power it had and how weak it felt.

The magic it had was just as dirty as Tock’s core, if not more so. More than that, it had a thick layer of crusty dead magic all over it.

Penny, Eggy, and the Mark of the Lagerel joined us. They all seemed furious.

‘Who is responsible for your upkeep?’ Penny demanded.

An image of Tock joined us, and he stammered out a reply.

‘I don’t know.’ He gestured at the space around him, which was dim, dingy, and clearly hadn’t had any sort of attention in a long time.

‘My original master took care of me, and I was with him for many years.’ I got an image of a gruff looking man that looked sort of Middle Eastern. I also got an image of Tock. Apparently, he’d been in the form of a bell with wings.

‘He traded me to a shepherd, and my new master was kind also.’ This guy looked Middle Eastern as well, and now Tock was in the shape of a small dog.

‘Those were my favorite years, as my new master would talk and sing to me. After all, it was just us under the stars, and there wasn’t anything else to do. He had some skill with magic, so he improved on my original design, and I still use most of his additions today.

‘Eventually, he outgrew the life of a shepherd and wanted to make his own charms. So I was traded again and again for a long time.’

Tock flashed through his forms, and he had certainly had a varied range of masters. He’d been a bird who kept a lookout for a thief and a compass for a sailor. He’d had multiple jobs selling items for shops and even had done a stint as a necklace in a brothel. It seemed like he was to sound the alarm and summon the madam if the client got rough.

It seemed like none of his new masters had really known how to care for him or had done anything to improve him other than to change his visible form. Finally, one of his masters had ended up here, where they had lost Tock to the Palace in a game of chance.

He’d been evaluated and ranked at class E. That was only one level above the most basic charm. The craftsman examiner had quickly thrown together his current form, decided he would be useful only as a backup concierge to the lowest level of guest, and tossed him into the box.

That was the last time Tock had been physically touched by a human or interacted with a craftsman in any form. Left to his own devices, Tock had learned what he needed from the other low-grade apparitions and started serving guests whenever he could. He’d gotten good at his job, and his guests had occasionally thought to tip him a bit of magic, but apparently, that wasn’t a common practice for shop friends. Plus, he only served low-level guests who didn’t have much magic to spare anyway.

When he’d been assigned to our team, he’d just figured we would be another in a long line of guests that used his services and moved on. I was a bit shocked that we’d seen so much of his personal history and heard his personal thoughts about us. But he was a piece of stone in the presence of the Deep Earth after all. When the images cleared, Tock was on his knees, face pressed to the floor and arms extended in supplication.

‘I am unworthy,’ he cried, and there was grief and longing in his voice. ‘I am unworthy of your sight. I am unworthy of your touch. I am unworthy of your presence. Please have mercy on me.’

‘You are unworthy,’ the Mark of the Deep Earth intoned, ‘but not through your own actions. You have been worthy before, and you will be worthy again. My Source is just and compassionate. He feels the intentions of magic. He feels the intentions of the Deep Earth. I will entreat with him on your behalf.’

Penny, Eggy, and both of my Marks turned to me, and I felt the weight of their regard. They were angry at the neglect shown to this apparition, and I could understand why. Eggy, especially, knew what it was like to be handed down from master to master with no concern for his well-being. Tock was covered with a thick layer of magical grime, just like Eggy had been when we’d met and he was still in his sword form.

I’d busted up the grime then, and I could bust it up now.

‘Go to work, team!’ I commanded them. ‘Let’s clean this place up.’

That’s all they needed to hear as they sprang into action.

Penny and Eggy took care of the magical crud on the outside. Penny used her spear and my magic to blast it off as if she were pressure washing a house. Eggy took out his sword and went after the bits that were so old they’d calcified on, like tartar on teeth.

The Mark of the Deep Earth took care of the stone and made it more stonelike. Honestly, I wasn’t sure exactly what it did, but in the end, it felt fresh and clean again.

I took care of the magic. I turned on the charm and invited it to join me and become part of my colors. I wasn’t ready to fully bond with another charm, and I could tell Tock wasn’t anything like Penny and Eggy, so I didn’t saturate it with my soul. Instead, I gave it just enough invitation to wake it up, and then mixed in some of my own fresh magic. That seemed to do the trick, and soon Tock’s magic was feeling vibrant and alive.

The Mark of the Lagerel didn’t do anything until we were all done. Then, once Tock was feeling brand new and fully alive, it coated the outside of the stone in a thick nutty layer—like a shell.

We were done, and Tock was now a hundred times better than he had been. But something still seemed missing.

‘Arise,’ the Mark of the Deep Earth commanded, and Tock sprang to his feet. His eyes were wide with wonder, and his mouth opened like he was going to say something, but nothing came out. I think he was too overwhelmed to say anything.

‘Now, receive your blessing.’ They all turned to look at me.

‘I can bless things?’ I asked while my brain tried to catch up.

That seemed crazy. The pope blessed stuff. I think witches and druids blessed things too. But I was no pope—or druid.

‘You are a god,’ the Mark of the Lagerel spoke up first. ‘Of course you can confer a blessing. Humans and other supernaturals can also bless, but they can only do it in the name of a god. You are the source of blessings, and in this case, we have all agreed it is appropriate.’

Wow. I could bless things. Cool!

‘What, exactly, does a blessing do?’ I asked. I liked Tock, but we’d just met, and I was pretty sure I couldn’t take him with me. I didn’t want to do something drastic by accident, and then have to leave him behind.

‘A blessing is like a nudge,’ Eggy spoke up. ‘It whispers in the ear of power and bends the path of fate. I’ve seen blessings in action, and they are subtle in their execution. Think of them like making someone lucky in some particular way.’

I gave Eggy a nod, because what he’d said was downright poetic. And it conveyed the idea of a blessing very clearly. Now, what did I want for Tock?

‘I bless you, Tock, to continue to grow into your potential. May you grow in power, and use that power well. May you grow in knowledge, and use that knowledge well. May you serve beyond what you know you are capable of, and may you be rewarded and acknowledged for that service. Most of all, I bless you with happiness and fulfillment.’

I paused to see if I needed to add anything more, but that seemed to cover it. I wasn’t sure how to end this little ceremony, but it felt like it needed something. Priests made the sign of the cross, but that was a totally different God and I didn’t want the big J mad at me. I needed something like that, though. Maybe I could wave my hand around in the air? Or come up with some sort of gay hand sign?

‘Might I suggest a llama kiss?’ my Analytical Side spoke up. ‘If you’re blessing someone, you’re saying they are special to you and you only wish the best for them. You’ve been llama kissed a lot already because of your god abilities, so it all sort of ties together.’

‘That is an excellent idea!’ I said gratefully and gave him a big wet llama greeting to get warmed up.

‘Ugh,’ he said as he wiped off his lips. ‘Maybe go a little less wet on the smooches.’

I just winked at him and focused back on Tock again. I stepped forward, clasped both his shoulders in my hands, and then kissed his left cheek and his right cheek. Finally, I planted a warm smooch right on his blocky lips.

I’d felt like the blessing had been mostly symbolic and a nice way to end this moment, so it was a bit of a surprise when I felt the blessing fall into place. It sort of snapped to him, like it was magnetic.

I also felt a bit weaker. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was noticeable. It wasn’t like I’d lost magic, either. It was something else.

‘What happened?’ I asked my Analytical Side.

‘I don’t know,’he replied as he looked around. ‘Physically, nothing has changed. Magically, you seem fine too. You’re mostly full of power, and your magic colors are normal. You aren’t imagining things, though. Something happened.

‘For now, though, you need to finish up here and get back to the group. I’m sure they are wondering what’s going on, and Tyler still needs to get checked in.’

I nodded in agreement and looked around one more time. Tock was different, of course, as he’d just gotten a wash and a refill. My Marks seemed the same, and so did my charms.

I was excited about having a new ability, but at the same time, I needed to be careful how I used it. For a moment there, I”d thought maybe I could bless everything. I could have blessed shoes of comfort and speed. My pillows would be blessed for blissful sleep, and my sheets for manly loving.

Actually, scratch the sheets. Tyler was a blessing all on his own. He didn’t need any help.

I almost got sidetracked thinking about all the things I would bless, but I stopped myself in time. I could fantasize about that later. For now, I needed to finish up here and get back.

There was one thing that bugged me, and I fixed it without really thinking about it. Tock’s form was terrible. He was supposed to be a cute fairy boy, but instead, he looked like a coke can with legs. I get that he was more Pinocchio than real boy, but at least Pinocchio had looked good.

I’d gazed at guys since before puberty, so I knew how they should look. Plus, I’d already had a lot of experience making my own creations and making sure they had lots of detail, so reforming Tock in his place of power felt easy and effortless.

I started with his waist—pulling it in until it was proportional with his shoulders. When I did that, it highlighted the fact that his legs were too long and his arms were too short. If I ever met the craftsman at the Palace who’d done this to Tock, I was going to punch him in the face.

It was like Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

Regardless, it only took a moment to fix his proportions. I added in some muscles, but not too much. He was supposed to be a fairy, not He-Man. I made sure his butt looked good, though. All fairies should have great butts.

His whole head was blocky as hell, so I just started sculpting and threw together something that looked cute and fairy-like. When I was done, I realized I’d made him look a lot more like Timothee Chalamet than Peter Pan. Timothee is cute, so I could work with that.

I refined his outfit a bit more, giving it more of a cascading leaf kind of look. His wings already looked like they were from a dragonfly, so I just enhanced them and gave them a lot more detail. It felt easy, as I’d just done this for my Bank Stamp.

Actually, the whole thing felt easy, and I put him together in less than a minute. There were a lot more details I could add, but I could always work on that later. At least now he was a lot better than he had been.

‘Are we done here?’ I asked and received agreement from all around. Well, except for Tock, who was still staring at himself in disbelief.

‘Tock! Are you ready?’ I asked and waved to get his attention.

‘Is this real?’ he asked.

‘I assure you, it’s real,’ I replied. ‘We are going to have a wonderful tournament together, and our team will be so much better because you’re helping us. Now, are you ready to go back?’

I thought Tock was going to throw himself on the ground and do another round of extreme bowing, but he pulled himself together and nodded. I gathered up my crew, and we shot back up the link to the surface.

I looked around and realized I must have been gone longer than I’d thought. The Ivy League bus had left, John and Tyler were cracking jokes, and Sandy was standing with Annabeth looking anxious.

“Good! You’re back,” Sandy exclaimed. Then Tock popped back into view. “Oh, wow! What happened to you?”

“I can scarcely believe my good fortune,” Tock replied to Sandy, but bowed deeply to me. “I have been touched by divine magic. I have heard of miracles happening to others, but I never imagined it would happen to me.”

“You look good,” John rumbled, and the others quickly agreed.

“Thank you,” Tock bowed multiple times to everyone. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am overwhelmed. I’m grateful. I’m alive in a way I have never been before. The enormity of my transformation is beyond my comprehension. I am verklempt.”

Tock was so overcome with emotion that he was speaking differently. I got questioning looks from everyone, as I’m sure they were wondering what happened. This was too public of a place to talk about it, though, so instead, they made a fuss of Tock and made him feel even better about what had happened.

Finally, Tock centered himself and gave us all a final bow.

“This humble one has taken up enough of your valuable time. Let us continue with your team check-in. I believe I still have one person to process.”

Tyler raised his hand and stepped forward. Tock tapped his Bank Stamp, and this time he didn’t freeze at all. I was watching closely, but there wasn’t even the tiniest of stutters.

“Wonderful! Thank you all for visiting the Palace. I hope your time with us will be filled with the best of adventures. Once again, my name is Tock, and I will be your concierge. If you need anything, anything at all, please ask. Now, first things first, let”s take care of your luggage.”

He snapped his new, perfectly-formed fingers, and a bellhop arrived and loaded our luggage onto a cart. We hadn’t brought that much, and it was quickly whisked away. Sandy settled up with our driver and gave him a tip that seemed to make him quite happy. After that, it was our turn to walk the red carpet into the Palace.