Here Ends Origins (Thank God)

In which Niall discovers some odd things.

"Hello, Dianne," said China. "Who's your friend?"
"I'm Niall." What? I couldn't help it! I did better than most guys. At least I didn't fall to my knees and declare myself unworthy, like some people I know.
Dianne facepalmed at me disobeying her advice so blatantly.
"Niall, come over here."
But get this: I DIDN'T. I didn't even want to.
China looked confused. So did Dianne. I was confused myself. Surely I should be going there, whether I wanted to or not?
"Niall, come here," China said, more insistently. I still didn't want to go.
Dianne was the first to speak for a long while. "Niall, what's the name on your birth certificate?"
I said that it was Niall. Turns out her suspicion was right, and my answer was wrong. My Grandfather is called Jack, but his mail is always adressed to John, and it's on his birth certificate. I thought it was just him. Turns out I'm a John too. So's Dad. Apparently it's a thing. Name your child whatever you want, but he'll be a John.
(OOC: This is awfully convenient, isn't it? =P
Who knew?
Not me. At least not at the time.
"Well," said China, pretending she hadn't just tried to control my mind, and trying to change the subject. "Why are you here, Dianne?"
"Niall here just found out, and we figured this would be the best place to get him to learn more about us."
China smiled at me, and I wanted to die. "Do you want to know about Elemental magic or Adept magic?"
"Both."
"Read the Encyclopedia Magicka, you can find it under "K"."
"Will do. Thank you."
"Thanks, China," said Dianne as we left the clearing.
"No problem!" China half-shouted after us. "Hang on to that one! He's a keeper!"
I felt the blood rush to my face. Apparently "Silence in the Library" doesn't apply if you own the place.
Dianne smacked me in the back of the head the second we were clear of China.
It hurt.

***

I read the Encyclopedia Magicka.
It was awful. I thought that it had a dumb, gimmicky name, and I was right. It was a kids book.
I found the guy that looked like Giles, and asked him where I could find more "in-depth" information, and, to my surprise, he pointed me towards a computer.
The computer had a program open on it called Tome, which looked suspiciously like a wiki. On the front page were several categories, but I hit Random Page, just to see what I'd get.
"Scholarly Magic," read the page, "is a discipline of magic which uses Adept Magic for non-physical purposes. There are three main categories:
Retension
Manipulation
Linguistics"
I clicked retension.
"Retensive Magic is a discipline of Scholarly Magic. Mages who specialise in Retensive Magic can remember details they read or see.
With training of the mind, these Mages can find it very easy to remember details, and can possess a pseudo-photographic memory.
With training of the body, they can gain some Adoptive Muscle Memory, although they cannot exceed the limitations of their own body."
Adoptive Muscle Memory is awesome. I knew about it even before I knew about magic, because I watch Heroes. AMM lets you see somebody do something, and then you can do it too.
Random Page had served me well.
I decided there and then I was going to specialise in Retensive Magic.
Look at me now.

The Library

Note: Last chapter ended just before Niall was given That Speech. This chapter starts just after a car journey to Dublin. Niall was still curious about magic after That Speech, and Finbar suggested they all drive up to see China.)

Chapter Five:

In which we meet China, and which is also in the first person, because it's more fun to write that way.

I stepped out of the car and my legs felt wobbly. You know when you've been sitting down for a few hours and then you forget how to walk? It was like that, but coupled with a strange nervousness. I had no real reason to be afraid, and I'm not entirely sure why I was frightened at all.
Looking back, I suppose it was because I was taking my first steps into a new world; one that I had only found out about on Friday.
I remember thinking that the building we pulled up outside was decidedly ordinary. The windows were cracked and dirty (where they were still present) and the walls were covered in graffiti, most of it profane. Finbar led us into the buildings foyer and up the disgusting staircase.
We walked up the stairs without stopping until we reached the third floor. Unlike the other floors, the level was clean, smelled nice, and actually had lighting. There was a door with the word "Library" written on a plaque.
Dianne stepped forward and knocked on the door, before turning around to face me. "Shut up. Once we get in, you say nothing."
I knew this was because of The Name Thing, but I wasn't dumb enough to tell anyone my name, not even my first name. Why did Dianne feel the need to give me such obvious advice?
The door opened, and a bespectacled guy who looked a lot like a middle-aged me (scary thought) but with Harry Potter glasses and a Rupert Giles suit. (PS, if you're reading this and you don't know who Giles is, shame on you.) He glanced at me and scowled at Finbar, but he smiled at Dianne. "Finbar, I'm afraid you'll have to stay outside, but you two can come in."
"Okey doke," said Finbar, unfazed by the almost-insult.
The man unlocked the door and let us through. I swear to God, I almost cried when I saw the inside.
Books.
So many books it hurt.
I could live there, I really could. Wall to wall bookshelves, wall to wall. I couldn't help staring.
There were people there, too. Most of them were reading, a few were perusing the shelves, and they all looked bookish and simultaneously odd.
My kind of people.
I was taking it all in, inhaling the musty smell of old tomes and following the man, when we came to a clearing in the librarianth. China stood there.
I'm not sure what I think of China. She's TOO perfect, you know? It seems like she can't be nearly all she's cracked up to be.
If she were all she's cracked up to be, she'd be a God.
At the time, I thought she was. I couldn't help myself. I stared. I remember Dianne tapping my chin, closing the mouth that I didn't know was open.

Huzzah!

In which your humble narrator takes time out of his busy Camp NaNo, and which is written in the third person because the same Narrator feels dumb writing in the third person, even though he's doing it now.



As I walked back to Dianne's house, I couldn't stop my mind from drifting back to the old American man who had helped me. Cassidy wasn't really one to "respect thine elders," but he'd walked away from me anyway. The man seemed to have an amazing authority, almost like mind control. I knew that it was dumb to think that, and entirely unrealistic, but I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

You may be wondering why I was walking back to Dianne's house in the first place. The reason was actually impossibly simple. I like Finbar. He's fun. And he makes awesome brownies. As I approached the house, I looked in through their front room window as I passed it, and guess what I saw. The old guy. Wondering what possible connection he could have to the Wrongs, I walked straight into the house, wihout ringing the doorbell. As I reached the sitting room door, however, I felt bad. I was actually being quite rude. These people were my friends, and I just barged into their home uninvited. In order to rectify my behaviour, I did knock on the sitting room door, although I didn't wait for a reply.

Upon entering the room, I was met with several different expressions. The Old Guy looked neutral, but nodded at me when I came in. Dianne looked surprised. Finbar grinned at me.

"T'Sup, Niall-dude?" he asked. "Hey, have you met Candy? He's solid."

"Yeah," I said. "We've met in passing."

Dianne seemed to cringe a little, although I didn't really know why at the time.

"So, Finbar," I asked, as casually as I could. "How do you know Candy?"

"Hmm? Oh, we both know Skul-man." I must have looked confused, because he added, "Y'know? Skulduggery Pleasant? The big SP? He of the epic hat?"

"Dad," said Dianne. "I haven't told Niall about Skulduggery. Or Valkyrie. Or Ghastly or Tanith or Kenspeckle."

"Oh," contiuned Finbar. "Okay then, I'll explain." Dianne was glaring at him, and I don't think that he noticed at all. "Skul-man is one of the coolest guys I know, living or dead. He's this awesome detective-type skeleton thing." I remember wondering whether or not they were serious, or joking, or drunk or high or whatever. Finbar was always a bit eccentric, but he'd never claimed to know a skeleton detective. "He's this super-powerful Elemental Mage, and his apprentice is about your age. She's an Elemental-Necromancer, she knows Dianne."

"Hold up," I said. "Did you say Necromancer? Like, death magic?" I read a lot of fantasy novels as a kid, so I was familiar with the terms.

"Damn it, Dad," said Dianne. "Now we've got to explain EVERYTHING!"

The old man spoke again. "You want me to make him forget?"

Dianne sighed. "No, Candy. He'd have found out sooner or later anyway."

so yeah...

As I'm sure you may have noticed, this has been quiet.

This is because I have GCSEs, and because I'm lazy.

I will probably edit this post into the next chapter, and I only made this post to tell you guys that it isn't dead...

Origins- Chapter Three- Finbar

Chapter Three
In which we meet Dianne's father, and Niall is left out.



Dianne and Niall were walking to her house. Niall was walking along, nose bloody, fiddling with his glasses, trying to fix them so that they wouldn’t sit crooked on his nose, and he was losing. Dianne was worried about Niall. He was a great guy, but he could be a little over-confident, and he often overstepped a line. He was proud, and that was his problem.

Eventually, they arrived at her house. Dianne invited Niall in, but he refused, saying he had to cook dinner. Dianne shrugged, said goodbye, and walked into her house. When she had closed the door, a pair of arms grabbed her from behind and lifted her up off of the ground. Dianne screamed in shock, and she immediately heard footsteps pounding outside. Niall threw open the door, and his eyes fell upon Dianne's attacker. Niall laughed.

"Finbar, you worry me sometimes," Niall said, shaking his head. He used to call Dianne's dad "Mr Wrong", but Finbar had said he hated it, so Niall stopped.

"T'Sup, Niall-dude," Finbar said, putting his daughter down.

"Not much. I just thought my best friend was being attacked."

Now it was Finbar's turn to laugh. "Sorry about that, man. I just wanted to surprise Dianne."

"I know, but next time, just get her a cake or whatever. See you later, Finbar," Niall said, before walking out the door.

Dianne looked at her Dad and beamed.

"I thought you weren't getting home until tomorrow," she said.

"I wasn't, like, meant to get off, but, y'know, I took the day off anyway."

"Oh. Cool. How's Sharon?" Finbar and Dianne's mother had separated, but Finbar was a great Dad, and he visited often.

"Y'know, she's great," Finbar confirmed. "She's still got her cult thing or whatever, and the kid, but it's cool."

"Mum's not home yet, but I think there's cold turkey sandwiches in the fridge," Dianne said, before walking into the kitchen to check, her Dad following.

"How's Niall doing?" Finbar asked. "Is he still, like, what's the word?, y'know... cool? No problems?"

"No problems," Dianne said, then hesitated. "Well, he got beaten up by Cassidy today."

"Hmm-Kay. That dude's annoying. Not Niall. Cassidy. Niall's solid," Finbar said. He had taken off his shoes and was examining his socks. "Say, Baby-girl, do my socks look like they're both there to you?"

Dianne turned around to check. Both socks were indeed present, so she nodded at Finbar.

"Oh, Dianne?" Finbar said questioningly. "Is it cool if we have a guest this evening? He's like, one of the Sanctuary dudes, but I knew him before he sold his soul to those bureaucrats, and he's sound."

"Wait, so, you invited a guy over, on a day you weren't even meant to be here?"

Finbar had taken off his socks, and was now counting his toes to see if they were all there. He looked up from his accounting. "Pretty much," he said apologetically.

Dianne sighed. Her Mum wouldn't be home until at least ten PM, and that meant she's have to make the dinner. The only things Finbar could make were Pancakes and Brownies. (Admittedly, they were both excellent.)

"What do you want me to make?" Dianne asked.

Finbar looked up hopefully. "Brownies?" he questioned.


*****

The guest arrived at around eight o'clock, which was fine for Dianne. She'd told Finbar to mind the meal she'd prepared, and he'd let it burn. If it had been anyone else, Dianne would have been mad, but her Dad just shrugged it off in his goofy, easy-going way, and declared they would have pizza. She laid the table all the same, with cutlery laid out perfectly. Dianne's face must have been hilarious to see when she opened the door to let the guest in and saw the old man that had helped Niall out that afternoon.

"Hello, Dianne. Finbar's told me a lot about you," the American said in a kindly voice.

Finbar poked his head around the corner. "Candy-dude!" he exclaimed, before walking up to the man and hugging him tightly. Candy's discomfort was plain to see by his expression. "Come in, man, come in."

Candy reluctantly entered, and before Dianne could close the door after him, a brown cat jumped into the house.

Origins- Chapter Two- Safety

Chapter Two

In which a familiar face reappears, and the Narrator uses the word "Lorgnette"

Niall wasn’t doing very well. Cassidy was going to town on his face, and he couldn’t really see anything but two flesh-coloured blobs flying into his nose. He tried to get Cassidy off of him, but the thug was built like a grizzly bear, so he couldn’t really do much. He scrabbled around for a while, and eventually managed to weasel his way out from under Cassidy and locate his glasses. Although he would never be able to wear them as normal, he held the frame tightly and brought the lens up to his eye like a lorgnette. Although he would never be able to win in a physical fight, he could at least see.

With his newly acquired vision, he looked around to locate Dianne. Once he had found her, he gestured frantically for her to go, and jumped out of the way of an incoming punch. Dianne mouthed, “I’ll go get help,” but Niall didn’t want to make a fuss. Before he could stop her, Dianne ran out of the school gates.

“Fight me like a man!” Cassidy shouted, now annoyed that he couldn’t hit Niall.

“I’d really rather not, if that’s okay with you…”

They “fought” for another few moments, Cassidy swinging at Niall, and occasionally hitting him, and Niall trying his very best to avoid being beaten to a pulp. After a short while, Dianne came back, practically dragging a man over to them. The man looked to be in his late fifties to early sixties, and he wore a long black duster, with an odd cowboy-style hat. There appeared to be a cat following the man, but that would be absurd.

“You there, the big guy. Yes, you. I’d advise you to stop what you’re doing right now,” Cassidy said, in a thick southern drawl, his bristly beard quivering as he spoke. “I don’t like bullies.”

Cassidy snorted derisively. “You gonna make me?” He asked, a little too confidently.

“Well okay then,” Cassidy replied, more confidently than Cassidy had been. Slowly, Cassidy began to back away, with a confused look on his face. He turned, equally slowly, and just as bemused-looking, before walking into the school building.

“What did you just do?” Niall asked in awe.

“I think I just made your friend go and tell the headmaster about what he’s been doing. That’s what I did,” With that, the man turned around, and walked out of the school gates. Niall was almost positive the cat was following him.

“Where did you find that guy?” Niall asked Dianne.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “He was the first person I saw. He said he was a police officer, but his badge said “Candy” on it, so it was probably a fake.”

“Well, he sure was helpful,” said Niall, watching the man walk until he turned a corner and was lost from Niall’s impaired sight.

“Um, Niall? Do you want to go get more tape?” Dianne questioned.

“I think that’s probably wise.”

* * * * *

Later that night, Niall had trouble sleeping. The benevolent stranger had seemed to have amazing authority, and Niall wanted to know why. He had stayed up late on the laptop, looking up assertiveness and mind control, but none of those things seemed to fit in with what the man had done. Niall resolved to find out more about him when the morning came. He eventually dozed off, still wearing his glasses, a book on hypnosis lying open on his chest.

Origins- Chapter 1- School

Chapter One:
In Which We Are Introduced to Niall and Dianne




Niall held the two sections of his glasses in his hands, whilst his friend Dianne went into the Art room to get some tape. When she emerged from the classroom holding a roll of Sellotape, he immediately used it to stick his glasses back together.

"Man, you should really stop picking on the bullies," said Dianne.

"He deserved it, and I only insulted his parentage and his mother's occupation..."

"You said his father was a gorilla and his mother was-"

"I know what I said, and it was undeniably hilarious."

"Yeah, I guess it was," Dianne conceded. "Was it worth breaking your glasses for?"

"For sure," Niall grinned.

"Well, it's three thirty now, so we should probably leave school..."

"I guess you're right."

Niall and Dianne walked out of the school, Niall thinking of comebacks that would have been funnier, and Dianne worrying for his health. She started to worry a lot more once she saw the bully Niall had insulted waiting for them. Simon Cassidy fancied himself as a hardass, and to most people, he was. He was about six foot five, and his shaven head made him look like a henchman in a Bond movie. Niall despised bullies, and Cassidy threw his weight around more than anyone else in the school. Niall, however, had found a chink in the bully's armour. The bully was an idiot, and Niall knew it.

"Hey, Four Eyes!" shouted the thug.

"Cassidy, nobody over the age of eight says 'Four Eyes' anymore. Next time, try this one: 'Hey, I love your glasses, they cover up part of your face.' Use that one, it's funnier," Niall said without stopping.

The thug's face contorted in confusion. "You makin' fun o' me?"

"Indeed I am, why?"

Cassidy's face contorted again, this time in anger. "You think you're so big, don't you?" he asked.

"No, I'm about average height. You're big. I'm just smart."

Cassidy was dumb, but he was smart enough to know when a line had been crossed. He squared up to Niall
menacingly. "You wanta fight me?"

"No, Cassidy, but if I were going to fight you, I'd go for the eyes, groin and soft tissues, so I'd probably win."

"Niall, you're pushing your luck," Dianne said, tugging Niall's sleeve.

Niall turned to leave, but Cassidy shouted at him. Niall started to walk away with Dianne, but Cassidy was ready to go.

"Nerd boy, come back here!" Cassidy was visibly upset that he wouldn't be getting his fight, but Niall continued to walk on.

"If I can't get you, I'll get the girl!"

That made Niall turn. "What was that?"

"I said, 'I'll get the girl'," said Cassidy, pleased to have drawn a reaction.

"No you won't," said Niall in retort, before squaring up to Cassidy. "Remember what I said about soft tissue? Look forward to that."

"Niall, you don't have to do this," Dianne whispered.

"I kind of do," Niall replied, before turning to Cassidy. "Ready when you are."

Cassidy's fist slammed into Niall's face and his glasses broke again.

"Goddammit, now I can't see! You win."

Cassidy smirked. "This isn't over yet."

The punch came so hard and so fast, Niall felt like he'd kissed a moving train.