Return of the Runebound Professor

“Not much, I’d imagine,” Moxie said, not looking even slightly taken aback. She just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You’re in my soul, demon. The Mind Meld potion isn’t dangerous for the first person who drinks it – it’s dangerous for the second. Do you really think I forgot you were bound with Noah? I wouldn’t have let either of you in here if I thought there was a chance of a fully powered demon just strolling into my mind.”

Azel’s grin didn’t flicker for an instant, but he tilted his head to the side. “That’s quite some confidence. Even if this isn’t my soul, do you really think I can’t do anything?”

Moxie gave Azel a flat stare. She snapped her fingers and his suit vanished, replaced by an ill-fitting pink dress covered with hand-drawn flowers. Azel looked down at himself, then pursed his lips. “Could you make the dress a bit shorter? I prefer to have a bit to jog the imagination, if you catch my drift.”

The forest around Moxie writhed, betraying her annoyance as she sent a flat stare at the Dmeon. “Go back to Noah’s body. There’s absolutely nothing you can do here. I’m in complete control.”

The dirt beneath Azel’s feet bulged and he staggered as vines wound out from it, wrapping around his legs and binding them in place. Azel pulled at his feet, but they were stuck fast. He let out a sigh.

“I thought you might have forgotten or assumed that it would have only pulled a single soul in, not both. This is rather annoying.”

“Even if I had, you literally announced your presence,” Moxie pointed out. “And who would possibly forget that there was a demon bound with Noah’s soul? That’s quite the assumption.”

Noah and Azel exchanged a glance. Azel opened his mouth, but Moxie snorted.

“Don’t say Noah. I’m more than aware of what he’s like. Too many things on his mind to deal with, so a few of the other ones get pushed to the side. That’s you, demon. An extra annoyance – and not one that I care to spend any more time with. Return, or sit here in boredom.”

“What if there was a third option?” Azel asked, his lips splitting apart into a small smile. His body rippled like a disturbed lake and he shifted, passing straight through the bindings around his feet and coming to stand beside Noah.

Moxie’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “That’s not possible.”

“You humans know so little about the soul.” Azel shook his head in mock disappointment. “You got the core parts right, though. I’ll admit it. I can’t do anything to you. This is indeed your soul, and my magic has very little power here. Me, on the other hand – I’m my own being. Well, I suppose I’m mostly my own being. Either way, you’ve got no control over my actual body.”

A vine sliced out from the treeline, carving straight into Azel’s neck and severing his head. The demon’s hand shot out, grabbing his head as it fell. Before blood could even start to pour from the wound, Azel stuck his head back on. He worked his lips, then scrunched his nose and gave Moxie another smile.

“You really are quite decisive, but that won’t change anything,” Azel said. He held a hand up, and the center of his palm shifted, transforming into the face of a clock. “Are you sure you want to keep playing with me? I don’t mind, but you’ve only got an hour on that Mind Meld potion, and that’s assuming it works the whole time. Tick tock, Moxie.”

Moxie pressed her lips together, then let out a heavy sigh. “Well, I can’t say I didn’t think something like this would happen. It’s damn annoying, though. Let’s go look for my Runes.”

She set off into the forest, and Noah jogged to catch up with her. Azel followed behind them, but to Noah’s surprise, he kept enough distance so that he wasn’t right up alongside them.

“I didn’t think that–” Noah started.

“I know,” Moxie said, giving him a wry smile. “It’s fine. I think I’ve spent enough time around you to have a pretty decent grasp on how you think. You tend to focus on one problem at a time and push all the others to the side. Your current problem was me, so the demon got forgotten.”

Noah opened his mouth, then cleared his throat. He hadn’t even really thought about that himself, but now that Moxie mentioned it, it was obvious.

I guess it’s easier to pick up on things about other people, but damn. It almost feels like she knows me better than I know myself.

“I don’t suppose you actually have a way to deal with him?” Noah asked, nodding over his shoulder at Azel, who was currently enraptured by a colorful, flower-covered vine.

“Unfortunately not. He’s a Rank 5 demon, Noah. There isn’t a whole lot I can do. And even if I could, there’s a good chance that would hurt you as well. Your souls are definitely bound, and I don’t want to kill you together with him.”

Noah huffed in annoyance. “Right. Well, he knows literally everything in my memories, but don’t listen to anything he says.”

Moxie shot Noah an amused glance. “I know I promised Lee to take things on a more case-by-case basis when it came to judging people, but he’s a demon. I’m not going to believe a word he says.”

Azel jogged to catch up to them. A branch snapped out, striking him so hard in the face that his skull crunched. The demon didn’t even miss a step. He just kept jogging, catching up to them as his face reformed.

“Talking about your good friend Amberly?” Azel asked. “It’s always nice to be appreciated, but I can’t help but feel like your focus is off. We’re looking for Runes, aren’t we?”

“Who the hell is Amberly?” Noah asked.

Azel sent him an offended look. “You forgot my name already?”

“Your name is Azel.”

“Nope. Amberly.”

“It’s a fake name, so it hardly matters,” Noah pointed out. “But you definitely said it was Azel. Are you trying to do the thing that Revin was doing to Eline? Because he was a lot better at it than you are.”

Azel looked taken aback. “He… was better than me? Impossible. I refuse to believe it.”

“How about you sit down over here and think on how you could be better?” Moxie suggested. “Noah and I will just keep looking for Runes. Nothing interesting.”

Vines curled out of the ground, forming into a chair behind Azel. The demon glanced down at it, then shrugged. He flopped back into the chair, kicking his legs up as a small stool rose beneath them, and put his hands behind his head. “Suits me. Enjoy yourselves.”

I can’t believe that worked.

Moxie didn’t wait for Azel to change his mind. She grabbed Noah’s hand and dragged him deeper into the forest. The trees quickly blocked their view of Azel out, and they were alone – or at least, as alone as they were going to get – once more.

“The faster we do this, the better,” Moxie said. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction they’d come, then grimaced. “Gah. I hate having that thing in my mind. It feels like someone’s trying to spy on me.”

“Probably because he is,” Noah said. “Let’s find your Runes, then. Which ones need replacing? Is it all of them?”

“Bleeding Forest is perfect, so I don’t need to do anything about that one. I’ve got two other perfect Runes, but the other four could use reworking. I made a lot of them before I really understood myself, so they ended up pretty poorly envisioned.”

“What Runes are they?” Noah asked idly as he pushed through a tree, squinting to see if he could make out the telltale glow of a Rune anywhere. He had to admit that, as beautiful as Moxie’s mind was, he preferred the ease of his own.

“Three Writhing Vine Runes, and one Cracked Flowering Seed.”

“The hell does Cracked Flowering Seed do?”

Moxie glanced to the side. “Makes flowers, mostly.”

“Should I ask why you have that?”

“It was based off the first Rune I formed,” Moxie muttered under her breath. “And I hadn’t been outside in a long time. I had really wanted to see some flowers. The final was supposed to be a Plant Growth Rune, but the bad Rune I had ruined the whole thing. I really should have ripped the bad Rank 1 Rune out at the start and dealt with the damage, but I couldn’t risk the setback.”

“That makes sense,” Noah said with a nod. “And you started when you were a kid, so I think we can give you a pass. Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to really just have Runes that you love rather than ones that you think are strong?”

Moxie looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “Not all of us are immortal, Noah.”

“That’s not what I meant. Magic is magic, you know? It’s not like having a flower made out of poisonous blades or something like that is going to be any less deadly than a vine. It’s just different. So, if you consider that, then I think you’d go farther pursuing what you really love rather than just doing what you think will make you the strongest. You might find that the two are one and the same.”

Moxie was silent for a few moments. “That’s only true when you don’t have to worry about a terrible combination.”

“Luckily, from here on out, you don’t,” Noah said, flicking Moxie in the shoulder. “I hope you’ve got some Runes in your grimoire that will let you shift these into something you really want. There’s no point for me to do this if you end up with another bottleneck at the next Rank because you can’t find the right Intent for your next combination.”

“Yeah,” Moxie said, her voice softer than it had been. “I guess you’re right. And I should have some Runes that will work. It’ll be a change of plans, but Intent is the biggest portion of this.”

No sooner than when she had finished speaking, the forest around them trembled. Noah tensed as the trees peeled back, forming a small clearing. A rune shimmered to life before them, glowing with gentle green energy.

Writhing Vine

Power washed out from the Rune with enough force to push Noah back a step. He didn’t have any full Rank 3 Runes himself, but it was still a good bit weaker than the Fragment of Renewal and Sunder. It was roughly the same intensity as Combustion.

“Well, would you look at that,” Noah said. “Found it.”

“You think?” Moxie rolled her eyes. “Okay. What do you need to do?”

“Touch it. Then you’ll have to get ready to work pretty quick. It’ll fall apart into the Rank 2 Runes that make it up, and you’ll need to work pretty quickly to bring in your new Runes, Imbue the unused ones into your Grimoire, and then combine them. The faster you work, the more energy you’ll be able to save from the original Writing Vine rune.”

“Understood,” Moxie said. She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m ready when you are. I’ll give you access to your Runes.”

Noah nodded, then took a step toward the Rune. He called on Sunder, feeling its cold ice flow through his veins. Reaching out, Noah placed his hands on the Rank 3 Rune.

And then he vanished.

Moxie froze, staring at where he’d been standing in shock. A stick crunched behind her as Azel stepped out of the forest, his hands crossed behind his back and a soft smile on his infernal features.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Azel said, coming to a stop across from her. “I wanted to speak with you alone. Noah is going to be occupied for a little while, so I thought now would be a good time.”

Moxie’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do? Why did Noah vanish?”

“Same soul, remember?” Azel asked, his lips curling upward. “If he’s got access to his Runes, then so do I. Oh, don’t worry – he won’t have any idea that we’re talking. He won’t even realize any time has passed.”

Moxie pressed her lips together. “What do you want?”

Azel’s grin grew wider. “I think the more accurate question should be: what do you want?”

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