Charles had heard the wizard's chanting of course. Edwin had been carefully peeling away at his warding, with the other pacing behind him keeping watch because there was no way they were letting this prat get the slip on them.
Until there was some sort of flash from one of the upper windows, and Charles felt a strange sort of tug as he too? Was suddenly elsewhere, deposited with no particular ceremony in some sort of circle.
"Oi! Honestly, wanker move innit?" His first assumption was that Edwin had been pulled with him- some sort of ghost trap? But the voice speaking up was unfamiliar even if the complaint was, Charles blinking as he realized he was stuck with a stranger. At least they looked as put out as he did, so this wasn't likely their plan.
And the wizard himself seemed just as bewildered, looking from Charles to Loki as if he's not sure what to make of this before he seemed to recognize the teen, pointing accusingly at him with an outraged look. "You're from the shop! That kid!"
Charles just scoffed, making a rude gesture as he offered a reassuring smile to the other in the circle with him. "Don't worry about him, he's a twat. Me and Edwin'll have you back to your fun in two shakes!"
Several things are happening at once, and they're all unusual enough that Loki is taking a few seconds to process them all. First, it's exceedingly weird for a summoning circle to pull two people in. Second, the entity sharing his space appears to be a teenager--though, perhaps not one who is currently alive.
"More than a little inconsiderate," he agrees with the ghostly youth, looking at him as if he's never seen anything like him before.
Third: their summoner not only recognizes the boy but seems annoyed to see him. From the shop? "I see you two have a history. I would hate to interfere with whatever discussion you're about to have. I could just see myself out?"
He knows better. Seems like Loki himself was the real target here, and while he's no hero, he's disinclined to just leave some kid in the lurch, even if said kid seems remarkably calm about all this.
"Although, actually, I'm curious to hear you out, now," he says to the wizard. "I'm not sure whether you're exceptionally powerful or exceptionally incompetent, having dragged two people into one spell."
It's alright Loki, it's a lot to deal with at once. And honestly, this isn't the first time Charles has been caught in some sort of trap or magic circle before!
"It was only supposed to summon you!" The wizard protested, looking from Loki to Charles as if the secret to why could be gleaned there before his gaze snapped to his book again, skimming over the ritual. "So I could bargain for a boon!"
"My vote's for incompetent," Charles replied easily, brows lifting at that complaint from the wizard, his gaze on Loki now curiously assessing. "A right git too- did you know he's been snatching homeless kids for his shitty immortality spells? S'what's got me and Edwin on him."
"Honestly, if you wanted a boon, trapping someone in a circle isn't usually the best way to make nice. Points for audacity, though."
And actually? He'd be willing to have the chat just on that basis. It takes some balls to summon a notoriously unreliable god to do your bidding. Unfortunately for the sorcerer, Loki's interest in being pleasant stops where harming random homeless children starts.
"Snatching as in catching and killing?" His gaze refocuses on Charles, and any mirth that was there before is gone.
Oh, did the other not like that? Charles wasn't sure what the man had been trying to summon, whether some Fae creature, spirit, or even demon, (that he had been trying to and succeeded in hooking a god hadn't yet occurred to him) it seemed that his fellow captive in the circle was as displeased with the idea of the wizard's extracurriculars as he was.
A sharp nod offered at the question, brows furrowing as he pointed out the amulet held tight in the man's off hand, pulsing with a sickly-feeling sort of energy and the strain of many spirits trying to find a way free. "Been killin' 'em and trappin' their spirits in that nasty bit of kit before Death could show up to help the poor mites move on."
Loki doesn't consider himself particularly ethical, but there are a few lines he doesn't care to cross. Dead children are one of them. Trapping the spirits of murdered children is even worse.
His gaze flicks across the room to where the amulet rests in the sorcerer's hand, then up to the man's face. "That's not how it works," he says quietly. "You can't sacrifice something that isn't yours to give. You may get someone who'll take it, but whatever they offer you back won't last."
"You might make it out of this with your soul intact if you back down now, and let those spirits go. Otherwise, there are entities with a greater sense of justice than me, and they will find you."
The temperature in the room around them is dropping, which is about the only magic Loki can pull off without finding a breach in the summoning circle. It could still be enough to rattle the man or make him drop the amulet, though.
Charles at least felt slightly better that whatever the man had been planning to try and convince his fellow captive in the circle to do? It seemed he wasn't likely to play along with the plot here if that response was any hint. And while he might be a ghost and thus can't typically feel things like temperature, the method of his own death, and the magic source of the chill here had it nipping at him too, even as the sorcerer's breath fogged the air. Which was only partly because of Loki, and partly because of the ghostly teen who prowled along the edges of the circle, dark eyes flicking intently over the runes etched into the floorboards.
"I'd listen to him, he's definitely got the right idea," Charles mused, glancing towards the wizard who was flipping pages with a more irritated air, masking whatever fright had him paling, had his pulse jumping along with a muscle along his jaw as the dropping temperature had hands shaking over vellum. "Whatever's willin' to trade for what you've got? Never ends well."
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Until there was some sort of flash from one of the upper windows, and Charles felt a strange sort of tug as he too? Was suddenly elsewhere, deposited with no particular ceremony in some sort of circle.
"Oi! Honestly, wanker move innit?" His first assumption was that Edwin had been pulled with him- some sort of ghost trap? But the voice speaking up was unfamiliar even if the complaint was, Charles blinking as he realized he was stuck with a stranger. At least they looked as put out as he did, so this wasn't likely their plan.
And the wizard himself seemed just as bewildered, looking from Charles to Loki as if he's not sure what to make of this before he seemed to recognize the teen, pointing accusingly at him with an outraged look. "You're from the shop! That kid!"
Charles just scoffed, making a rude gesture as he offered a reassuring smile to the other in the circle with him. "Don't worry about him, he's a twat. Me and Edwin'll have you back to your fun in two shakes!"
no subject
"More than a little inconsiderate," he agrees with the ghostly youth, looking at him as if he's never seen anything like him before.
Third: their summoner not only recognizes the boy but seems annoyed to see him. From the shop? "I see you two have a history. I would hate to interfere with whatever discussion you're about to have. I could just see myself out?"
He knows better. Seems like Loki himself was the real target here, and while he's no hero, he's disinclined to just leave some kid in the lurch, even if said kid seems remarkably calm about all this.
"Although, actually, I'm curious to hear you out, now," he says to the wizard. "I'm not sure whether you're exceptionally powerful or exceptionally incompetent, having dragged two people into one spell."
no subject
"It was only supposed to summon you!" The wizard protested, looking from Loki to Charles as if the secret to why could be gleaned there before his gaze snapped to his book again, skimming over the ritual. "So I could bargain for a boon!"
"My vote's for incompetent," Charles replied easily, brows lifting at that complaint from the wizard, his gaze on Loki now curiously assessing. "A right git too- did you know he's been snatching homeless kids for his shitty immortality spells? S'what's got me and Edwin on him."
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And actually? He'd be willing to have the chat just on that basis. It takes some balls to summon a notoriously unreliable god to do your bidding. Unfortunately for the sorcerer, Loki's interest in being pleasant stops where harming random homeless children starts.
"Snatching as in catching and killing?" His gaze refocuses on Charles, and any mirth that was there before is gone.
no subject
A sharp nod offered at the question, brows furrowing as he pointed out the amulet held tight in the man's off hand, pulsing with a sickly-feeling sort of energy and the strain of many spirits trying to find a way free. "Been killin' 'em and trappin' their spirits in that nasty bit of kit before Death could show up to help the poor mites move on."
no subject
His gaze flicks across the room to where the amulet rests in the sorcerer's hand, then up to the man's face. "That's not how it works," he says quietly. "You can't sacrifice something that isn't yours to give. You may get someone who'll take it, but whatever they offer you back won't last."
"You might make it out of this with your soul intact if you back down now, and let those spirits go. Otherwise, there are entities with a greater sense of justice than me, and they will find you."
The temperature in the room around them is dropping, which is about the only magic Loki can pull off without finding a breach in the summoning circle. It could still be enough to rattle the man or make him drop the amulet, though.
no subject
"I'd listen to him, he's definitely got the right idea," Charles mused, glancing towards the wizard who was flipping pages with a more irritated air, masking whatever fright had him paling, had his pulse jumping along with a muscle along his jaw as the dropping temperature had hands shaking over vellum. "Whatever's willin' to trade for what you've got? Never ends well."