Tests of Time

Tysco did a little dance around his room, listening to some jammin’ tunes with his headphones on while reading through one of his recent assignment papers for university. It was a considerably lengthy but thoroughly researched and appropriately cited document all the same; Tysco was known by family, close friends and academic peers as something of an academic genius regarding magic and mysticism, but that didn’t stop him from giving it his all— it was something he was deeply passionate about to be fair.

Through the aforementioned paper, he was currently observing the effects of a magical plant’s environment during growth and how different flows of mystic energy could alter the result. A very close friend of his had always shown great interest in plants, so Tysco took it upon himself to look into botany every chance he got in order to forward his findings to her. Having proofread his paper, he was about to let said friend know through a telepathic connection, but then…

For the first time in ages, he heard her voice in his head along with some other information. ’Morticia!!’ He excitedly chimed back with her name and a projection of what he was seeing unintentionally in return. Tysco stood there in silence, going over what Morticia had telepathically sent to him over a trillion times within a few seconds. Having reviewed it all, Tysco knew precisely what he needed to do next and it sure as shit wasn’t studying! He slowly turned off his music, morphed his head into that of a small bird while plucking his headphones from mid air and tossing them aside.

Tysco took a deep breath and then bolted out of his room, scurrying his way down the stairs while shape shifting rapidly in a state of jubilation, landing right on the ground floor in the form of a cyan blue and white spotted fuzzy multi-eyed squid-like entity.

Launching himself towards the kitchen, Tysco returned to his normal form and began rapidly making a packed lunch for himself, magically materializing a nice little carry bag from thin air to put the goodies in. What he failed to notice was his mother Béchaum was sitting at the nearby table with a cup of hot chocolate. “Oh, hello there Tysco dear what’s gotten you all energized all of a sudden?”

Béchaum was unprepared for her son to swivel on a dime and be absolutely beaming from ear to ear, and as she blinked in confusion, Tysco launched into an explanation. “Okay so you know Morticia, close friend one of my best friends, and how she had to quote unquite ‘move away’ but I always thought that was a bit wonky and suspicious, but I could still reach out to her with my magic powers and whatnot and always be there for her and she couldn’t really respond back but okay and this’ll really be something— she was just now able to, she said my name and everything and I think also gave me a visual on where she is so now I’m gonna go there and make sure shes okay and give her a big ol’ super hug okay bye!!!”

With that, Tysco dove out of one of the opened windows and started running down the street. Béchaum abruptly chugged her hot chocolate, magically materialized a second carry bag full of lunch and rushed over to the window in question, calling out to her son. “T-tysco, hang on dear, at least take this with you for her if she’s hungry?!” Béchaum tossed the carry bag in Tysco’s direction, who momentarily halted stretching out his arm as it morphed into the form of a giraffe’s long neck with a pelican’s beak at the end which he used to catch the second lunch before morphing back to normal. “I caught it!! Thanks mum!!” Bewildered, Béchaum simply waved to her son before going about her business. Her boy was eccentric that’s for sure, but it was one of many things people liked about him.

Tysco barreled down the footpath, long-jumping over roads he needed to cross, expertly avoiding people as he made his way outside of East City and off towards where he had surmised Morticia would be located, and sure enough he was correct in his estimation. “Cia, Cia, oh my gosh, hello, hello!” Tysco chirped in delight as he got to her side, reaching out to hold her hand. “I’m right here, as I promised to always be.”

Tysco was absolutely beaming, his face alight with happiness. Overjoyed to see Morticia again, he moved to support her as she tried her best to push herself off the ground. They had not seen each other for quite a while and Tysco long since understood that she would at least look different and to be fair she was quite pretty herself despite her current state. Furthermore, in his heart of hearts Tysco knew that she was still Morticia; the connection they shared and maintained confirmed this.

Gently holding her hand, Tysco noticed that Morticia began to tear up. Without even so much as a second thought he materialized a special handkerchief in his free hand and began to assist Morticia in wiping away the tears. “It’ll be alright, I’m right here for you—” Tysco was then promptly interrupted by Morticia pulling him into a hug. In some ways it surprised him but he instinctively reciprocated the wholesome gesture by hugging back with just as much energy. Besides, he did say that he would give her a big ol’ super hug didn’t he?

“... Yeah, I missed you too.” Tysco spoke softly, now shapeshifting part of his shoulder out through the collar of his shirt as an extra small appendage that could take over the job of wiping away Morticia’s tears with a newly conjured special handkerchief. “Just take your time, okay?” Tysco added, wanting to reassure Morticia that she could take all the time she needed to get everything in order. “I’ll be right here.”

Tysco smiled, it was comforting to hear Morticia straight up say that she could hear him when he reached out to her even though he knew that already since he could always feel something from her end in return. “You don’t need to apologise. Even if it was quiet, almost like it was far away, I still heard you. I knew you were there.” Tysco was of course keeping a note of what Morticia had said, it seemed as though his suspicions that something was not quite right ever since she and her family seemingly vanished were completely correct. What exactly happened? It was definitely a mystery to be solved, but the important thing right now was that Morticia was safe. “Don’t push yourself too much. We can talk through anything important later, okay?” He added, gently patting Morticia on the back.

After a while, Morticia moved to examine Tysco’s face, and the young man couldn’t help but laugh playfully. “Pshh, duh, but it isn’t like you’ve not done the same.” Tysco responded by booping Morticia’s nose with a finger. “Boop.” He smirked slightly, a light blush across his face. “Dashing, eh? Well, coming from a dazzling opal such as yourself? Must be fact.” Tysco confidently nodded, yes, nothing could convince him otherwise.

When Morticia stumbled on her words, Tysco placed a hand on her shoulder. “My mum? She’d be stunned to see you too.” He wanted to ask about Morticia’s family, but he felt that this was not the time. Tysco considered Morticia was in a state of drowsiness, similar to stasis sickness almost. “Again, no need to apologise. We can figure everything out once you’re properly rested—” Once again, Tysco was interrupted by Morticia’s excitement as she shook and rattled him around. For a laugh, Tysco rearranged his face into a comical mess like an abstract self portrait. “Overall? Pretty good!” He said, morphing back to normal. “As for the details—” Tysco brought out both lunch packs. “Would you like to have a picnic and catch up~?” He winked, conjuring a little picnic set, glancing over to Morticia. “We’re also gonna need to get you some nicer clothes... Do you mind if I materialize something better than those worn out duds for the meantime?”

Tysco snorted a laugh. Morticia’s reaction to her own wings wasn’t what he expected it to be. “Ah, so what if they’re small, they’re still yours, which makes them excellent.” He said confidently, nodding firmly.

“Yeah you heard me. Dazzling opal. So what if you cut your hair yourself, it’ll grow and you can get it cut right! Or, I could show you how to do this—” Tysco held his nose comically, which was obviously unnecessary for what he was about to do, he just wanted to be goofy. While he did that, his hair increased in length and volume to a point where it was thrice as long as he was then retracted to a point where it was barely three centimetres long then suddenly back to normal, after which he let go of his nose. “Can’t go wrong with a hairstyle if you can just shapeshift your hair, yanno.” Tysco smiled, Morticia needn’t worry about her outfit since Tysco could easily fix up something with his magic soon enough. He did of course take note of the gem on her forehead more now, definitely something that piqued his interest.

As far as his family was going, they were doing quite well, and it was a simple question for Tysco to answer. “Mum’s been great, Dad and my sister Mari too, she’s not a baby anymore! She’s wicked brainy though, so she’ll probably recognise you anyways.” Speaking of his magic though, Morticia easily noticed the growth of his skills even at small comical uses of his power. “It just comes to me naturally, I dunno what to really say.” He responded bashfully. “You can stay with us for a bit, nobody will mind at all, really!”

Tysco was simply happy to have this picnic too, it was nice to relax like this with close friends, that could count as a form of rest as well. “Feel free to have whatever you like from the picnic selection, but this bag here is for you specifically.” Tysco said, setting one of the lunch bags in front of Morticia, keeping the other one for himself. Morticia then showed Tysco a flyer, or what remained of one. Even at a moment’s glance, he knew the exact store where one could find this outfit and others like it— it was a place he actually frequented! “Oh, yo! I know the store this sort of stuff is from actually, I’ll show you sometime. But, for now—” Tysco’s eyes flashed with power as he brought his hands together. “— Wardro_ooo^oo^ooo_oobe Function!” Tysco quickly whipped his hands out to his sides and clapped incredibly quickly, though there was no loud slap to accompany it, simply a magical chime and Morticia’s chosen outfit would appear on her in place of what she was wearing moments ago. “That should do it!”

“Yeah see, now you’re getting it.” Tysco was happy that Morticia could look on the brighter side of things and attach positives to what she was presented with. So what if her wings were small? Who cares! So what if her hair was kinda messily cut? Who cares! As long as she was happy with herself, that was what mattered in the end. “Don’t you worry about shapeshifting, I can teach you some more funky tricks, you’ll get better at it than you ever were before— trust me!”

Tysco nodded when Morticia asked about his little sister. “Oh yeah, for sure, for sure.” He let out a laugh accompanied by a toothy grin of his own. “Seriously, she has an omega big-brain. If you think I’m smart, then just you wait. My sister is on a whole other level.” He spoke as if this was a hard truth, leaving little room for doubt or exaggeration in his tone.

“Yeah, It’ll be fine.” Though, Tysco did also want to check the area where Morticia’s house used to be more recently, there was a peculiar mystery there that was yet to be solved. Nobody had dared go near the house itself bar Tysco himself, it was as if everything in it, even its existence was abandoned by everyone possible except for those with enough of a metaphorical magical nose. He would make a note to talk to Morticia about this and any further findings at some other time when she was more put together and properly rested. “They’d be delighted to have you, trust me!”

Regarding the food though, Tysco shrugged. He had no idea if Morticia was actually hungry or not, it was his mother that tossed him the extra bag. “I didn’t! In fact I had no idea, mum just threw it to me so I took it, just in case. It was her call, her idea.” As for the contents of the bag, it would be various general lunch and picnic foods with a bit of a spooky theme. “See, she still does those bat shaped ham and cheese sandwiches.”

Proud of his magical conjuration being a smash hit and identical to the outfit on the flyer, Tysco did a little victory dance. “Awwww yisss. No worries, I’m glad to have gotten all the details right for you!” Morticia did have a question though. “It’s permanent, like a fully real thing! I figured out how to make permanent things ages ago. But, I think buying more setups from the store itself would be good instead of making extra copies, cuz it supports the business.”

“Not like I’d let anything do that now anyway, I’m not just some magical kid anymore—” Tysco said triumphantly, as he made an exaggerated flex with one of his arms. “I’m way strong and grown now!” He added with a big goofy smile. Well, he certainly still had a whole lot of energy!

“Right?!” Tysco kind of chuckled at Morticia’s reaction, she had a point too. Just how could someone be that massively smart? It had to be in the top ten questions science still can’t answer, but magic probably could. Tysco enlarged his head slightly with his shapeshifting abilities for comic effect. “I’m surprised her head doesn’t just look like this, to be honest.” He said before returning to normal.

“Of course I’m sure! Like I said, everyone would be delighted to have you!” He wouldn’t have bothered to offer otherwise after all. Tysco also noted that Morticia was reasonably curious about her old house, and while Tysco wanted to wait for her to be properly rested, he could at least mention that he could help out. “Well, I’ve checked a few times actually. Nobody has seemed to... I dunno, notice the place at all for some reason. There’s definitely something wonky going on, but I’m happy to investigate it with you after you’re settled.”

Tysco nodded sagely, mothers were incredibly powerful and practically unstoppable if they were also the right kind of person— Tysco’s mother was exactly that as far as he was concerned. “What we can agree on is that is a defining truth of the universe, like, just wow, yanno?” Morticia listed off a bunch of things to support this before a switch flipped, she was now concerned about schooling again. “Woah, woah, easy, easy.” Tysco held up a hand ready to help just in case Morticia actually started choking on a goofy little sandwich. “Look, hey, I can help you out with anything you’d need to catch up, my sister could too, it’ll be fun!” One way to make learning easier was to make it fun after all!

“For sure! The store has a lot of stuff that you’ll probably love, I feel like it’ll be a go-to place for your clothes.” There were other places Tysco wanted to show off but Morticia was particularly enthused by this one so it made sense to start there. Tysco patiently waited for Morticia to make additions to her outfit, and it happened to be make-up! Tysco grinned and cheered, extending upwards while becoming proportionately thinner as he did so. “Yo^oooooo!” He then instantly snapped back to normal. “That’s cool as! Could you try give me some makeup that matches my outfit?” Tysco asked, excitedly pointing to himself.

The truth of the matter was Tysco studied magic because he liked to, it was only natural to further his already prodigious skills, whether he was gifted or not. However, magic did certainly have its comedic uses too as he just showcased. So, he just continued with the bit. “See, that? Just one of the top ten things magic still can’t answer, to be honest.” Tysco jokes, shrugging slightly.

To his surprise, Morticia sounded less down about the mystery of her old house and more curious. As such, Tysco would be more willing to speak on what he had observed, mostly to just give a general rundown rather than fully go into it. It’d save them time later on when they tried to give it a look. “Kind of. If I had to guess, there is some sort of magic around it that bugs out people’s object permanence or perception. Only seems to have worked on the regular folks though, because I can see it just fine, and it isn’t even hard to look at. Like I said before, wonky. Feels a bit... Rushed as well. Reasonably potent, but rushed.” He theorized.

“You don’t gotta worry about it!” Tysco waved away Morticia’s concerns on tutoring her possibly being boring for him or his sister. “We’d love to help, for sure! Besides, we could learn something from teaching. Mari already tutors a few people some grades above her and she likes it.”

Staying patiently still, Tysco let Morticia work her magic, she had her own flair to the skill which deserved celebration and recognition. Tysco closed his eyes at Morticia’s request whenever she needed, or otherwise angled his face to make it easier for her. Soon enough, she was done. Morticia handed over a mirror, and Tysco grinned wide, delighted by what he saw. “Hahaaa!! Yeah!! Lets goooooo!!” He spun the mirror around on his index finger before handing it back to Morticia. “This is awesome! You could do some fantastic makeup tutorials I think. Do you reckon you can do this kind of thing manually— with stuff you buy from a store?”