World War III And A Con Artist

"They is the American government-" God started to say, but paused when he recognized some of the people that his brother had brought to their base of operations. He blinked, stared and tried to wrap his head around how both of them could still be alive and look virtually unchanged after so long. Could he really be looking at Hero and Aegeas?

Sam misinterpreted his awkward pause - they must have took it as a sign that he wanted them to finish the explanation. "There's a terrible war happening here," Sam said, their voice surprisingly solemn. "America's never faced a war this bad before. It's the first time a fight has really landed on its soil since it was created hundreds of years ago. And when wars get ugly, people get desperate. America wasn't prepared for this fight - their soldiers hadn't been in real battles for nearly a century."

Sam took a deep breath, then let it out as a heavy sigh.

"The government found out about me, and decided to use me to bring them people who were experienced with fighting. Before I had a chance to fight it, they had already hooked me up to one of their machines...And now I'm stuck like this, without a single ounce of my magic left in me."

"That government is full of idiots," Aegeas said, walking to the nearest table to slam his fist on it. "What makes them think I'd be willing to fight for a country that I didn't even know existed until five seconds ago?"

Taber looked around nervously. "You guys don't seem to like them, but, are any of them around?" he said. "I kinda don't want to go join another war."

Lucifer shook his head. "You're safe here," he promised, his voice quiet as he left the group and joined his brother and Sam. Sam had their hands curled into frustrated fists, and it was clear that they were trying to take their mind off of what had happened.

But Lucifer knew something like that would never be easy.

They had had the entire universe at their fingertips. The multiverses were their playground, and the magic of them were their sand - they could do whatever they wanted wherever, whenever and however they wanted to. Now they were confined to a fragile, human body, and they would never be able to return to how things were meant to be unless they were able to retrieve the magic that had been stolen.

"Okay?" Aegeas said. "So, are we going back home, or is there something we have to do first?"

Taber frowned as he saw Sam's expression and closed fists. He clearly wasn't comfortable with the whole losing all their magic thing, and Taber could at least sympathize over not having control of their own body. "But like, you remember me, right? So everything's not as bad as it could be, because it could've been two random and mean strangers." He walked around Sam and patted him in the shoulder. "We can make things better."

Lorcan was shocked to see that Sam looked like they were starting to tear up when Taber patted them on the shoulder. They bit their lip - hard - but the tears stubbornly continued to flow. "You don't even know who I am, Taber," they miserably said. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you right now..."

Taber laughed nervously. "Of course I remember you!" he said, setting both his hands on Sam's shoulders and looking them in the eyes. "You're from...that place, right? That place with...the other people?"

Sam started to let out a little laugh of their own, but it was quickly overtaken by a sob. "You don't know who I am, Taber," they said. "You don't-You don't have to pretend like you do."

Oh dear, he thought for sure that had been a good lie. What had he done wrong? At least he could be honest now; he always liked honesty a lot more, because it was simpler and usually made people feel better.

Taber embraced Sam from behind. "I don't," he said, looking down at Sam, "but you could tell me! I promise you that I'll believe you, because I think you're a good person, and so you have to be true when you say that you know me."

Another sob left them as they turned their head and looked up at Taber. Lorcan and Hero stood awkwardly to the side; it felt wrong to be intruding on this moment. Sam hurriedly glanced away and started looking at God with tear-filled eyes instead, scanning his face.

"I should tell him, r-right?" they asked.

God raised an eyebrow, and a brief noise left him - it sounded like a nervous, stressed laugh. "The last time I checked, you're the older and more powerful out of the two of us. What do you think you should do?"

Sam took a deep breath, glancing back over their shoulder at Taber.

"I'm Magic," they miserably said. "I'm the Personification of Magic, but now I don't even have a single ounce of magic left in me."

The wolf blinked, picking through his memories to figure out where he remembered Magic from. Then he screamed, wrapped his arms around Magic, and pulled them into a hug.

"It's you!" Taber said. "And you're not a boat! That's amazing!"

Hero and Lorcan had both opened their mouths to question what exactly Sam meant, but then Taber seemed to recognize them and made an incredibly strange comment about them being a boat. This gave them more questions, but they were cut off by Sam talking to Taber.

"I'm not a boat," they confirmed. A ghost of a smile danced across their lips, mixing with the look of growing pain on their face. "Uh, Taber? Could you, uh, let up on the hug a little? I'm not immortal anymore, and I think you might accidentally crack my ribs."

"Oh no!" Taber said, immediately setting Sam back down to the floor. He opted for a lighter, hopefully less painful hug. "Sorry, it's just so good to see you again! Except as a person this time!"

Aegeas, who'd been watching and shaking his head the whole time, piped up from behind Taber. "What's the story behind this?" Aegeas said. "It's not like I don't trust Taber, but I don't really see how somebody could be a boat."

"I don't know," God said, shrugging. Lucifer gave a quiet nod in agreement. "Magic didn't exactly tell us everything they were up to before this happened."

"I got myself stuck in a spaceship," Sam cheerfully said, returning the hug. Hero and Lorcan both stared. They knew what that was from Charlotte and Kartiel, but they hadn't realized they actually existed. "Since Taber remembers it as a boat, I doubt you'll know what it is. But just think of a metal boat that flies through space instead of going through water."

"I don't think that's possible," Aegeas said. "It's space, you can't just sail-"

Taber let go of Sam. Setting his hands on their shoulders, Taber crouched to look into their eyes. "How can we help?" he said, talking over Aegeas.

Magic sheepishly rubbed the back of their neck. "Well, you'd have to break into a top secret government compound," they said, casting a glance over in Lucifer and God's direction. "I was going to let them do that, since they're a little bit better at espionage than I am."