James let out a soft squee of adoration and pet Damascus’s head affectionately. Damascus was so soft! “How long are you gonna stay like a duck for? Til your next turn?”
Edward was still having trouble getting over the fact that his brother was now a duckling and talking and sitting on James's shoulder like he was some sort of parrot, so he tried his best to avoid looking in Damascus's direction when he turned to James.
"I think it's your turn now," he said.
He hugged William close to his chest. The sooner Damascus was back to normal, the better!
Schadel thought for a moment, studying both James and the duck on his shoulder. She perked up the moment she came up with the perfect question; it would be really cool no matter how he answered! "James, do you have magic?" she asked. "Blanx told me all humans have magic, but they just don't all know that they can use it. And some of them need to think really hard before using it, since their genes are all funny."
She patted her chest.
"But they can do it eventually because it's written into their souls," she added. "I...I can't read souls that well yet, but Blanx says really experienced reapers can even tell someone's magic by looking at their soul! I can just tell if someone's human or not, because that's really easy."
"That's not true!" Engel said before James could answer. "People don't have magic, except really weird ones and maybe Jesus."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
James's eyes lit up with excitement at Schadel's question, but the light quickly died out at Engel's comment. He looked at Engel accusingly, though truthfully, he was just hurt.
"I don't know who Jesus is, but... magic isn't weird. I mean, my mommy says that you're not supposed to talk about it, but magic is okay! I think it's really cool. And Schadel's right. We all have it... inside. Or I mean," he paused, looking down at his hands with a doubtful hope. "I wish I did. That would be cool." But it wasn't like he could use it anyway. It would just get him in trouble.
"I don't think I have any magic. Or if I do, it's probably not a lot, otherwise, I would've figured it out by now."
"People definitely have magic!" Schadel protested, looking over in Engel's direction with disbelief written all across her face. "Blanx wouldn't have lied about that! He's really smart and knows everything about the world, and he definitely knows about humans. I haven't really met anyone with magic that isn't a grim reaper, but that's because I'm still getting a hang of acting like a human."
Edward glanced between Engel, James and Schadel. "I've never seen magic, and I'm a human."
Schadel gave him an almost angry look; she seemed offended that he hadn't taken her side. "That's because people have to hide their magic, just like I have to hide being a reaper," she informed him, wisely crossing her arms. "I think it's because humans can be really mean to people who are different. They'd scream at me and probably try to hurt me, but they'd actually end up killing magical humans - they'd even burn them at the stake as a witch!"
James pouted, and looked down into his lap. He gave duck!Damascus a few gentle pets. "I dunno," he said quietly. "It's still happening where I'm at. I dunno where you guys are from."
"Why would you burn someone for being a witch?" Engel asked, frowning. "Why would you burn anyone? Isn't it better to kill them more efficiently?"
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
James was petting Damascus continuously as he stared at the ground. "I think they kill 'em a lot of ways," he said softly. "I don't know why people are that terrible."
He considered this, beginning to realize that it wasn't because they were trying to kill them, but because they wanted suffering first. He looked down, his formerly jubilant demeanor becoming quite morose. "It's because people can be monsters, too."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Schadel gave a solemn nod in agreement. Edward knew he should be doing something similar, but he couldn't help but think of what James had said - he had mentioned them being from different places. They had established that Engel and Boris thought this was Prussia, and now Damascus thought it too because Boris said so, but he didn't really know where James could be from.
"James?" Edward hesitantly asked. "Where are you from?"
James's eyes lit up. "Oh! I'm from a farm! It's close to Hedgale. That's the closest town. My mum and papa own the farm! I'm learning how to help plant crops with my papa! I get to plant seeds, but one day I'll get to push the plow, when I'm big enough and strong enough like my pa."
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