Young Writers Society

James hummed in the back of his throat.

"Yes," he said in a neutral tone, but something inside of him was wrestling with himself.

Skull was from another world. He had no reason to care about the Moonlight Kingdom's politics or the issues of Nye. He hadn't even seemed too concerned about what James might've done to receive his title as an outlaw. A wanted man. A traitor.

But maybe that was too hopeful. To reveal too much to quickly never went well. Who was to say it would go over well this time, even with someone with strange magic and no knowledge of Nye?

He couldn't think of or decide what to say. It was dangerous to start talking without thinking it out beforehand, but he did it anyway.

"Though... nobody knows that now. That it was an alias. I could count the number of people who know my real name on one hand."

Well, that was interesting.

...And eerily similar to my own situation.

"Me too," I said. "Only three people know my original name - one of them being Carter, and the other two being the people we met. None of them knew it was my actual name, but one of them might put it together someday."

James turned to look back at Skull again. If Carter had met Skull over a year ago, James would’ve heard about it. It had to have happened after he’d made himself a wanted man.

“Is it - well, you don’t have to say how you met if you don’t want, but I’m just very confused as to how you know Carter. Have you been on Nye before?”

I let out a sigh.

"I haven't," I said. "This is my first time. But Carter and I were both abducted by this wonderful all powerful entity that liked looking like a librarian. She made us go back in time to change this one single event that really wasn't all that bad compared to the hundreds of other tragedies that have occurred over the course of human history. I was stuck with Carter for almost all of it."

James blinked.

“That... almost sounds like something out of a book,” he said. In all honesty, it was hard to believe. But he’d also seen a lot of things he never thought he’d believe - like an animate corpse, among other things. It was more that it just felt impossible to wrap his head around.

“And stressful. Especially if you were stuck with Carter the whole time.”

"It was," I agreed. "It was honestly one of the most horrible experiences in my life, and that's saying a lot considering what I've been through."

My face contorted into a look of disgust. I hadn't shared this with anyone I knew, but James shared my distaste for Carter - sharing it with him didn't feel quite so bad.

"I had to pretend to be his boyfriend," I said. "Or maybe even husband - it was honestly hard to tell what he was going for. We could have pretended we were just saving money by sharing a place but no. He had to go along with what everyone else thought and say we were a couple. And I know he did it just to get on my nerves."

James’s brows drew together and pinched upwards, and he looked at Skull with wide eyes sympathy. When him and Carter had been friends, Carter had pulled a number of stunts that resulted in James being uncomfortable so that they could skid through situations without conflict. At least once or twice, Carter had done something similar (though hardly identical) to what Skull was describing.

Sometime it hadn’t even been necessary. He knew sometimes Carter was just ‘messing with him’ or throwing him under the bus for the sake of a ‘joke.’

He hated to hear that Carter had done the same to Skull.

“I’m so sorry,” he said quietly. “That sounds horrible.”

"It was," I earnestly agreed.

Then I faltered, realizing that James was talking surprisingly quiet given my tone right now. In retrospect, I didn't really know why James knew Carter, or even why Carter hated him so much. I had thought it was just because James had done something to get on his nerves, but it was almost like they knew each other.

"...How do you know Carter?" I asked. "I'm starting to think he's not just some guy who's after you."

James’s expression went blank and he drew his eyes away again, looking into the fire. He should’ve seen that question coming.

“Oh,” he said, his voice still soft. “Well. We used to be friends.”

He paused, and turned his face up and away.

“I think.”

That made all too much sense.

"...Oh," I said.

I looked back into the fire.

I didn't know a lot about friendships. It wasn't like I had all that many. And I definitely hadn't had one with someone like Carter. But I couldn't help but feel bad for James. What had been it like to be friends with someone like him - especially when their friendship ended with Carter hating him?

"How long were you friends?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

James let out a deep sigh.

He’d first met Carter when he was 11.

“Ten years.”

That was a long time - even for someone like me. It was a sixteenth of my entire life, and just about the same amount of time I had been living on the streets. Being friends for that long was nothing to scoff at.

"It must have been a tough end to your friendship, then," I guessed.

I glanced over at James again.

"...But I can see what you mean," I said. "About Carter. Maybe it was because we were brought there against our will and he just wanted to get back to Nye, but he wasn't exactly the warm and friendly type. The entire time he was just scheming."

I leaned back a little, resting my hands behind me as I gave a little shrug.

"Then again," I said, "I was, too. But I was friendly to people who were friendly to me, at least. I don't think Carter had it in him."

James felt his mask fading. He was tired, and thinking about Carter again was like opening up an old wound.

Ten years had been a long time. James hadn’t devoted a lot of time to reflection, but any time he did look back it felt like someone was wringing his heart out. When he’d met Carter, they were very different people, but fundamentally, him and Carter were very different at the core.

Carter was ambitious because he had vision, and James had just been trying to prove himself. He’d spent years trying to prove to everyone that he wasn’t a failure, and he thought he’s succeeded... but nothing turned out the way he thought it would. The goals he’d aspired to weren’t what he expected. Joining the palace guard alongside his then best friend Carter had felt like a dream come true until he began to see more of what happened behind the scenes, and tensions gradually developed.

Maybe their fallout was inevitable. But it still hurt.

“He has it in him,” James said softly, in a voice that was almost wistful. “I just don’t know if it’s ever real.”

A pause.

“His kindness, I mean. Or friendliness.”

"He doesn't do a good job proving it if it is," I said. I wasn't sure if I was talking about his genuine kindness or the fake show of it he liked to put on. Either way, I wasn't exactly fond of Carter.

I looked into the fire.

...Now was probably a good time for a change of topic.

But all the topics I could think about were ones I had already tried - and failed - to get answers from James about. I had asked him about his family and why he was wanted; he hadn't wanted to tell me much about either. It didn't leave me with a lot of options.

I frowned, thought for a moment, and then finally came up with something that had been bugging me all along.

"...Earlier," I said, "back when I was possessing Reed, he mentioned something about magic being illegal here. Part of it was just to threaten me, I think, but I know he was serious about some of it."

I looked over at James.

"But the only reason you're bothered by what I can do is because it's creepy," I pointed out. "Not because of magic."

James was glad to stop thinking about Carter. He looked over to Skull.

"True," he said. "I've never seen magic like yours before. People with magic here can manipulate the elements and cure wounds, but I've never seen anyone possess someone else... nevermind a corpse."

"And magic is illegal, at least, in any human civilization. It's not just frowned upon. The penalty is death. Most people fear magic and consider it evil, but not everyone feels that way. I guess I'm just one of those people."