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Chapter Text

August 26, 2024

Lesnik's Version

"Welcome, Mr. Sobol! I'm Adam T. Irving, and I'm the dean."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Irving. And, please, call me Lesnik."

"Well, Lesnik, I'm glad you've decided to attend this college. Walk with me, please."

The two men, one, Lesnik, is twenty, while the other, Irving, is 42, begin to walk out of the office building, as the older man continues talking.

"As you may have seen on our website, Saint Natas was founded two centuries ago, in 1813, by a Catholic sect known as the Order of Saint Natas. Saint Natas himself was a Catholic priest accused of attempting to summon the devil, referred to as Leviathan, and burned at the stake. You see, he preached acceptance of all, no matter their skin tone, nation of origin, or, indeed, religion."

The two reached the dorms, entered, and called for the elevator.

"Speaking of which, I've been informed by my secretary, Ms. Rebecha Holmes, that you're a Muslim and will need to pray at specific times. I've already informed your professors and set up a place close to all your classes for you to pray. Have you brought your prayer mat?"

"Yes, sir."

"Perfect. Here's your room. You'll be sharing it with a brilliant young man by the name of Poe Kaminski. He's at class right now, but why don't you get settled in, okay, Lesnik?"

"Will do."

Lesnik was left alone in his dorm room. He began to quickly, albeit carefully, put away his things. Once done unpacking and organizing, Lesnik looked at his watch and saw that it was just about time for him to pray, as it was just after noon.

He took out his prayer mat, layed it down, and began to pray.

Just before Lesnik's first class, botany, he sat down at a picnic table out in the grass next to a building, said the prayer bismillah, and opened his lunch. Suddenly, as he began to eat, he heard the voice of a woman, seemingly around his age.

"Excuse me. Do you mind if I sit across from you?"

Chapter Text

August 26, 2024, 1:27pm

Grimora's Version

The man, seemingly around Grimora's age, looked up from his lunch, scratched his beard, which was just barely more than stubble, and spoke.

"Yes, you may sit. I don't know why you ask, I can't stop you," the man said in a slow, meticulous manner, as if carefully choosing his words.

"Thank you. You don't have any allergies, do you?"

"No. Although, if you have something containing pork, I will have to move."

"Oh, no, I have a chicken sandwich and some Reese's cups, which is why I asked. I'm Grimora, by the way. Grimora Patel."

The bearded man, seeing Grimora's outstretched hand, put down his fork, and shook her hand.

"Lesnik Sobol."

"Lesnik... Did you know that your name is Slavic for 'forester'?"

"Yes. My great-grandmother lived in Ukraine as a child, but left during the Holodomor with my great-great-grandparents."

"Mm, I see."

A few minutes silence as the two ate. Suddenly, a glint of questioning appeared in Grimora's eyes.

"So, and I apologize if this is rude, I was wondering why you would have to leave if I had pork?"

"I'm a Muslim. Dietary restrictions."

"Ah. So, um, what classes do you have today?"

"Just two, due to my arriving late. Botany at 2pm, Religous Studies at 4pm, half hour break between them."

"Ah, so we'll be going to the same place at 2pm. I have Botany then, as well."

"What do you believe in?"

Grimora was confused and mildly shocked.

"Pardon?"

"Religion. Which do you swear by, if any?"

"Ah, okay, well, I'm a Pagan Witch. Though, let me make this clear, I'm open to the idea that I'm wrong about which religion is 'correct', so to speak."

"That's a very wise philosophy on religion. I don't know if I'd be as calm if it was revealed to me that I was a fool worshipping a false idol."

"Yes, well, uh, we all have our own views on what being wrong can mean."

Grimora looks down at her phone, turning on the screen to see the time. It's 1:47pm.

"We should get going if we don't want to be late."

"Indeed."

At their class, the two sat apart, a they barely knew each other. During the lesson, in which they were to complete a short quiz about the care for a specific plant. Grimora struggled a bit, Lesnik, on the other hand, was the second person to turn in their quiz.

The purpose of the quiz was to see how much the students knew, and plan the future lessons accordingly.

When let out at 3:30pm, Grimora and Lesnik walked beside each other by pure accident, and Grimora took this opportunity to strike up a conversation.

"So, Lesnik, I noticed you were the second person done with the quiz."

"The first, actually. I just don't like to go up front first."

"Well, with your connection to plants, maybe I should call you Leshy!" Grimora laughed.

"Hmm... I'd like that. I haven't had a nickname before."

"Okay, then I'll call you Leshy."

As Grimora turned her head, she saw that Lesnik, Leshy, was gone. She looked behind her and noticed he was looking through the window of one of the school shops. He was staring at a display for a card game made by some past students, called Inscryption.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a trading card game called Inscryption. There's four types of cards; Tech, Magickal, Deathly, and Beastly-"

"Beastly?"

"It's full of forest creatures like elk and grizzly bears. Do you want to get a structure deck? I've been meaning to get myself a few of the new Deathly card packs."

"I would like to, yes."

Chapter Text

August 26, 2024, 4:15pm

Magnus' Version

Magnus was, in his own words, a "sorcerer extraordinaire." In truth, he was a part-time magician, under the stage name "Magnifucus", who believed in the occult magick of Aleister Crowley, and had something of a talent for reading people.

Which is why, when he saw a man maybe a year younger than he was, Magnus was 19, sitting in a wheel chair, prosthetic left arm keeping his plate of food from moving off his legs, Magnus stroked his mustache, which barely qualified, and decided to insert himself into this severe looking stranger's day.

"Greetings! I couldn't help but notice that you're sitting here alone. Is it presumptuous to think you're alone due to a lack of human connection?"

"You're not entirely wrong, but that doesn't make what you just said any less rude."

The man in the wheelchair, which appeared to be one "driven" using a joystick on three armrest, speared a piece of his macaroni and cheese, blew on it for a moment, and put it in his mouth to eat, seemingly as a way of signaling to Magnus that he wanted the mustachioed man to go away.

Magnus persisted.

"Well, I apologize. I bring it up to ask if you wouldn't mind some company. Especially given you're a computer science major, and the only warmth you might find amongst your classmates is that coming off the monitors of their computers."

The man in the wheelchair put down his fork, readjusted his glasses, looked up at Magnus, and simply asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Magnus Johnson, also known as Magnificus, and my occupation is sorcerer."

"Got it, you're a fourth-rate magician."

"How dare you, sir?! Did the fact that I just explained much about you not prove I have some magickal insight?"

"All it proves is that you have an eye for detail, Mr. Johnson. I do, as well. Such is how I know that you're the president of the Occult Club and are a fan of the card game Inscryption. Not to mention that there's no such thing as magic."

"Utter nonsense! Tell you what, if you beat me in a game of Inscryption, I'll never mention my magickal abilities again. But if you lose, you'll have to admit that magick is real. Deal?"

"Hmm... Sounds time consuming... How about, you just admit that you're a liar and we never speak again?"

"You say it's time consuming, so why not get it over with, techie?"

"Ugh, fine. And, it's Poe. Poe Kaminski."

"Understood, Poe. Let's begin."

The battle, if you could call it that, was over in only a few turns, and, of course, Magnus won. He had, through his magick, found out what kinds of strategies Poe would use, at least from his perspective. From Poe's, Magnus was just lucky.

"Lucky bastard," Poe said, fuming.

"Pardon? I'm afraid I can't hear you over the fact that you have to say that my magick is real."

"I am NOT saying that."

"We made a deal! You can't just walk out on it!"

"Watch me."

August 26, 2024, 4:45pm

Poe's Version

That was a complete waste of time, Poe thought to himself. He then noticed that the occult guy, Magnus, was following him.

In response to being followed, Poe made his wheelchair accelerate faster, causing him to accidentally crush the toes of a man who immediately stared into Poe's soul.

Chapter Text

August 26, 2024, 4:45pm

Leshy's Version

He was happy. He was happy. And then some guy decided to make his powered wheelchair go faster than was safe for those walking in his path. Luckily, neither Grimora nor Leshy were directly in front of the wheelchair when it reached them, but it did run over Leshy's toes. Now, to be fair, the wheelchair, even with its passenger, wasn't that heavy. But it's the principle of the situation that matters.

Leshy stared into the eyes of the guy who had ran over his toes, waiting.

When nothing came, Leshy asked the guy "Well?"

"E-Excuse me?"

"I'm waiting for an apology."

"Right. Sorry. I was trying to get away from that guy," the wheelchair-bound man jabbed his thumb towards a thin man with a rather paltry mustache, if you could even call it that. "And didn't see you two. I'll be more careful."

The man looked down at his watch, whispered "Dammit..." and hurried, carefully, off to class.

Leshy decided that he had given the man in the wheelchair a lesson, but the man with the mustache need one as well.

"You, mustache man. Why were you chasing him?"

"A-Ah, you see, we made a deal, him and I, and he didn't honor it,  so I was planning on following him until he did."

"Was the deal important?"

"Well, to me it-"

"Was it important?"

"I- I suppose not..."

"Then let it go."

"I- Alright..."

Once the man with the mustache left, Leshy realized that Grimora was starting at him, seemingly in disbelief.

"Is something the matter?"

"No, Leshy, it's just that you have a much higher tolerance for BS than I do. If it had been me, I would be furious."

"Oh, believe you me, I am quite furious. Also, what's 'BS'?"

"Oh, it's short for, and excuse my language, 'bullshit'."

"Ah, I see. Well, would you like to teach me how to play Inscryption?"

"Of course!"

August 26, 2024, 6:11pm

Leshy returned to his dorm room after much learning about Inscryption and, in particular, Beastly cards. It was a fun few matches with Grimora, but Leshy had to get to his dorm room soon, before sunset, as to be ready for his fourth prayer of the day.

He used his key, given to him by Mr. Irving, to open the room's door and saw...

"Strojník..."

Chapter Text

August 26, 2024, 6:11pm

Poe's Version

Poe was typing away at his computer, attempting to get some self-made program to function properly, when he heard the door to his dorm room open. He knew it was his roommate, but was surprised when he heard them say a single word.

"Strojník..."

"I'm sorry, what did you-"

It was him. The guy whose toes he had run over. He was, again, starting deeply into his eyes, as if judging for some grievous sin.

"So... um... You're my roommate? What's your name?"

"My name is Lesnik Sobol, but my friends call me Leshy. And let me be abundantly clear; you are not my friend."

"U-Understood, Lesnik. I'm Poe Kaminski. I hope you don't mind, but what are some of your interests?"

"Botany, card games, and Dungeons & Dragons."

"Oh! I love D&D! I like card games, too. But, I'm more into computers over plants."

"A shame."

At that, Lesh- no, Lesnik got out a rug, put in on the floor near his bed, got on his hands and knees on top of the carpet, and seemed to be praying. Poe considered returning to his work, but was to afraid of the man in front of him to disturb his prayer.

Only a few minutes later, Lesnik got up, and put away his prayer mat.

"Thank you for not disturbing me during my prayer. Now, I have a question... How would you like to play D&D as a way of getting to know each other better? I could invite Grimora and you could invite that mustached man."

"Uh, sure. I'll just have to call him."

Chapter Text

August 27, 2024, 12:23pm.

Grimora's Version.

"Hello, Leshy! I see you're already set up for the game."

"Yes. We just need to wait for Poe and the mustached man."

"Well, let's hope they'll get here soon. In the meantime, can I ask what your campaign is going to be about?"

The bearded man shifted in his seat.

"I won't explain the plot, but we'll be using Inscryption cards to determine the outcomes of battles. I even quickly designed a playmat for four players."

Grimora's eyes shone with excitement. "That sounds incredible!"

Just as Grimora was about to ask another question, she heard the whirring of Poe's wheelchair and the tapping of sneakers. Turning, Grimora saw the two men, both looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Everyone's here. Good. Sit and prepare yourselves."

As the three players took out their decks, Leshy unfurled a map, which was just a few strange symbols drawn on graph paper, and placed a single wooden figure down.

"You three are explorers, each with their own goals for this land. You," Leshy pointed at Grimora. "Are a necromancer who seeks to build a coven within these dense woods."

He gestured to Magnus, "You are a mage who seeks to learn arcane knowledge. And you," He stared at Poe. "Are an android that seeks to bulldoze the forest to build a new factory. Suddenly, as you three enter the forest, a small menagerie of beasts attack!"

Leshy flipped the map, showing the aforementioned four-player board. He then proceeded to explain how it works.

"Each creature you play can only attack lanes that connect to theirs. In other words, if I had a creature in my right-most lane and Grimora had a creature in her left-most lane, which overlaps with my creature's, she could attack it. Understood?"

After all participants agreed, Leshy placed down a Bullfrog in his middle-left lane. Then came Magnus' turn, as the turns happen in a clockwise fashion, where he played an Emerald Mox in his right-most lane, followed by a Junior Sage in his middle-right lane, and declared his attack on Leshy's Bullfrog, which lost one health.

After going through the first battle, Leshy gave them a new Beast card at their next stop on the map.

After a while of this pattern, they reached a special skull symbol. Leshy flipped the map, and spoke.

"This battle will be a bit... different."

He put on a tricorn hat he pulled from his bag, alongside a toy pickaxe from some videogame, and nearly shouted, "HEE-HAW! I'm th' Prospector!"

Chapter Text

August 27, 2024, 1:15pm.

Magnus’ Version.

“Lesnik-” the goth looking girl, Grimora, started, only to be interrupted.

“I said that ‘m th’ Prospector!” Lesnik, the Prospector, shouted.

“Prospector, would you mind being quieter?” asked Grimora.

“Fine, but ya still gotta beat me in a battle.”

The three of them placed down their decks, ready for the fight of their lives. Unbeknownst to any of them, two fellow students, a guy and a girl, had started watching the game.

The Prospector put down a Pack Mule in his right-most lane, underneath which was a collection of Beastly cards, and prepared a Coyote for his middle-right lane.

After beating the first phase of the Prospector, the three friends were surprised when he tapped all of the cards on their boards with his toy pickaxe, and handed them each hand-made Gold Nugget cards, one for each of their now dead cards. He then placed a Bloodhound in his middle-left lane, saying “Git ‘em!” as he did so.

The battle was fierce, with the three giving it their all, until eventually they were victorious.

“That was amazing!” Grimora stated simply.

“I agree whole-heartedly!” commented Magnus.

“It was fun, I admit.” Poe said, trying to hide his admiration for Lesnik.

“Thank you. Would you like to know who I’ve based the Prospector off of?” asked Lesnik.

“Sure, Lesnik,” responded Poe.

“I think you’ve all earned the right to call me Leshy. In any case, I based the Prospector on my brother, Peter, who runs a mining company. Would you like to continue?”

“Of course, Leshy!” responded Grimora.

During the traversal of the second map, they encountered two new characters, the Trapper, who gives the three each a hand-made Pelt card, and the Trader, who takes the Pelts and, in return, gives very strong Beastly cards. The three players only met the two a few times before the next boss.

“I am the Angler. Go fish.”

After beating the Angler, Leshy spoke as himself again.

“The Angler is based on my brother Anthony, who’s a fisherman by trade.”

At the third boss, the players were betrayed by the Trapper, who stated “Today, you’ll be supplying the pelts!”

The players were even more shocked when, in his second phase, the Trapper became the Trader, saying “The trap snaps shut but the prey escapes. Alas, the cycle must continue.”

“At long last, you three have reached the home of the forest’s owner. You have reached the cabin of The Scrybe of Beasts.”

After a difficult three phase boss fight, the players had won, and, as such, Leshy took out his polaroid camera, and took each of their pictures. He captioned them with their character’s names. Grimora’s was just her name, Magnus’ was Magnificus, and Poe’s was P03. At the moment he was done, the two spectators walked up to the table and started talking.

“That was amazing,” said the guy.

“Yeah, it looked awesome!” responded the girl.

“Thank you, both of you. And your names are?” asked Leshy.

“I’m Luke Carder, and this is Kaycee Hobbes, my girlfriend.”

“A pleasure. I am Leshy, this is Grimora, Magnus, and Poe.”

“Great to meet all of you!” Kaycee and Luke said almost at the same time. “So, we were wondering if we could do a campaign with you guys?” asked Kaycee.

“Hm. That would be difficult if all of us were to play together,” stated Magnus. “What if we split into groups of two? Luke could go with me, you with Grimora, and Leshy with Poe? Of course, you, Luke, and Leshy would be players, while Grimora, Poe, and I would be DMs. What do you think?”

“Sounds good.” They all agreed.

“Okay, how about we meet next week with our campaigns?”

Chapter Text

September 3, 2024, 11:57am

Leshy’s Version

The day had arrived. On this day, he, Leshy, would play Poe’s campaign. Despite previously disliking Poe for the Toe Crushing Incident, he had grown to respect the computer-obsessed student.

Suddenly, Leshy heard the whirring of Poe’s wheelchair and turned to see the man with a seemingly repurposed toolbox, painted baby blue, being held down by his prosthetic arm, with its pincer-like design, so that Poe would have an easier time using his wheelchair.

“Sorry it took me so long, Leshy. I almost couldn’t get out of class before the torrent of students went through the door.”

“It’s fine. Shall we begin?”

“Yup,” Poe cleared his throat as he set up. “Okay. You are a forest spirit seeking to reclaim some misused land, a factory spewing smog into the sky and polluting the land. As you set off to confront the factory’s owner, walking along a long highway, some malfunctioning robots attack you!”

On the board, this one an official Inscryption board, Poe placed a 49er in his middle-right lane, which Leshy blocked with a Bullfrog he played by sacrificing a Squirrel.

At the first boss, in the entryway to the factory, Poe put on a hardhat and said, in his best gruff voice, “I am the Inspector. Before you pass I must inspect your cardplay skills.”

“You know, that boss, the Inspector, was based on my brother Isaac, who’s actually an inspector at our father’s factory. He mainly inspects motherboards.”

At the next boss, Poe put on a welding helmet, and said, “I am the Melter. If you want to get past, I must see  if your cards can withstand the heat.”

“The Melter was based on my other brother, Michael. He’s a welder,” Poe remarked afterwards.

September 3, 2024, 1:05pm

Poe’s Version

Okay, Poe thought, Leshy’s been amazing so far. How about I break out that mechanic I tested last night? No, it’s too early. I want to test it on someone other than myself, so what if I throw the match?

As he thought this, Poe put an old pipe between his teeth. “I’m the Dredger,” he said in a melancholic voice, dripping with apathy.

He left the board completely open. Leshy was confused, but put down his cards anyway. Suddenly, the Dredger said, “Y’know what, I can’t take m’ eyes of m’ work. I’ll let you through.”

“What?” asked Leshy.

“I’m too busy t’ battle ye. Take th’ path to th’ boss’s office.”

“Sorry about how anticlimactic the Dredger battle was, but like my Uncle David, he’s too absorbed in his work to play games.”

“No worries, Poe, I understand.”

“As you enter the office, you see a one-armed robot looking out the window at the sprawling factory. Suddenly, it turns to you. ‘You must be that meddling forest spirit that beat all my subordinates. You have cost me a lot of profits. For that, I will destroy you,’ says P03, Scrybe of Technology.”

Poe puts down a gray and blue version of the board, made to look like a conveyor belt.

“The rules will be a bit different. After your turn, all cards will shift places in a clockwise manner.”

After a tough battle filled with clever card combos and plenty of difficult situations, Leshy succeeded in defeating P03.

“After everything, you won. The Scrybe of Technology bowed its screen, bequeathing the land its factory stood on to you. Then it deleted its own operating system, effectively ending its own life. With your forest back under your control, you immediately use your powers as a forest spirit to reclaim the land, vines and other plants growing from under the foundations, bringing the whole complex down.”

Leshy said nothing as Poe finished speaking, and Poe was worried.

“Leshy? Is something wrong?”

“No,” Leshy shook himself out of his stupor. “That was incredible, my friend. Now, I suppose we should watch the other two campaigns that started during yours.”

“Of course.”

Quietly, inside his head, Poe celebrated the fact that Leshy had called him “friend.”

Chapter Text

September 3, 2024, 12:29pm

Grimora’s Version

Grimora and Kaycee arrived just half an hour after Leshy and Poe, and said very few formalities before beginning the campaign.

“You wake up in your grave. You are an undead, and you seek to find the Scrybe of the Dead, who can truly resurrect you. As you enter the dark graveyard that borders the Crypt, you are attacked by feral undead,” Grimora stated, placing a Skeleton in her right-most lane.

“As you make your way through the incredibly large graveyard, your foot is grabbed by a living pile of bones; a ghoul.”

Grimora put on a red baseball cap, saying, “You’re going to leave without even battling me? Please, do me this kindness…”

“You have beaten Sawyer, and continue on, his soul now at rest…”

“In the distance, you see a crashed pirate ship. As you get closer, a voice calls out.”

Grimora put on a pirate hat, and said, “HARK! A landlubber approaches!”

“Now that you have entered the Crypt, which was being blocked by Royal, you meet the Scrybe of the Dead.”

After a hard fought battle, Kaycee was victorious, and the two quietly packed their things, and headed over to see how the other two campaigns were going.

Chapter Text

September 3, 2024, 12:43pm

Magnus’ Version

“Greetings, Luke. Are you ready to play?”

“Always.”

“Good. You are a low-level mage who seeks to learn from and challenge the Scrybe of Magicks. A single path stands before you. What do you do?”

“I begin walking forward.”

“As you walk, you begin to see the tip of the Tower of Magicks. On the ground in front of you is a pile of a bright green substance, two eyes and a mage hat sitting in it.”

“I walk around the pile.”

“The pile of goo slides in front of you, saying ‘ARGH! The Master has told me to keep out unworthy mages! I am the Goo Mage, one of The Master’s students!’ The battle will now begin…”

“Congratulations, you have defeated the Goo Mage. ‘Urrg! You beat me fair- argh- and square. You may pass.’ Past the Goo Mage, you see a fork in the road; one path leads into a dormant volcano, the other to a pitch black void. Where do you go?”

“Hmm,” Luke hummed in thought. “I guess… I’ll go to the volcano.”

“Very well,” Magnus stated, putting out a new map for the volcano.

“In the dormant volcano, you see the head of a female mage on a pike. What do you do?”

“I grab the head to take it off the pike to try and resurrect the head.”

“As you touch the head, it comes to life, screaming, ‘INTRUDER! I am the Pike Mage! We must battle, as The Master has foreseen your defeat!’”

“You have beaten the Pike Mage. ‘Damn… I guess I’ll activate my half of the bridge, but you’ll need to defeat the last student. You can go there from the path behind me.’”

“In the void, you see nothing. Suddenly, you are grabbed and hugged by some being in the void. ‘STIMULATION! FINALLY! I can feel SOMETHING! Can we battle? Please? The Master told me to battle anyone who comes here? Pretty please?’”

“You have defeated the Lonely Wizard. ‘OH OH OH! SO STIMULATING!!! NOW I HAVE TO PUT MY BRIDGE SIDE DOWN! HAVE FUN WITH THE MASTER FRIEND!’”

“You have reached the top of the Tower of Magicks. In front of you is Magnificus, the Scrybe of Magicks. ‘Greetings, young mage. I am Magnificus, and I have seen your arrival. For you see, my eye ACHES WITH PREMONITION! Now, we shall battle, and I have already foreseen your defeat at my hands. Let us begin…’”

After a hard first phase, in which Magnificus put down Mox-based sigils onto Lukes cards, changing their abilities, Magnificus spoke to Luke:

“‘Do you not feel remorse, Luke? An entire world destroyed, annihilated. Lives lost. Nothing beautiful can stay.’”

As Magnificus said this, Luke’s eyes welled up with tears, and he stood, walking away fast.

“W-what just happened?” Magnus asked.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” Kaycee answered. “I should have told you, Luke lost his sister to suicide last year. He still blames himself.”

“Oh my god,” Magnus said, “I have to apologize!”

At that Magnus stood up, and went searching for Luke. He was found sitting at the bottom of the massive obelisk with a clock face on each side, and Magnus sat on the side adjacent to Luke.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

“It’s… it’s okay… How would you know? El wasn’t even out of high school when she…”

“It wasn’t not your fault.”

“I should’ve-”

“Look at me,” Magnus said, and Luke obeyed. “It. Wasn’t. Your. Fault. Okay?”

“O-okay…”

At that, Magnus hugged Luke, and Luke cried into his shoulder like the hurt child he was. And all was well.

Over the next months of the semester, the five friends grew closer and closer, even some of them developing feelings for each other, specifically Leshy and Poe.

Eventually, winter break came. The friends packed and left community college, each returning to their homes for their various winter festivities.

Chapter Text

December 10, 2024

Leshy’s Version

Leshy trudged through the snow, his family’s cabin being around a five minute walk from the sign post that identified the cabin’s owners and the direction the cabin was in. Leshy had been dropped off by the public bus that transported students to and from the community college, and was both excited to be with his family and dreading the endless questions about his grades and how he’s finding the school.

Arriving at the door, Leshy slid his key into the front door’s lock, opening the door. As he entered, he kicked off the snow on his boots, as to not drag snow into the cabin. He took of his boots, placed them by the front door, took off his coat and scarf, hanging them on the homemade coat hanger.

“Lesnik? Is that you?”

“Yes, Grandmother. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good, my dear boy,” Ms. Wanda Sobol said cheerfully, tapping her white cane to navigate over to the front door. “Give me a hug, sweetheart!”

“Of course,” stated Leshy, hugging Wanda.

“How are your grades, dear?”

“They’re good. I’ve passed all my classes this semester.”

“That’s my boy! I’ve always said you’re the smartest member of our family. Now, sit, and I’ll get your uncle to make some tea,” Wanda insisted, before shouting for her son. “Travis! Will you please make some tea for Lesnik and I?”

A voice came from the second floor, saying, “Of course, Mother!”

Down the stairs came Travis, a cheery man who sees acts of service as necessary for the flourishing of one’s soul, who immediately went to the kitchen to make the tea, barely stopping to say “hi” to Leshy.

“So, sweetheart, have you made any friends?”

“Yes. I have made five friends; Luke, Kaycee, Grimora, Magnus, and… Poe.”

“Oh? Is that love I hear in your voice, Lesnik?”

“N-no! I just… enjoy his company, that’s all.”

“If you say so, dear.”

“Oh, I forgot to say, my friends have a nickname for me: Leshy.”

“Wonderful dear!”

Chapter Text

December 21, 2024

Grimora’s Version

“Thank you for joining me, Magnus. I’m sure you know how important this is to me.”

“I should be the one thanking you. After all, if it were not for you, I’d be celebrating Yule alone. May I enter?”

“Of course, dear.”

Entering the gothic house, Magnus took his shoes and coat off, and followed Grimora to her altar, decorated with stones, tree branches, and candles, where the two of them lit the candles.

Moving to the fireplace, Grimora handed Magnus a Yule log, which he then tossed into the fire. “Now we can eat.”

Magnus’ Version

The meal was long, but very enjoyable.

“Thank you for this, Grimora.”

“No worries, Mags.”

Chapter Text

December 24, 2024, 11:49pm

Poe’s Version

It was always a hard workday at Maxim Kaminski’s factory, but it was especially hard on that day. Mainly for Poe, the youngest intern working there. Most of the other interns were at least twenty, but Poe was eighteen and, as such, felt like his fellow interns looked down on him or saw him as a nepo-baby. To be clear, Poe wasn’t. Maxim Kaminski was of that rare breed that truly believed, in that twisted right-wing way, that one must, as the saying goes, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”

Of course, Maxim Kaminski, and, in a larger sense, the Kaminski Corporation, had become so successful due to a large array of factors aligning in his, and the corporation’s, favor. In a very real sense, Maxim Kaminski had never worked a hard day in his life, and yet he worked his employees, including his older brother and children, to the bone.

Needless to say, Poe hated working for his father and constantly tried to get the full-time workers to form a union or go on strike, but to no avail, as each worker felt themselves small and insignificant in the face of their capitalist overlord of choice. Tonight, Poe was going to change that.

Poe knocked on his father’s office door, which was hand carved with a brass name plate, created to look like the office door of famous game designers Lionel Snill and Carla Dosa, as Maxim, who had been an aspiring game designer, was jealous of Snill and Dosa’s success. Yet, all he could be was a feeble imitation.

The door didn’t open, but a gruff voice did come from the other side. “Who is it?”

“It’s Poe, Mr. Kaminski.” That was a particularly cruel thing Maxim Kaminski did; As soon as he forced each of his family members, the ones who hadn’t left because of his abusive nature, to begin working in his factory, he forced them to act like they weren’t related at all times except when doing paperwork that required either the name or presence of a legal guardian.

“Come in,” came Maxim’s voice again, and Poe, after struggling to reach the doorknob and open the door, slowly wheeled his wheelchair into the office.

“Close the door, please,” Maxim said in his least interested voice, to which Poe grumbled but obeyed. Almost. He pushed it so it was almost closed, but still open, to make leaving easier. “What are you here for, Poe?”

“I’m here,” Poe said, deadly venom seeping through every word, “because you refuse to allow us workers to have paid time off on Christmas.”

“And?”

“ And I’m here to tell you that, if you don’t obey the laws on work hours and PTO, I’ll quit and then report you.”

“Oh, please. You? Disobey me? Unthinkable! You have always been a push-over and a weakling. You don’t have the nerve.”

“Watch me, Maxim.”

“Heh. Tell you what, if you can stand from that chair and hand me your resignation letter, I’ll give everyone in the factory PTO until your next semester. Go on. Stand.”

At that, such rage filled Poe and such care and love for his fellow workers that he put the brakes on his wheelchair, moved his legs into position, and shakily stood. The arthritis in his knees from a decade-old injury flared and made his legs hurt like hell, but he continued to stand and handed his letter of resignation to Maxim.

“I expect you to keep your word,” Poe said, walking out of the office, and slammed the door. In front of him was his brother Isaac, his bigender sibling Michael, and his uncle David.

“Y’ did good, kid,” David said, ruffling Poe’s hair, and proceeding to pick up and bridal carry Poe to his car. “Where do y’ want to go?”

“There’s this cabin in the woods.”

December 25, 2024, 12:53am

Leshy’s Version

Leshy was sitting on the couch with Wanda after they prayed together, drinking tea, when a knock was heard. “I wonder who that could be? Would you get the door, dear?”

“Of course.”

On the other side of the door was Poe, being held by a gruff looking man. “H-Hi, Leshy.”

“Poe, welcome. Would you like to come in?”

“Yes. Uncle David, could you put me down?”

After being put down on his feet, Poe limped into the cabin, at which point Wanda asked, “Lesnik? Do we have a guest?”

“Yes, Grandmother. I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Poe. I’m going to sit him next to you, because he has arthritis and seems to have misplaced his wheelchair.”

“Okay, dear. Would you mind getting your friend some tea?”

“Of course, Grandmother,” Leshy looked at Poe. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“So, Mr. Poe, do you have feelings for my grandson?” Wanda asked cheerily.

“I, uh- Yes. I do.”

“Wonderful! I hope you two are happy together.”

“Thank you.”

“Here’s your tea, Poe,” Leshy said as he brought out Poe’s teacup. “May I ask what you two are talking about?”

“Well, um… I was telling her about how… I have f-feelings for you…”

“You… You do?”

“I-I do.”

At that, Leshy put his hand on Poe’s, saying, “I have feelings for you, as well.”

In the corner of their eyes, both Poe and Leshy could see Wanda with a pleased smile on her face as she drank her tea.

Chapter Text

January 27, 2025, 8:21am

Leshy’s Version

There was still plenty of snow on the ground, but that didn’t bother Leshy. In fact, Leshy felt warm and fuzzy, mainly because he was holding hands with his boyfriend, Poe. It may have only been his prosthetic, but Leshy was happy nonetheless.

The two of them were on their way to greet Kaycee and Luke, who had said over break that they’d be in Luke’s dorm room as soon as the semester began. It was exciting, in a mundane way, starting a new semester. It felt to Leshy like a new beginning, a day where nothing could go wrong, a bright future ahead of him and his friends.

Reaching the dorms, Leshy held the door, the one that wasn’t handicap accessible, open for Poe to enter, given that his wheelchair would likely get stuck on the non-accessible door. Poe seemed very much to Leshy like a prince on his way to be crowned as king. It was a funny thing to imagine, so funny in fact that Leshy released a small chuckle as he entered the dorms.

“What’s so funny, love?” Poe asked, confused but happy to hear Leshy’s laugh.

“Nothing, nothing, I just imagined you as a prince.”

“Oh…” Poe blushed. “Would that make you my royal consort?”

“I suppose so,” Leshy said, kissing Poe’s hand (the biological one).

As the two entered the elevator, riding to the third floor, they talked about their schedules and Inscryption, that solid bedrock of their relationship. Exiting the elevator, the two were astounded to see a group of police officers going up and down the stairs, those who came up going down the hall that lead to Luke’s room.

Sensing that something was deeply wrong, Poe and Leshy looked at each other, followed by Poe speeding off after the police officer at a speed liable to run over someone’s toes, while Leshy jogged after him.

January 27, 2025, 8:37am

Poe’s Version

As Poe’s wheelchair came to a stop in front of Luke’s room, he saw a horrible sight; Luke was dead, murdered, with the words “SALVE REX PECCATI” written on the wall in Luke’s blood. To the side of Luke’s bed, where his corpse lay, Kaycee stood, weeping as a police officer grilled her for answers to their questions.

Poe then heard fast footsteps come up behind him, Leshy stopping beside Poe. Leshy was just as shocked by this violation of normalcy within this college. Whoever did this will die by my hand , Poe thought.

Just then, the officer grilling Kaycee noticed Poe and Leshy, walked up to them at a brisk pace, anger seething through his silver sunglasses. “You two,” he barked. “Get out of here. You’ll contaminate the crime scene.”

“But we’re his friends!” Poe cried.

“Don’t care. Scram!”

Having nothing else to do, the two left for the dorm’s common area, sitting down (in Leshy’s case). They both felt shocked and horrified at what they had seen, and, as such, they sat in silence for a long time.

Chapter Text

January 27, 2025, 9:15am

Magnus’ Version

Magnus and Grimora exited the elevator and were immediately alerted to the presence of something wrong, in the form of Leshy compulsively bouncing his knee, something he only does when stressed. The two walked over to Leshy and Poe, Grimora asking “What’s wrong?”

“Luke’s dead,” Leshy said in a nonchalant way that was almost comical. Magnus was tempted to laugh, but one look into Leshy’s intense eyes stomped out that temptation. “We saw his body.”

“Oh my god…” Magnus stated simply, shock and despair seeping into the core of his very being. “Wh- This- It’s not real, this can’t be real…”

Grimora, serving her role as the beating heart of their little clique, comforted the three of them. She hadn’t been as close to Luke as the men of the group were, but Magnus could see tears sliding down her face, causing her black eye shadow, which she had covering both eyelids, to run.

Magnus, once calmed down, looked at Poe, and saw a rage and anger he could not describe if he wanted to. It was frightening, in all honesty, that rage and sorrow in Poe’s eyes. It may be a strange comparison, but in that moment, Magnus thought of the Doom Slayer from the video game Doom: Eternal .

The four of them sat there for a long time, until all the cops had left, Luke’s corpse in a body bag going with them. When the old janitor, Mr. Wilkinson, started walking to Luke’s room, they knew they could try to find something the cops had missed.

Walking fast up to Mr. Wilkinson, Magnus tapped him on the shoulder. “Huh? What d’ya want?”

“Um, can you let us go into Luke’s room before you clean it? I think we can help find whoever did this.”

Mr. Wilkinson considered for a moment, a strange look coming over his eyes. “Fine, but you get five minutes.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wilkinson.”

“Call me Reggie, everyone does.”

Inside Luke’s room, the four could see that Luke was likely stabbed while he laid on his bed, likely while listening to music, given that his headphones were on the pillow. The blood on the pure white sheets repulsed the four, causing Magnus to look down, and there under the bed, he saw a book. Picking it up, he read the title aloud, “‘The History of North American Cults.’ What do you guys think?”

Poe grabbed the book from Magnus’ hands, and flipped through the pages, noticing that the second page of the table of contents was missing, as well as an entire chapter. “Hmm, strange.”

When Magnus looked back to the bed, he saw Grimora taking a picture of the wall with the bloody words on it. Magnus had no idea what the words meant, but he had a feeling he knew what language it was in, if any. “I think those words are Latin.”

“Just what I was thinking, Mags,” Grimora answered.

Just as Poe pocketed the book and Grimora pocketed her phone, Reggie opened the door. “Five minutes are up.”

“Alright. Thank you again,” Magnus said.

“No worries. Hopefully you can do some good.”

Chapter Text

January 27, 2025, 10:00am

Grimora’s Version

Grimora was sitting in a relatively normal counselor’s office, the only strange thing being the video game memorabilia. The man across from her, the nameplate on his desk read “Daniel Mullins”, was polite-looking, with glasses and a shiny bald head.

“Hello, Ms. Patel. Do you mind if I call you Grimora?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

“Alright. So, Grimora, I’m told you were friends with Mr. Luke Carder. Is that right?”

“Yes, it is. I’ve known him since September.”

“Do you mind me asking what made you become friends?”

“It was a card game we both enjoyed, Inscryption. He and I both play it.”

“I see. And did your other friends play it with you two as well?”

“Yes. We had a nice little mix-and-match game.”

“Ah, I see. So, tell me, how did you feel earlier today when you learned of Mr. Carder’s passing?”

“I was…” the words were hard for Grimora to find. “I guess the right word would be shocked or appalled. I never would have thought something like this would have happened here.”

“No one ever thinks it will happen to them, only to faceless others. I must tell you, from here on out, your journey will only get harder. The tasks that stand before you…” Mr. Mullins shuddered.

January 27, 2025, 11:00am

Leshy’s Version

“Hello, Mr. Sobol-”

“Please, call me Leshy. All my friends and family do.”

“Ah, alright, Leshy. So, how did you and Mr. Carder meet?”

“I’m sure you’ve already asked Grimora that, so I’ll keep it brief; we, the four of us, were playing Inscryption together and Luke and Kaycee noticed us and stopped to watch.”

“Okay. Leshy, how did you feel when you learned of Mr. Carder’s passing?”

“I felt horrified. If we, the students, aren't safe, then no one is.”

“I must tell you, your horror will only grow in the coming weeks. The path before you will irreparably damage you.”

January 27, 2025, 12:00pm

Poe’s Version

“Hello, Mr. Kaminski-”

“It’s Poe.”

“Alright. So, Poe, what was your relationship with Mr. Carder like?”

“It was… nice. We got along very well.”

“And, how did you react to Mr. Carder’s passing-”

“Don’t say it like that. He didn’t just pass away, he was murdered , and I still feel pure rage at whoever did this. I made a vow, when I saw his body. That vow was that whoever murdered him would die by my hand.”

January 27, 2025, 1:00pm

Magnus’ Version

“Hello, Magnus. I’ll get straight to the point: how did you feel when you learned Luke Carder was murdered?”

“I was in disbelief. Still sort of am. I expect him to walk up to me during one of our breaks.”