“Are you that upset about your hair?” Diana sat across from Jericho who was using the reflection of the napkin dispenser to look at his hair. They both sat in a 90’s themed diner. A large empty bowl sat in front of them, the only remnants of what was left remained on their chocolate stained spoons.

“I don’t know. I dislike changing for some guy…” Jericho whined. He used his fingers to comb his hair back before setting the napkins back on the table.

“It’s a god JJ. Not your boyfriend.” Diana pointed the chocolate stained spoon at the newly self conscious Jericho, “You can always dye your hair like Caspian. Make it your own.” Sticking the spoon in her mouth, they both watched as the bowl was taken away and was replaced by their meals. “Why did we get dessert first?”

“It’s something Marcus liked to do. It became a force of habit after a while.” He admitted. Taking a knife and fork, he started to dig into his chicken parmesan. “Have you… thought about what I asked?”

Diana, mid bite, set down her burger. She folded her hands together and looked at the ground. “I was wondering if you were going to ask about that.” She took a deep breathe and leaned back into her chair. “That was the main reason Marcus and I were late yesterday. We were discussing it with the council.”

“And?” For the first time in a while, he felt nervous, but he wasn’t sure if it was him or Midas.

“They’ll have you, but it’s going to come with some conditions.” Diana announced, her tone dropped friendliness, and was replaced with a more serious one. “One, you have to move to Crystalyn, the capital city of the Keeper’s headquarters.”

Jericho felt as if he was punched in the gut. All the air was drained out of him, he couldn’t breathe as he tried to grasp the idea of moving. “But-“

Diana cut him off by continuing, “Let me finish before you start asking questions.” She took her time to speak again, “Second, you’ll be placed under my team with Zoran, and Cheryl. There, Zoran and I will be responsible for you and your actions. Finally, you’ll be responsible for for the actions you take while possessed by Midas.”

There was a long silence before they spoke. Jericho’s hands lie fidgeting in his lap. “What about Marcus? He can stay in the city with his powers, why can’t I?” She gave him a guilty look. She stared down at her uneaten burger, and it slowly dawned on him. “You’re not planning on taking the crown off him.” Her silence spoke the truth. “That’s not fair… he’s done nothing wrong, you can’t keep him under your thumb like that.”

“It’s not him we’re worried about!” She argued. “It’s Trishula. You have no idea what he did while Trishula took the reins. He slaughtered countless people. I like Marcus, I do, but I refuse to let that happen again Jericho.” She huffed and cleared her throat as she noticed they earned a couple of stares from the staff and customers, “Marcus was never taught how to reel in Trishula when he is in control. The crown is the best way to keep him in check when that happens Jericho.”

He bit his lip from saying more, he needed to calm down before he spoke again. He watched his meal slowly get cold, sighing, he grabbed his utensils and started eating again, he refused to waste his money on a meal. “Ok, I get it. Does Marcus know about this. About… me leaving?”

Diana followed suit, and started to eat, “The crown, yea. He got quiet when I told him but he understood. But not with you leaving. I felt that was something you needed to do.” She answered with a mouthful of burger.

He nodded, “Thanks… Not looking forward to that talk. What about this case? Do I get good boy points for finishing this one and the wendigos?”

“Since there’s no Keeper pack shadowing you, that’s a yes and as for this case, we need to complete it before we can begin.”

Jericho nodded and swallowed a cut piece of chicken. “Then let’s solve this and get this over with.”

~~~~~~~~

Marcus returned later that day with torn clothes and muddied hair, but despite this he looked happy, “I needed that.” He announced as he walked in, falling onto the couch. “There was a Grudge there, but he didn’t try to stop me or anything thankfully.”

“That’s good.” Jericho sat on the couch, hands clammy, and breathe short. He was terrible at keeping secrets, he had planned on telling Marcus the news after the murderer was caught, but he didn’t know if he could keep it in.

Marcus smiled as Cleo started to rub against his legs and Yoshi climb up his arm. “How’s my babies doing.” He walked towards the counter and took out their food. “How was your lunch date with Diana? I’m almost jealous.” He joked.

“Marcus I need to tell you something.” Jericho announced, but before he could finish, Cleo and Yoshi started to hiss. Cleo’s back arched as Yoshi’s frills went up. Both of the animals looked towards the door as they slowly backed away.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Jericho asked quietly. Marcus shook his head and Jericho slowly stood up and drew his daggers. Cleo and Yoshi were like metal detectors to magic, he guessed it was an animal thing but he also knew to not doubt it. Looking back to Marcus he shook his head as he were trying to say no mouthed him to stop. Ignoring him, Jericho walked towards the door and looked through the peephole to see a ghost like figure standing in the doorway. Her jaw was unhinged and rotten, she wore a dirty white dress, stained with blood and dirt and a white veil covering her face. She swayed in the hallway, as if she was submerged under water. She moved forward and passed through the wooden door and Jericho, who dropped to the floor and clutching his chest. His felt as if he was tossed into a frozen lake.

“Banshee.” Marcus mumbled. He opened his palm and a small silver scythe like blade attached to a light blue silk scarf appeared in his hand.

The banshee seemed to dislike the metal as she hissed and veered away from it. Jericho got over the shock and slowly got up, his blades ablaze. Looking between Jericho and Marcus the banshee must’ve known how bad her situation was. Was she here for Marcus? If she was then she must’ve not expected him to have company.

Marcus took the initiative and flung the bladed scythe at the banshee, embedding it in her shoulder. The banshee let out a blood curdling wail which shattered the windows of the apartment and made Jericho and Marcus fall to their knees, holding their ears. Jericho winced and closed his eyes, he wished for the pain to stop, it felt as if shards of glass were tunneling into his ears and to his brain.

Fighting through the pain he looked up and saw the banshee slowly floating towards Marcus, who was curled into the fetal position, holding his ears. The wailing stopped but his head was still ringing. He forced himself to his feet, he tried to react as fast as could and tossed a dagger into the banshee’s back.

He watched as it passed through the specter, hitting the wall in front of her. She turned around and faced Jericho, jaw twitching and letting out a strangled noise that sounded like a deflating tire. For a cruel moment Jericho thought she was laughing.

“You creepy lil shit.” Jericho struggled. Raising his dagger, he changed his stance to better hold it. Willing the blades on fire again, he was willing to try this again with a different angle. “Let’s see if you’re immune to fire.”

He lunged with the intent to keep its attention. Slashing down at her, she quickly fazed through the wall, avoiding the attack. Once again her laugh echoed through the room.

“Undead bridesmaid is starting to piss me off.” He announced. Kneeling down beside Marcus, he patted his shoulder without looking, keeping eyes all around him. He took a moment to look at Marcus to see that he was in a worse shape than he thought.

He was holding his ears, black blood seeped through his fingers, shivering uncontrollably. “Make it stop… please.” He begged.

“Marcus…” He didn’t have time to worry as he felt the same cold as before. His instincts kicked in as he turned around and slashed out with his lit dagger. He received another dose of the banshee’s scream, he held his ears and watched her disappear once again.

Pulling the dagger out of the wall, now equipped with both daggers, he lit them once again. “It had to be a specter.” He mumbled, “Couldn’t have been a gremlin or troll, it had to be a specter.” Slowly he backed his way into the kitchen, keeping his eyes on his surroundings and Marcus. Once he felt safe enough, he quickly ransacked Marcus’ spice rack. “Please, please.” Feeling the cold wash over him once again he slashed out with his daggers in a wide arc, only to see nothing. Wondering where she went he gasped as his lungs froze as an icy hand gripped his heart. Looking down at his chest he saw a withered rotting arm protrude from his chest. Panicking he flailed his arms, hoping to grab the right seasoning.

The arm twisted and flexed, causing Jericho gasped in pain. Gripping a bishop shaped bottle, he slammed it against the counter, shattering the glass bottle and tossing the white contents on the arm. The banshee wailed and retreated, her skin burning from the contact of the salt, she pulled her arm out of Jericho.

Leaning against the counter, Jericho gasped for air, the relief of pain washed over him. “Thank the gods.” He inhaled.

Looking back he found the banshee gone, the presence of her vanished into the air, yet, he waited. And waited for her to return. Nothing.

Dropping to his knees and hands, he caught his breathe. “Marcus, please say something.” When he got no response he shuffled to him and rolled him over. “Gods. What did she do to you.” Resting him onto the couch he rushed to the phone and called Diana, “Come over NOW! Marcus needs help!”