THE MOMENT
“You believe us?” the dark-haired man asked.
“I told you they would,” the blonde man was quick to take credit for the idea. He wasn't in his own body, but the entire situation was his mistake. He'd learned just enough magic to be dangerous to himself, and that mystical knowledge came from Sharp Development. As soon as he decided things had gone wrong, he dragged his friend to their offices, and now they sat in front of a red-haired man in a white suit named Phoenix.
“Don't gotta believe you,” Phoenix grinned as golden stars glowed in his eyes for a brief moment. “I can see your souls are connected. That's not a simple spell. Accidental soul fusion aside…,” Phoenix changed his gaze to the man with dark hair to follow the shifting spirit. Their souls were joined together at the ends, forming a complete circle that rotated between both bodies. “... You do seem to have a knack for spell work.”
“How did you know we changed bodies again?” the blonde man asked.
“He said he can see us,” the accidental mage shook his head of dark hair at his friend's confusion. He couldn't blame him, they were both going through a lot.
“His eyes weren't glowing then!”
“That flash was for your benefit, I can see you just fine…,” he was talking to the blonde man, then turned to the other. They’d switched again. “... Even without the stars in my eyes.”
“And you said you can help us, right? How?” The blonde man asked.
“Of course,” Phoenix nodded. “Help will be here in just a moment, and you'll each have your own body back. Except.. Which ones are you supposed to be in?”
“I'm Parker, I’m supposed to be in that body,” the dark-haired man pointed at the other.
“I’m Liam, that one’s my body,” the blonde man nodded at the dark-haired one. As he answered the question, the office door opened. A pale teenager with crimped rainbow hair wearing a red blazer walked in as both men turned toward the sound.
“Gentlemen, this is Bijou. She’ll solve your problem in a jiffy,” he said.
“Are you a unicorn?” Liam asked from the blonde body. The magic he learned also went over magical creatures. The rainbow hair wasn’t a surefire giveaway; but, Bijou also had bright pink eyes.
“Something like that,” she nodded with a neutral, almost rigid expression. “Stand up,” she said and both men rose to their feet.
“Is this going to hurt?” Parker asked. They’d switched again and he was in the blonde body now.
“Is it going to take long?” Liam asked. Bijou gave each of them an extended look to communicate she’d heard them, and then she answered them both with a single answer.
“No.”
“You’ll have to excuse her, gentlemen, Bijou is in a bit of a rush. I had to call her away from something else for this, it’ll be over in a second.”
Bijou moved back, but the desk was in her way, so she walked between the two men to stand between them and the door. At seeing this, Phoenix stood from his own seat and moved to one side of the room.
“Why are you going over -,” Parker started to ask, but Bijou drew their attention.
“Focus on me,” she said. “Don’t move,” she added once both men were facing her. Her eyes darted around as if checking the finer points of their positions, then she gave a subtle nod.
“Ready.” She said it, then remained still.
“Do we need to do anything?” Liam asked. He was currently in the blonde body.
“Just stay quiet and still, please. Gotta time it right,” Phoenix answered.
Liam went silent and waited. It was something he hadn’t quite had a chance to do since the fusion; it was nice to see Parker could stay quiet too. Now that there was nothing else competing for his attention, Liam could feel the shift happen. He could feel himself leaving the blonde body and gaining the familiar sensations of his own.
“Now,” Phoenix said suddenly.
Before Liam or Parker could register what happened, Bijou drew a sword to sliced the air, and their souls between them. In a swift motion she severed their connection, then sheathed the sword. She wasn’t carrying it when she came in, and as soon as the sword was returned, the scabbard disintegrated and disappeared.
“Thans Bijou,” Phoenix nodded. “You can get back to the team now.” Bijou nodded at him, and waved at the two men before leaving again without a word.
“Did she just cut through our souls with a sword?” Liam asked from his own dark-haired body. “Can I learn how to do that?” Truth be told, he wasn’t remotely close to giving up on magic. The minor accident had been handled easily, and he would be more careful going forward.
“It’s not magic, that’s what the sword does,” Phoenix addressed Liam directly. “That sword was Unique Soul #57, La Espada. It’s the only sword like it in the universe, and it has the power to cut every version of anything it slices. Especially souls.”
“Every version? What does that mean?” Liam asked. But, Parker focused on a different angle.
“And you put a teenage girl in charge of it?”
“It’s what it sounds like,” Phoenix nodded. “You’re aware of the multiverse. If that blade were to cut your physical body, every alternate version of you would also be wounded. As you can imagine, it can do quite a bit of damage to souls,” he answered that question first, then turned to Parker.
“Referring to Bijou as a ‘teenage girl’ really diminishes all aspects of decision making that went into it. She was chosen to be the sword’s guardian by Ms. Dana Sharp, owner of Sharp Development. Ms. Sharp runs a multiversal corporation and makes thousands of decisions every day; I’d put her record against yours any day,” Phoenix smirked.
“So, let’s talk fees,” he added.
“Fees??” Liam asked.
“But, you didn’t say anything about charging us!” Parker protested.
“You came to us to get you out of a situation you put yourself into; of course there’s a fee,” Phoenix chuckled. “Even teenagers know that much.”