It is a good evening. Jeremy finally managed to bring Corlux to imbue his music player with enhanced magic. Now, he does not have to worry again if someone cracked his discs. His machine can now interpolate the lost data as long as the disc is still in one piece. “Now Corlux, enjoy the gifts of heaven with me!” He handed his magician friend a bottle of beer. Corlux’ favorite kind.

But the former child prodigy waved off the offer. “Gift of heaven, bah! What you are listening to is just the same old things all over again! I thought you could do better!”

“Hey!” Jeremy was slightly offended with that blunt remark. That is not true, the pattern in the music is what is called genre. “But you are right… But in the end, is it not all about patterns?” Whatever, Corlux has to deal with this background tune now. He will not swap the disc just because Mr. Special does not like it.

“Patterns this, pattern that. You think, you write -“

“I observe!”

“You observe, you think, you write, and then you rot in this coffin and nothing changes in the world.”

Jeremy sighed. This again. Well, Corlux has always been like this, and he’s got a point. The good host put the magician’s staff aside and sat himself next to the sassy friend. “That’s why I often invite you over, so that you know where my manuscripts are when I die.”

Corlux laughed out loud. “This thing with death again! Why do you wait anyway? Why not publish it now? You’ve got some good stuff, no? At least I could use some of your ideas to poke on Aneon.”

“Well, if you publish my things after I die, and my works really turn out to be much-read, I will become that mysterious person no one ever knew about and everyone regretted overlooking. But if I publish now, I’m just a honky who seeks attention.” Jeremy stood up again to fetch his tea. Since Corlux turned down his beer, he poured him a cup too. “Anyways,” he continued as he put aside his kettle. “What is the plan now? We achieved the goal of confronting Aneon in front of Ken, and you saw how it turned out – not good.”

The magical genius leaned back on the couch. “We are just at the very start, my friend. We now need some of the involved, and actually send them off to a magic school.” Corlux stared at his cup, then decided to pick it up. “Mind you, I also do this for self-interest. I wished I could go to Iluskia and come back as a master, but I’ve come to realize that I am more needed here than there. If we can send off someone, they could teach me when they get back. But by that time, everything needs to be set up.”

“Hm- I know some.”

“Promising ones?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Surely, if they have the magical affinity, does it not mean they have the innate potential? But I know that there are other things one should take into consideration.” He glanced at Corlux “Like whether they will be able to stand you enough in the first place to teach you anything at all.”

“Hmp!”

“Agnes has put into her friend’s head the idea that she should consider traveling to Iluskia. My cousin’s fiance is already setting up himself to go by himself. It’s all smart and fancy with his water motors, but he forgot the fact that he needs to pass the Bormenian harbors in the first place. Which is not possible.”

Corlux sat up. “You rotten piece of meat! And no mention of Ken’s brother!”

Jeremy put down his cup and looked Corlux straight in the eyes. “Andy doesn’t like you. Besides, he’s too young. And he is Ken’s brother. It’s not someone you should use for your own benefit. Ken would not like it.”

“But Ken would like it if his brother could be… free”

The good host just sighed. “I don’t think the agreement with you would make him truly free. If you want to help the boy be free, then let him study to Iluskia – or Rorg, where he actually wishes to go – and don’t expect him to come back just to teach you magic. If you leave it up to him whether he comes back or not, and don’t expect him to do you a favour, then… maybe. But business with friends is always bad business, mind you.”

Corlux went silent. Jeremy has always got a point. It’s Ken and Jeremy he is dealing with. He will not be able to get around them, and if he wants to make an agreement, it has to be serious. And he knows that Jeremy from then on will not treat them as friends until the “business” is over. Which is not a problem, but it will hurt Ken. “But I feel bad if I were to send off someone else and let Andy rot in that hut. I know his brother is taking good care of him, and we also help as much as we can. You know what I mean.”

Jeremy sipped on his tea again, and refilled Corlux’ cup when he saw it empty. “Let’s make it like this. We send off Agnes’ friend and Andy. But I take charge of Andy and he is free of any agreement – he will return the favor by himself, in his own way anyway. You make the agreement with Agnes’ friend, but also make sure she makes it there – travel, housing, and so on. We could coordinate with my cousin’s fiance so that he can travel out with the group, but he will manage himself and get by without any help of us in the first place. We pack friendly duty, business, and charity in one go and everyone is happy.”

Corlux picked up his tea. “Sounds interesting. However,” now he holds the cup, gently, sprinkling some magic in it, “how about the money? We went from sending one person to three. Just to ease our conscience.”

“We put all the money we collected on Agnes’ friend. I will coordinate with Ken about Andy, and the last guy has all things settled anyway. He already send my cousing to Iluskia so she can set up their home and so on. That guy has all things planned except for how he wants to get out from here. So we are just doing him a big favor with something very small – let him travel with Agnes’ friend. And then he will also watch over her – naturally.”

This is typical of Jeremy. He already got things planned out even before Corlux entered the room, it seems. “Jeremy,” he then said as he watched colorful clouds pop out from his tea cup. “You know that you could be terrifying if you have other things in mind, don’t you?”

Being his truest self, Jeremy shrugged. “I know that people like me always walk the thin line between heaven and hell. I just hope that when I trip, I fall head-first into heaven.” The host stood up, fetching more tea.

The two discussed, argued, nagged each other for some more time before Jeremy called it a day. Now the plan is set, and all that is left is to do what has been already planned.

As last thing he did for the day, Jeremy pulled out his net-plate and replied to Ken’s message: “He will be fine. Don’t worry.”