The Beast's identity.

"Are you grown men done talking about your fee-fees?" Margo asked as she and Alice descended the Stairs again.

"Well, let's ask Quentin!" I teased.

"Don't you have better things to do than kicking me while I'm down." Quentin snapped.

"So no?" Margo piled on, as we both chuckled and Eliot did his best to hold back his laughter.

"Well, it doesn't matter either way." Margo sat down opposite to me on the couch.

"Time for some answers from tall, dark and MIA."

"Sure." I shrugged, "Ask away."

"Where have you been all this time? We thought you died after that hag took off after you." She asked.

"Believe it or not. Fillory."

At that Quentin's snapped to attention

"Fillory?" Alice asked, confused.

"It's real?"

"Yeah. That monster-"

"Mothman?"

"Yes. He's from Fillory actually. And he's basically the dark lord right now. It's crazy. I met this guy from the third years? He's still alive and he told me what happened. Short version, they got slaughtered. He escaped, and is in hiding. And the quest has officially advanced another step."

"Yeah? How?" Eliot asked.

"I know who the Beast is."

"Yeah. So do we. It's Christopher Plover." Eliot replied.

"Nope. Christopher Plover is not the Beast."

"What? But we saw-"

"You assumed. But no. It's Martin. Martin Chatwin."

"And how are you so sure?" Quentin asked, "Martin loved Fillory. He wasn't some.. some thing like that!"

"Well, when I went to Fillory, I uh.. caught this creature. A questing creature. They're these-"

"Wish granting animals. There's seven of them." Quentin interrupted, pumped up, "Which one did you meet?"

"The Great Cock." I answered.

Margo raised an eyebrow.

"The Great Cock? Was he a- please tell me he's not what I think he is."

"If you're thinking an abominable man-peacock hybrid, yes. That's what he was. Complete with the creepy beak mouth and beady eyes."

Margo mock sighed in relief.

"And how great was he?" Eliot joked.

"Right up your alley actually." I played along, "Snazzy vests, great taste in drinks, pretty decent fella."

"And he told you Martin Chatwin was the Beast?" Quentin asked.

"No. I deduced that myself. See, the questing creatures have two primary functions in Fillory. One, is to grant wishes. And the second, is to grant quests."

"Okay, so what?" Margo asked.

"So, the land of Fillory is basically magical North Korea right now. The sky is ashen, like out of a... well, fantasy story, about datk lords and chosen ones." I explained, "And so naturally, the questing creatures would grant a quest to free the land from evil, right? Restore the rightful ruler to the throne, yadda yadda. You know the shit."

"Yes."

"Except they didn't. No quests granted to me, whatsoever. That can only mean one thing."

"The current ruler of Fillory is the rightful king!" Quentin exclaimed.

"Exactly!" I pointed out, "And unless Ember is getting extra masochistic, I don't think a god of chaos would install a boring old man like Plover as king. And Jane Chatwin is on Earth, clearly. So that leaves Rupert and Martin Chatwin.

But think about it like this. Who among the two, Rupert and Martin has more reason to be in power? Who wants to never be weak again, so that the hurt of the past doesn't repeat?"

"Martin. Of course."

"And there it was. The answer." I said, leaning back into my seat, "The only question is now, how do we kill him."

"Your laser gun was pretty good at dealing with him. Why not just use that?" Alice suggested.

"Wait, hold on. Laser gun?" Margo interjected.

"You have a laser gun?"

"Yeah." I pulled it out and handed it to her.

"It's real?" Eliot asked, leaning over to see it.

"Yup. Made it myself. It's technically a plasma pistol, but propelled plasma bolt cannon doesn't roll off the tongue. So I just call it a laser pistol."

"This and that coat of yours.... What are you?" Alice asked.

"A scientist. Adventurer. Field researcher. Former senator." That got looks from the four of them.

"I had a phase. Thought I could solve all of the world's problems by myself. Got my wife assassinated is all that did. So now....well, I gave up on saving the world. The world that takes my wife away for trying to save it is not a world worth saving, I figured." I deflected, putting on a sad face, "And then, as of late, I'm a magician." I answered, holding back all the crucial details.

"But let's get back to the topic. No. The laser gun won't work. He has seen it already. The next time he won't even allow me to pull it out. He'll be prepared. He's a master magician after all. We will need something new." I changed the topic.

Let them simmer in the mystery for a bit-

"You're really going to breeze past that juicy history after teasing us huh?" Eliot asked, "How sadistic of you."

"It's a painful part of my admittedly, short life. And I'm not nearly drunk enough to reveal it. Mabe some other day."

"Sure." Margo sympathized in an uncharacteristic move on her part.

She was usually the person who couldn't see it from someone else's point of view. Eliot was the heart of the duo, while she was the brain.

"And what did you guys do after I left? Aside from having your childhood destroyed."

"Ugh. Don't even talk about him." Margo groaned, her brows furrowing at the thought of the pedophile author, Christopher Plover.

"But, we got the ghosts." Margo added.

"I got the ghosts." Eliot corrected, "While you two bemoaned the loss of your childhoods. And pulverized ghost Plover's nuts."

"If you want to be a nitpicky bitch about it..." Margo replied, poking Eliot.

"They're in the bench there." She pointed out.

I got up and walked over to the low bench and pulled up the pillows, revealing the false bottom I had stolen the Emerson's Alloy from.

It was empty. Well, not empty. It had a Playboy magazine issue from three years ago. But otherwise nothing useful.

I raised an eyebrow.

"They're not here?"

"They're not?" Eliot asked, walking over and saw the empty storage space.

"Someone stole it. And one of our legacy books. Shit. We need to find them."

"Who? One of us at the cottage?" Margo asked.

"Todd?" Quentin suggested.

But I knew better.

"No. It's not Todd. I think I know who. There was this girl... She was taking something from here a while back too. I'll fnd her tomorrow."

"I'll come with you." Eliot nodded, "No one steals our legacy books and gets away with it."

"What's in those books?" I asked.

"Oh my sweet summer child." Eliot smirked, "You'll find out at the year's end."

Oh! So they're the sample questions for the final exam at the cottage.

I know that one. It starts with secrets magic and leads the students to Antarctica

Brakebills South.

"Alright. So that's that then." I finished my drink and holstered my gun.

"The quest is at a standstill until I can build a better weapon against the Beast. Tomorrow we will go and find the thief. And in the meantime, Quentin can sort out this mess he's in."

I got up to leave, and stretched when Eliot caught the hem of my shirt.

"Where are you going?" He asked, "It's not even what, 7 in the evening?"

"6.45." Alice checked her watch.

"I walked through the Fillorian woods for two days straight, constantly high, because the air is apparently part opium and in the forest, even more so.

I'm just tuckered out. I need some sleep before I am back in ship shape. So I am going to be out for a solid day or two. Coincidentally, tomorrow is off due to the Beast incident so... Adios, amigos!"

"Goodbye granny~" Eliot teased.

"Miss you, honeybuns." I teased right back, ruffling his hair, relishing his distress.

Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of misery.

I smiled as I left the cottage to Eliot's mock glare.

It's good to have friends.

Even if I fully intend to milk them for all they've got.

And no. Not like that, you pervert.

.

Returning back to the dorm, I laid back down on the bed and with a thought the lab flipped out from the wall and the floors, as I telekinetically set up the portal gun again.

Now I just need to wait and watch as the prizes come and fall into my lap.

Tomorrow, Quentin will be found out, blamed for the incident, and expelled.

And then, I will strike, like a vulture, offering him the devil's deal. One he will have no choice but to sign on to.

For now though, I need to work on finding Wanda and bringing her back.

I went through the logs of the portal gun again and checked them once more for traces of chaos magic.

The thing about the portal gun setup is that it has three parst.

The portal gun, to open portals to other worlds.

The probing mechanism to test out the worlds. It was a small probing rod that extended into a portal and checked the standard stuff.

Energy readings, atmospheric composition, soil composition, etc.

Even takes images from a microcamera on it's shaft, among a myriad of other features.

And it also checks for unusual magical composition.

And Wanda's energy has a very particular effect on the chaos of the worlds it interacts with that it impartsis easy to pick out with the right knowledge and equipment.

In the world's the gun checked through, eighteen of them had an excess of chaos element in them.

A particle tinged with red.

And alongside that, they had also had a spatial boundary breach in their worlds.

Yup. She's been through these. Now I just need to narrow down the pattern of the magical formula she's using.

Knowing her, it's probably randomised to prevent anyone from tracking her back to me.

She's just that loyal. I mean, I didn't even expect her to agree to risk this against such overwhelming odds. Much less agree instantly, without question.

It was that moment that I began to call Wanda my wife, rather than a girlfriend.

She's definitely wife material.

Simulating the movement patterns through the worlds confirmed my suspicions.

She was using a randomised formula.

That makes it difficult.

I thought over it for a moment.

Looks like I'll need to upgrade my equipment faster than I expected.

Very well. It's decided then.

I will go on a resource gathering trip tomorrow, after bagging Quentin's soul in that deal.

Till then...

I yawned.

"Let's get that beauty sleep."