Chapter Text
Stepping out on the other side of the Gate of Balance made Call grin widely. He watched the wide eyes of the assembly members with muted amusement. Alastair was smiling at them, so was Master Rufus. Jasper and Gwenda were smiling too but it wasn’t so much at Aaron, just Call and Tamara. Call felt the urge to sigh. He didn’t know what they were going to do about that. They needed to figure out how to fix this- fix everything so that Aaron could live his life, could go to the Collegium like he had always wanted. Call knew how much Aaron wanted to be a mage, wanted to be a normal mage. Well, a normal Chaos Mage but still.
“You made it through,” Master North said, sounding in disbelief. He turned up his nose. “Hmph.”
“What now?” Tamara asked, her fingers tightening around Call’s. Call squeezed her fingers back, his other hand squeezing Aaron’s. He squeezed back, turning his gaze from the masters to smile at him. It was weak and shaky and Call knew it was hard for him to look at the masters. Call smiled back, urging Aaron to just focus on him.
“You place your handprints on the walls,” Rufus said. Call turned to look at him. He looked proud. “You have graduated. You walked through the final gate. You have proved yourselves.” Something flickered in his gaze and his face softened as he looked at Aaron. “All of you. Go.”
Swallowing, Call felt Tamara tug at their hands. He went with her, pulling Aaron after them. As Tamara went to where her parents and Kimiya had placed their prints, Call let go of his friends and walked over to where he knew his mother’s hand was. He tried to remember where it was from when he, Tamara and Aaron had stumbled upon the Hall Of Graduates in their Iron Year.
When he found it, Call stopped in front of it. He reached over to brush his fingers along the indent of his mother’s palm. “She would be proud of you,” Alastair said. Call didn’t turn to see him. He felt tears well in his eyes. “I know I am.”
Call made a small noise that lodged itself in his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut and let his hand fall. When he felt someone’s hand slip into his, the tears fell. Call gripped Aaron’s hand like it was the only thing keeping him upright. He didn’t want to find out if that was true or not. Call turned to face Aaron, eyes fluttering open. Some of his tears clumped against his lashes and Aaron reached over with his other hand to brush away Call’s tears.
Aaron smiled at him, a smile so deeply Aaron that it made Call’s heart stutter in his chest. He felt that warm feeling spread through his chest that he always did when Aaron smiled at him. God, he had missed his best friend.
“Put your hand next to mine?” Call asked, voice wobbly. Aaron’s eyes widened a bit and they swam with green. It seemed like Alex’s blue and Aaron’s green were fighting one another, clashing in Aaron’s eyes. Call was mesmerised. After a moment of hesitation, Aaron smiled and then nodded.
“Whatever you want,” he said, a weight to those words that Call thought he might never understand. Aaron squeezed their intertwined hands before letting go so Call could do his handprint. Call turned to the wall, his eyes skimming over the words next to the print of his mother’s hand. Sarah Novak.
“Press your dominant hand to the wall,” Alastair instructed, voice as soft as Alastair ever got and only ever with his son. Call glanced over his shoulder to see his father’s wispy figure. His eyes traced the lines of his face, the curls of his hair, the frame of his glasses. He was undoubtedly Alastair Hunt but something in Call twisted, still hating that his father had to give up his life for him. He hadn’t wanted anyone to give up their lives for him. Now both his best friend and his father had given their lives. Well, Aaron’s (the first time) was a little more involuntary but still. At least it no longer sent terror coursing through him whenever Call looked at his father. Progress. “Let your hand sink into the Earth and your name will write itself.”
Call nodded. He turned back to the wall and raised his right hand. His fingers were trembling. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and placed his hand against the wall, right next to where Sarah’s was, to the left so it was like their hands were mirrored, even though hers was smaller than his now. The rock gave way under his touch like it was made of soft clay. He waited for a moment and then withdrew his hand. It felt tingly, like there were hundreds of small fingers brushing against his skin.
Call watched in awe as letters swooped into the wall below his hand. Callum Hunt. The words had inscribed themselves into the wall in Call’s own handwriting. He smiled. Cool. This was one of the reasons he had actually gone to magic school. This was one of the reasons magic could be cool instead of dark and scary like it had been most of Call’s experiences over the past five years.
Call turned to Aaron, waiting for him to reach out for the wall. There was something causing him to hesitate. It took a moment for Call to realise what it was.
Rolling his eyes, Call reached over to grab Aaron’s left hand. He guided it to the wall, flattening Aaron’s palm out next to his own with gentle fingers. Call had left enough space next to his so that they looked to be a set; his on the right and Aaron’s on the left. Of course, Aaron’s— Alex’s hand, really— was larger than Call’s but he didn’t think it looked silly. He rather liked how it looked, actually. He let his hand fall but Aaron kept his there for a few more moments before pulling back. He looked down at his hand, amazed. He then looked at Call and they grinned at each other.
“Aaron,” Alastair whispered, causing Aaron to look over, head tilted slightly in wonder as to what Alastair wanted to say to him. Call looked too but not for the same reason. No one had told Alastair that they had pushed Aaron’s soul into Alex’s body.
“Dad...” Call started. Aaron’s eyes widened as he realised what had happened. “How did you-”
“The wall,” was all Alastair said. Call furrowed his eyebrows but turned to look at Aaron’s handprint. A gasp escaped him when he saw that next to the print of Aaron’s hand, nestled between his thumb and index finger and Call’s own thumb and index finger were the words Aaron Stewart in Aaron's own handwriting.
Call laughed breathlessly. Aaron was staring at the words, his mouth agape. “Not Aaron because of Alex’s body, my ass,” Call muttered. A grin slowly spread across his face. He knew Aaron would struggle with being in Alex’s body, Call was fully aware of that, but he hoped this gave Aaron some semblance of the fact he was very much still Aaron Stewart, host be damned. Aaron didn’t acknowledge Call, he just reached out to brush the pads of his fingers across his name.
“What’re you two ogling at?” Tamara’s voice came from behind them. The two of them whirled around to face her. They looked at each other, at Aaron’s name, and then back at Tamara. They both smiled, Call’s more a grin and Aaron’s rather sheepish.
“Nothing,” Aaron said. “Not important.”
Tamara narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him and Call apart. Call made a small distressed sound as he almost went sprawling to the ground. A surprisingly solid brush of wind kept him from falling. Call smiled gratefully at his dad. Alastair smiled back, the shock mostly gone from his face but he kept glancing at Aaron. Call wondered what he saw. He wondered if he saw Aaron like Call did or if he saw Alex.
Call looked over. He found it difficult to see the person before him as anything other than Aaron. There was something in Call that just knew this was his best friend, there was this feeling in the pit of his stomach that let him know this was his best friend, his counterweight. Maybe it was a Makar thing, but Call didn’t think so.
Next to a nervous Aaron was Tamara, staring at the wall, her expression blank. “Tamara?” Aaron tried, voice full of his nerves.
“We need to do something about your name,” she stated, arms crossing over her chest. As she did that, one of her hips cocked out and her braids swished behind her. She looked a lot like the Tamara Rajavi Call remembered meeting at the Iron Trial. God, that felt like so long ago. He snorted to himself. It was a long time ago. Five years.
“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, ignoring Call’s amusement at the situation. He fiddled with the ring on his right index finger. Call’s eyebrows drew together. He hadn’t ever seen Alex wear something like that before. Call wondered where it came from. Call couldn’t make it all out but it was a black band outlined with silver.
“You obviously can’t keep going by Alex Strike,” Tamara said, her voice dripping with playful condescension. Still, she kept her voice calm, soft. “Because you’re not him and we know that but not everybody does. They’ll treat you differently.”
Aaron’s face screwed up. “I don’t see how I could-”
“You mean like how I still go by Call,” Call said, ignoring Aaron’s protests. Aaron gave him an exasperated look that was lined with a fondness that Aaron always seemed to have when he looked at Call. It made his heart do flips in his chest. “Everyone knows I have Constantine Madden’s soul in my body- well, it’s Maugris’ but still. I’m still Callum Hunt and there’s nothing anybody can say or do to make that not true.” He leveled Aaron with a look that he hoped portrayed how much he meant what he was saying. “The same way nobody will be able to just decide that you’re Alex Strike just because you look a little like him.”
“I look a lot like him,” Aaron pointed out. Then he screwed up his face like he couldn’t believe what he’d just said. “No, actually, I look exactly like him-”
“You don’t,” Call said firmly. Aaron gave him a look that said he didn’t believe Call. “Your face is all wrong and you hold yourself differently. You move differently and speak differently.” He pointed to the wall where Aaron’s name still shone slightly. “Also, the creepy weird magic cave wall said you were Aaron, so...” Call shrugged, making an indifferent sound.
Aaron rolled his eyes but it was fond. Aaron had a way of giving Call an exasperated look that was somehow drowning in fondness. Still, Aaron didn’t argue with him. “Okay,” Aaron said instead. He smiled. He then turned to look at where the masters, mages and assembly members were all still gathered, letting the three students and Alastair have some space. A frown pulled at Aaron’s lips. “Now what?”
“You’ve graduated,” Alastair said. Everyone turned to look at him. “You are no longer students of the Magisterium. You can decide what to do with your lives from here.”
“We should talk with the Masters,” Tamara said. She was looking at the mages weirdly, like she was expecting their heads to blow up if she stared hard enough. “They’re all whispering about us.”
“When are people not?” Call muttered. Aaron shot him an amused look as they started walking over to the mages. Call hobbled on after them, his leg aching from all its use.
“Call.”
He paused. “Yeah, Dad?”
“I have to go but I’ll see you soon, alright?” Alastair said.
“I’ll see you at home?” Call tried.
Alastair nodded. “Of course.” Something flashed in his eyes. “You can take the car. Get her back home.”
Call nodded, even though he wasn’t as confident as he thought he should’ve been. He was okay at driving, don’t get him wrong, it was just that he didn’t really trust himself with it. Maybe he could make Aaron drive. Aaron had always had a hard time saying no to him.
Alastair laughed, as if hearing Call’s thoughts. Perhaps it was written all over his face. He had a habit of doing that, especially to Alastair. Alastair lifted his hand, wind brushing against Call’s curls. “Tell Aaron to be careful,” he said, confirming Call’s suspicions. He leaned forward and Call felt air brush his face. “Both of you, please be careful.” And then he was gone and Call’s eyes fluttered closed. He didn’t want his dad to be gone. There was still a part of him that wondered if he would ever see his father again whenever he wasn’t around.
“Call?”
Call’s eyes opened and he turned. He saw Aaron and Tamara waiting for him, Tamara a few steps ahead of Aaron. Aaron had been the one to call for him. Call smiled at them and forced his body to move. Aaron had one of his hands outstretched so Call took it, thankful for the grounding pressure Aaron brang. The three of them walked over to the mages. Call barely listened to what they had to say. He didn’t want their legal talk to ruin Call’s happy buzz. Of course, they had to ruin it anyway.
Master North’s eyebrows furrowed together. “I don’t see why we should let Alex change his name.” Call had never wanted to punch someone more and he spent (regrettably) a lot of time with Jasper nowadays.
Tamara rolled her eyes. “It wouldn’t hurt anyone. Besides, can you blame him for wanting to after everything Anastasia put him through? Wouldn’t you want to get as far from your psychotic, borderline abusive mother?”
North’s eyes scrutinized Aaron for a moment. He opened his mouth but Rufus bet him to it. “Let the boy change his name,” Rufus said, a finality to his voice that made goosebumps spread across Call’s arms even though it wasn’t directed at him. Master North turned to him, his expression a bit shocked. Master Rufus seemed indifferent. “He may choose whatever name he pleases, one he will not tell whomever he pleases. He may choose to change his appearance in any way he wishes and we cannot interfere.” Rufus leveled his unsettling gaze fully on Master North and Call watched him shiver. Call could sympathise, not that he felt very bad for him at the moment. “We have kept many things that transpired during other wars to ourselves, whomever he chooses to be after this shouldn’t make much of a difference.”
“What if-” Master North started but cut himself off, thinking better of it.
Rufus narrowed his eyes, something sparking in them, something bright and dangerous. “What if he becomes evil again?” North winced. “You need not worry about that. I will keep an eye on him myself and have regular check-ins with him to see how he is faring.” Rufus somehow managed to scrutinise North further, the mage shrinking in on himself. Something sparked in Call and he almost laughed when he realised it was pride. “As an assembly member taking up Graves’ position, it will be my sole responsibility to make sure that whomever Alex Strike becomes does not become something twisted and worrisome.”
Call felt himself smile without his permission. He didn’t listen to much more of the conversation, he just remembered walking out of the Hall Of Graduates, a giddy feeling in his chest. Aaron and Tamara were on either side of him and Gwenda and Jasper were walking behind them. Call knew they’d have to tell Jasper and Gwenda about Aaron eventually because there was no way in hell Call wasn’t going to keep Aaron in his life and he doubted Tamara was willing to give him up either, even if that was what Aaron wanted. Call knew he didn’t and wouldn’t. Aaron wouldn’t’ve tried so hard to stay if he planned on leaving.
Also Call, begrudgingly, doubted Jasper or Gwenda were going anywhere any time soon.
↑≈△○꩜
Call was so tired by the time they made it back to their rooms. He rubbed his eyes, muttered a good night to Gwenda and Jasper as they went to their rooms before plonking down on the couch. Havoc whined at his feet, his head resting on Call’s knee. Call had his eyes closed but reached blindly down to pat Havoc anyway. “You look tired,” Aaron said. All Call could manage was a hum. Havoc then whined again and Call opened his eyes. He watched his wolf warily for a moment before he smiled.
“Go on then,” Call said. He let go and gestured towards Aaron. Havoc stayed for a moment and Call thought that maybe he had misinterpreted what Havoc had wanted. It was much better when Aaron could tell him what Havoc was really trying to convey.
But then Call’s worries died when Havoc barked once before bounding over to Aaron. He jumped up on him, putting his front paws on Aaron’s stomach. A small, genuine laugh bubbled from Aaron’s mouth. The sound sent sparks down Call’s spine and he smiled as he watched Aaron interact with his wolf. He had missed this, missed his best friend so much. Aaron scratched Havoc behind the ears. “Yes yes, I know I know,” Aaron laughed. He smiled. “I missed you too, boy.”
Call yawned, the stretch of it sending an ache through his head. He groaned. “God, my head is pounding.”
Aaron’s face twisted with worry. He scratched Havoc’s ears. “Go lie down.”
“I don’t need to lie down,” Call lied.
Aaron gave him a look, a look that Call knew well because Aaron gave it to him all the time. Even when he was in Call’s mind, Call could tell whenever Aaron gave him that look. It basically meant: ‘There are so many things contradicting that, you’re an idiot.’ “I just spent a year in your head, Call. I know that you do and that you refuse to let anyone help you.” He then practically manhandled Call into his bedroom, Havoc trailing behind them, tail wagging from side to side. “Also, I know you. Sleep.”
“But-”
“You used a lot of chaos magic yesterday,” Aaron said, tone leaving no room to argue. “You’re exhausted, I know you are because so am I.” Aaron pushed him down to be sitting on his bed. Something strange flicked in Aaron’s eyes. “Sleep. We’ll head out tomorrow morning.”
Aaron turned to leave but Call caught his wrist. “What about you? You should sleep too.”
“I don’t have a bed,” Aaron pointed out.
Call shrugged, hand falling to hold Aaron’s. “Just use mine.”
“You’ll be using yours.” An amused smile crossed Aaron’s face. He glanced at how Call was now fiddling with his fingers. “Remember?”
Call rolled his eyes. “You can sleep in it too, Aaron.” Aaron made a face and Call snorted. “Don’t say you don’t want to because I know you’re tired.”
“Won’t it be... weird?” Aaron asked. His right fingers twitched, something they did when he was nervous, something that was so inherently Aaron it made the rest of the tension from the fight and the gate leave Call’s body, leaving him feeling all of that exhaustion tenfold.
“Nothing we haven’t done before,” Call pointed out, yawning again. “And we’ve been sharing my body for the past year, my bed shouldn’t be very different to that.” Call gave Aaron a look and Aaron rolled his eyes. He toed off his boots, Call hurrying to do the same. Call then pulled on their intertwined hands and Aaron stumbled forward a bit before falling on top of Call. Aaron snorted, trying to push himself away but Call just clung to him.
“Call-”
“Shh,” Call hushed. He wrapped his arms around Aaron’s neck and buried his face into his hair. “I just got you back. Stay.”
Aaron laughed again but relaxed and let Call hug him. He was a bit heavy but Call welcomed the weight and let it ground him. Call’s eyes closed and he felt himself drift off. Before he could fully, he heard Aaron say, “Do you really not see me as Alex?”
Call’s eyes fluttered open and he looked down at the top of Aaron's head. Aaron didn’t look up at him. Call didn’t blame him. “No,” Call said. Aaron made a noise and Call poked his cheek. “Honestly, I really don’t. You’re so much different to Alex.” Call looked up at the ceiling, his finger absently tracing over the skin of Aaron's cheek. “I mean, it was always you that had been the one to assure me that I wasn’t Constantine. It was you who never thought I was anyone other than Callum Hunt, not even after you had seen all of Maugris’ memories.”
Aaron made a small sound of disapproval. He hated how Call was right. “But I...” Aaron snuck his arms under Call and held on tightly, head pressing into Call’s chest. “But I still look like...”
Call huffed. “You remember what Alex looked like before he got devoured, right?” There was a moment of nothing before Aaron nodded. “Then you know his eyes are blue, not green.” Call could practically feel Aaron’s frown but Call kept going. “And he always scowled like he wanted to gut everyone who so much as looked at him wrong. Your face is different to Alex’s, your features are softer and you have little tells that make you Aaron. And you’re kind. Alex was an ass while you’re so kind to me, to Tamara, to Havoc.” Call snorted. “Dude, if the weird creepy cave wall says you’re still Aaron and Havoc hasn’t ripped your throat out, you’re Aaron.”
Havoc barked his approval from next to them, his tail wagging and thumping against the sheets. He rested his head against Aaron’s back and Call could feel the chuckle that rumbled through Aaron’s chest deep in his stomach. “You’re such a sap,” Aaron said, voice muffled against Call’s shirt.
Call snorted. “Sure.” He closed his eyes again. He yawned which made his next words softer than usual. “But only for you.”