Chapter 4: Damage Control
1332 Words
Sera shot him a glare, though it lacked real heat. “You’re not helping.”
“Not trying to,” Ace said, his smirk widening. “But if it makes you feel any better, at least your magic doesn’t go out of its way to ruin everything you touch. Mine? It’s like a bad joke that never ends.”
Sera tilted her head, her annoyance giving way to curiosity again. “So… what’s the deal with your bad luck? Is it a curse, or were you just born with it?”
Ace shrugged. “Cursed. Long story. Something about my family angering the wrong sorcerer a few generations back. Now I’m stuck with it. Can’t go a day without something breaking, falling apart, or, I don’t know, getting attacked by rogue candy canes.”
Sera let out a small laugh despite herself. “Sounds exhausting.”
“You have no idea,” Ace muttered, brushing the last of the glittery dust from his coat.
“Well,” Sera said, her lips curving into a tentative smile, “maybe bad luck and chaos magic aren’t so different after all. Messy, unpredictable, and superb at ruining a perfectly fine day.”
Ace snorted. “That sounds about right though I can't say this day was ruined.”
“Well,” Sera said after a moment, a sly grin spreading across her face, “if your luck is always bad, then maybe hanging around me isn’t so terrible. My chaos magic has a habit of turning disasters into opportunities. Maybe your bad luck and my chaos can cancel each other out.”
Ace snorted. “Or they could make things ten times worse.” He muttered, glancing at the still-wriggling pile of candy canes. “Like getting covered in glitter and fighting sentient snacks."
Sera couldn’t help but laugh, and despite himself, the man’s lips twitched as though he might smile.
“What’s your name?” she asked, holding out a hand.
He hesitated, then shook it reluctantly. “Ace.”
“Sera,” she said, her grin widening. “Welcome to my chaos.”
Ace shook his head, but he didn’t walk away. For a guy who hated people, he seemed surprisingly willing to stick around.
Sera Laughed. For the first time in hours, she felt a flicker of lightness. Her chaos magic might have ruined her evening, but somehow, it had also landed her here—with a Grinchy, glitter-covered stranger who understood what it meant to live under the weight of unpredictable forces.
Her laughter faded as she glanced back at the chaos they’d left in their wake. The candy canes were finally still, though they lay scattered across the cobblestones like defeated soldiers in some sugary battle. A few market vendors grumbled as they picked up toppled wares, shooting dirty looks in her and Ace’s direction.
“Well,” Sera said, brushing her hands on her skirt. “That was… something.”
“Something terrible,” Ace said, giving the nearest candy cane a wary nudge with his boot, as if expecting it to leap back to life.
“Aw, come on. You didn't enjoy all this festive fun?” Sera teased, gesturing at the mess around them.
Ace gave her a flat look. “Define ‘fun.’”
Sera grinned. “The kind of fun where you don’t know whether to laugh or cry, so you do both and hope for the best.”
Ace opened his mouth to respond, but a loud shout interrupted him.
“You two!”
They turned to see an irate vendor marching toward them, his face as red as the striped candy canes scattered across the ground.
“This your doing?” he demanded, gesturing wildly at his overturned cart.
Sera raised her hands defensively. “Technically, yes, but—”
“It’s not like we planned it,” Ace cut in, crossing his arms.
The vendor’s glare shifted between them, his hands on his hips. “That doesn’t change the fact that my entire stock is ruined! Those candy canes were imbued with—”
“—special seasonal properties,” Sera finished for him, waving a hand. “Yeah, I figured. And I’m really, really sorry. My magic kind of… misbehaved.”
Ace snorted. “Understatement of the year.”
She shot him a glare before turning back to the vendor. “Look, I’ll make it right. I can help fix the cart, clean up, whatever you need.”
“And you?” the vendor asked, his eyes narrowing at Ace. “What are you going to do?”
“Me?” Ace raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t ask to get dragged into this.”
Sera elbowed him sharply. “Ace,” she hissed.
He rolled his eyes but relented with a sigh. “Fine. I’ll help. But don’t expect me to smile about it.”
The next hour was spent picking up candy canes, setting the vendor’s cart back upright, and trying to convince the few scattered customers that the chaos had been a “planned magical demonstration” gone wrong. Ace muttered under his breath the entire time, though Sera caught a few of his grumbles turning into sarcastic quips that made her laugh despite herself.
“You know,” she said as they finished restacking the cart, “for someone who hates the holidays, you’re surprisingly good at damage control.”
“Yeah, well,” Ace said, brushing glitter off his hands, “it’s a survival skill when you’ve got bad luck following you around like a stray dog.”
Sera leaned against the now-stable cart, studying him. “You really don’t like people, do you?”
“Nope,” Ace said without hesitation.
“Then why are you still here?”
He paused, looking at her for a long moment. His brown eyes softened, just a fraction. “Because you’re not like most people.”
Sera blinked, caught off guard. “That’s… either a compliment or an insult. I can’t tell.”
“Take it however you want,” Ace said, his tone neutral.
She smiled faintly. “Well, thanks for sticking around. Most people run the other way when my chaos magic gets involved.”
Ace snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m not most people.”
Before Sera could respond, her stomach growled loudly, breaking the moment.
Ace smirked. “Sounds like someone’s still hungry.”
She groaned, rubbing her temples. “Don’t remind me. I didn’t eat all day because I was waiting for—” She cut herself off, her expression darkening.
“For?” Ace prompted.
Sera hesitated, then sighed. “For my fiancé. Ex-fiancé, I guess. He was supposed to come over for dinner, but when he missed it and I went looking for him, I found him kissing someone else.”
Ace’s expression didn’t change much, but his eyes sharpened slightly. “Ouch.”
“Yeah,” Sera said, letting out a bitter laugh. “And the best part? When I tried to freeze his pants in place as payback, my magic decided to freeze me instead. Right there, in front of everyone.”
Ace blinked, then let out a low chuckle.
Sera narrowed her eyes. “You’re laughing?”
“I’m not laughing at you,” Ace said, his lips twitching. “I’m laughing at the absurdity. Your magic has a sense of humor, I’ll give it that.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a terrible sense of humor,” Sera muttered. “It always has my back, but I swear, it loves to make me suffer first.”
Sera laughed, the tension in her chest easing just a little. For all his earlier grumpiness, Ace wasn’t half as bad as he pretended to be.
“Well,” she said, standing up straight, “since we’ve already caused enough trouble here, how about we find something edible that doesn’t come to life?”
Ace smirked. “Lead the way, chaos witch.”
- Writer
