#soulhex

Summary: Briar gets caught somewhere he shouldn't be and discovers a drawback to his abilities..

"Are you sure you want to perform here?" Briar asks, looking around the bar to the best of abilities. Avery only raised an eyebrow at him as she pushes her equipment through the door

"Sure I do! Why wouldn't I? The owner of this place was kind enough to offer me the chance to open for him tonight! No catch!! Isn't that great?" She smiled brightly before her expression quickly changed "Wait Briar be careful-" Before he could process her words, Briar loses his footing and quickly slips, but he never makes contact with the floor

“Are you alright?” Briar turns his gaze upwards, and his necklace faintly glows for a moment. The man holds Briar in a partially dipped position, just above the floor. 

“Uh, yeah, thanks..” 

“You’re welcome.” The man helps Briar back onto his feet, then glances downwards to the pendant around his neck 

“I like your necklace.” He compliments, smiling a bit. Briar narrows his eye in response

“..Thank you.” 

“Oh! You’re the guy who invited me to perform here! Phantom, right?” Avery asks, excitedly walking over 

“Huh- Oh I might be. Would you mind reminding me who you are??” While his sister introduced herself, Briar couldn’t help but recognize the look in her eyes. It wasn't abnormal for Avery to check out nearly every guy she met, but Briar felt different this time.. 

Was he jealous of her?

Briar shakes the thought from his mind, that couldn't be it. He was probably just sick..

“I'm Avery Ellis! It's a pleasure to be meeting you, Mr. Phantom.” Phantom grinned, placing his hand around Avery's shoulder 

“You're tonight's opener. The pleasures all mine, Miss Ellis. I'm sure you'll do great. How about I help you out with your equipment?” While Avery and Phantom walk away, the pain in Briar's chest only increases and the glow of his necklace fades slowly the further away the 2 were from him. 

…

Briar leaned against the dressing room wall, staring at his twin sister as she looked at herself in the mirror

“How do I look?” She asked, turning towards him with a bright smile

“..You look great. Here, let's change your outfit into something more fitting for a popstar, huh?” He tilted his head before waving his hand. In a moment, Avery's pale pink dress had turned into a shimmering baby blue and her sneakers had been replaced by a pair of crystal like boots. Avery gasps excitedly, jumping up to hug her brother 

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She twirls around, showing off every inch of her new dress to the mirror

“Do you think Phantom will like this outfit? I hope he does. I wanna ask him out after the show tonight, but I'm not sure..I know we just met but I think it's like love at first sight, and I'll probably never see him again after tonight..” At this, Briar freezes up, feeling like his heart was being torn from his body. The possibility of Phantom and Avery getting together wouldn't exactly shock Briar, she'd always been everybody's favourite, but he still couldn't help but let a bit of resentment build within him.

“..Do whatever makes you happy, Aves.  I'll always be there to support you, no matter what.” He replies, biting back his jealousy and forcing a smile onto his face

…

Briar watches from backstage while his sister stepped onto stage, carefully avoiding any loose nails. Her entire form sparkled under the spotlight, not a single flaw in sight, normally he'd feel proud of his sister's talents, this wasn't exactly a normal circumstance though.. He glances around, spotting Phantom across the stage, staring at Avery with a grin on his face. Briar frowns at this sight 

‘A little bit of magic never hurt anybody.. And neither of us will see him again after this show so it'll probably work out..’ The magician waves his hand, a couple of sparks fly out just as Avery grabs the microphone..

‘ZZZZT!’

The microphones feedback & short circuiting rings throughout the speakers around the stage, causing everyone within its vicinity to cover their ears. Avery falls backwards, tripping over the train of her skirt and getting it caught within the floorboards causing it to rip. Laughter quickly spreads through the audience, a couple of people take out their phones, snapping pictures or filming videos of her misfortune, and as if that wasn’t enough, somebody shines one of the spotlights directly onto her, just further fueling her humiliation. 

“Pathetic.. Dumb.. Waste of time..” Some whispered while they stood up to leave. Briar walks backwards till he hits the wall, shaking like a leaf. He hadn’t meant to hex his sister this badly.. It was just supposed to be something small, like a voice crack! Not whatever this was. Where did the spotlight even come from? His eye wanders upwards, and he gasps once he sees a faint red glow around the spotlight focused on his sobbing mess of a sister. 

Magic. 

The sound of humming pulls Briar out of his thoughts, and his pendant starts to glow again, he turns around, seeing Phantom approach Avery

 “Come on you poor unfortunate soul.. It’s sad, but true..” He whispered, a dark look in his eyes whilst he offered his hand towards a strangely dazed Avery, who takes it.. The spotlight dims and the remaining crowd goes silent. 

“My apologies everybody, we’re just having some technical difficulties. I’ll be back to fix things for you all in a little bit, in the meantime, help yourselves to some drinks from the bar.” He announced, waving to the crowd before walking away with Avery, humming a bit louder when he passes Briar. As if responding, the pendant around his neck started to glow so brightly he thought it’d explode. Phantom didn’t seem to notice though, only continuing to lead Avery away from the crowd. 

Briar's heart drops into his stomach, a sense of danger & unease settling in. 

Avery was in danger, and it was all his fault. 

…

“I..Phantom? Where are we? Where's my brother?” Avery questions, looking around for her twin tiredly. 

“Oh he’s..somewhere. Now, let's discuss business shall we?” He pulls out a chair for her to sit on, smiling when she does so. 

“You uh, said you could help me, right?” She shifts around in her seat nervously, smiling at the attractive man in front of her 

“Mhm. You see, I fortunately know a little magic, it’s a talent I always have possessed~” He runs his hands over his cane, circling around Avery 

“And here lately, I use it on behalf of the miserable, lonely, and depressed~” Phantoms voice feeling like a warm flame in a cold winter storm, so very alluring..

“Pathetic..” He whispered, a scowl appearing on his face before he turns around, smiling again

“Now it’s happened once or twice, someone couldn’t pay the price, and I’m afraid I had to rake ‘em across the coals~” He sang solemnly, placing a hand over his heart 

Avery places her head on her hands, sighing as she admired Phantom's melodious voice. He smirked, twirling his staff around before tapping it on the desk, a pen and paper appearing in front of Avery. 

“Alright, here’s the deal, I can make you the most adored popstar on this side of the country, people will travel far and wide to hear you. All you need to do is sign right here.” The suited man motions to the dotted line, eyeing Avery carefully. 

“Uh, I’m not too sure I wanna sign this.. My brother says contracts are rarely ever good ideas-” 

“You can be famous and loved by everyone, or.. you can be broke, homeless, hated by everybody you meet, including your own brother. Would you like that, or do we have a deal?” He asked, getting impatient 

Avery stares at the contract, then towards the doorway. Where was Briar? 

“All you need to do is sign right here, and all your dreams will come true~” Phantom muses, smiling at her again. Avery felt her heart soar, and sighed, picking up the pen. 

“Alright then..” Once she writes down her signature, it glows for a second, and she suddenly starts feeling..strange. 

Phantoms eyes darken, and he grinned, his fingernails and canines turning into a wickedly sharp pair of claws and fangs.. 

With just a puff of smoke, Avery was inside of Phantoms staff. 

“Huh?! Whats going on? What’d you do to me?!” She panicked, looking up at Phantom, horrified 

“You did this to yourself, you sold your soul to me.” He explained simply, shrugging it off like it was nothing 

“You stole my soul?! Why?! I thought you liked me!!” At this, Phantom raises an eyebrow as he placed his cane in a stand beside the desk 

“You? Don’t make me laugh. I don’t swing that way. But your brother on the other hand.. He’s definitely a sight for sore eyes.” Without another word, the siren exits his office and walks down the hallway, singing a tune in hopes to lure out his prey.

“I’m not what you want, but I’m exactly what you need~” The protection charm on that magician wouldn’t hold for long, and once that pesky object was taken care of, he’d have exactly what he wanted. 

..

Briar exhales deeply when Phantom leaves his sight, the invisibility spell quickly wearing off. Something had happened to Avery, and Briar was definitely at fault for letting it happen. Nearly ripping the door off it’s hinges with his inhuman strength, Briar hastily looks around the office 

“Avery?! Avery?! Avery are you here?!” He called out, trying to be discreet

“Oh, well, look what we have here.” A voice called out from behind, the door closing behind him and locking. 

“I really thought I’d have to search the whole venue just for a glimpse of you. But you were right here in my office the entire time.” Briar turns around, glaring at Phantom to the best of his abilities 

“You’re Phantom. You were the guy who was flirting with my sister.” Phantom frowns at this accusation 

“What? Flirting?? I don’t even like women! How is being nice flirting?!” He cried out before composing himself. 

Phantom then smiled with teeth too sharp to be human, stalking towards Briar and humming a simple tune, causing his necklace to start glowing again. 

“Wheres my sister??”

“Don’t know, don’t care, all I care about is you~” 

Briar freezes up at the confession, cheeks burning and heart racing like never before. 

“..You like me?” He asked cautiously, tilting his head. The siren nodded; eyes fixated on Briars every movement 

“Well, uh, hot as you may be, you still did something to my sister!” Briar raises his hands, a large ball of magical energy forming. Phantom raises his eyebrows and his hands, still smirking. Though instead of the magic blasting Phantom.. It reverses on its own, blasting Briar instead and sending him flying across the room. 

Phantom looks just as shocked as he does, and starts to approach. 

‘This magic cannot be used to cause harm to your soulmate.’ A voice echoes through his mind, making Briars eye widen.

“..Shit.” He curses, weakly raising a hand to Phantom, but he waves his hand, and Briar is tied to a chair, his arms and legs chained. 

“Iron chains, just to make sure you can’t use your magic to mess up my office. Now, lets see what we’re dealing with..” He appears just inches away from Briars face, and his eyes trail all the way down towards his neck 

“Cute little protection charm you have there. It would be a shame if something were to..” He grabs the necklace, and pulls it off with a deceptively gentle tug. “Happen to it.” With a simple squeeze from his hand, the barrier between the siren's spell and Briar's mind was permanently shattered.

“Nononononononononononono-” Panic fills the magicians eye as he watches his hard earned charm turn to nothing more than powder on the ground, Phantoms amusement only hurting him further. 

“I’ve gotta say, that was a great show you put on out there. Humiliating your sister just for my attention? I didn’t even have to do anything. Oh, do tell, what's with the magic blast? That didn’t seem very..typical for you.” Briar bites his lip

“I..can’t use my magic to harm my soulmate in any way, shape, or form. If I do, it blasts back at me.” Phantoms eyes light up at this information

“Then we really are meant to be, aren’t we? I mean, I thought so when I first saw you, but all of this really solidifies it for me. This changes so much..” He pauses, then grabs Briars chin and gently tilts it up to look at him directly 

“Do me a favour, and focus on my voice..” He instructs before starting to hum again.. Briar tries to ignore the urge to listen, but it’s almost impossible without the charm. 

“I love you, Briar. I truly do. I really don’t like the idea of restricting you or your magic at all. So, all you need to do is agree not to hurt me unless absolutely necessary. We’ll be a great couple. I can give you everything you want or need, just agree to my terms.” Phantom's offer is tempting, and there isn’t a hint of malice in his voice.. Not to mention, they were soulmates, and it’d just destroy Briar even more if he were to leave him.. 

“..Sure?” The restraints disappear, Briar looks towards his new boyfriend, smiling slightly 

“How do you feel?” 

“My mind feels a lot clearer..”

Phantom smiled, taking Briar by the hand and leading him out into the hallway, hands intertwined together. Just before they enter his dressing room, Phantom takes out his phone to make a call