Compiled fiction
Segment #1 by DreamOfEndless
“May I have your order, sir?”
Gustave looked up from his book. The well meaning waiter had waited for Gustave to order for at least half an hour, but all Gustave did was check his phone and get drowned in his book. Thankfully, the waiter’s patience had worked in Gustav’s favour, otherwise the entire purpose of being there would have got wasted.
“Ten minutes more. I am waiting for someone.”
The waiter nodded and left, and Gustave checked his phone again. The notification on the app said: 10 minutes to Paige Café Restaurant. Exhaling deeply, he tapped his feet and gazed down the end of the street from his table. He had been waiting for this morning for the last three months. 10 minutes more, and Karan will be in front of him.
Three months ago, Gustave had stumbled upon Karan in this very café. Karan was out having dinner with his friends and Gustave was out to find love. He was bored to death. No one around him seemed interesting. The restaurant was booked full, even the tables on the sidewalk, which replicated the French outdoor dining. But Gustave didn’t find anyone worthy of being a muse of his heart until he saw Karan. He was sitting under the stars, talking animatedly with his friends. The twinkle of his eyes matched the stars above and the brightness of his smile was like sunrise melting away the night. Gustave continued to admire him when the girl sitting beside Karan touched his arm and ignited a rage within Gustave. He must do something before it was too late.
But everything had a process, even the art of love. For best results, all steps of the process should be followed in accurate.
Step one was a hard step, where Gustave had to plant his bug in Karan’s phone. Karan was practically a stranger, Gustave had no real access to his phone. But Gustave had a secret power: he was stuck in a time loop. As much as it was a bane, it was also a boon. The real nature of time was quantum and discrete. So in small quantities, he could control his time loop, but for other people’s timelines, he couldn’t do much. Gustave had decided to access the boon side of hisvpower to bug Karan’s phone with his app. Once he was done, Gustave reset his time loop and Karan didn’t see what Gustave did although he was right under his nose.
The subsequent steps were remote, where Gustave helped Karan break-up with that girl, took interests in what places he visited, people he met, books he read, movies he liked, etc. Gustave had three months of data noting down everything about his love interest which he studied with due diligence. If Karan was Gustave’s perfect muse, Gustave should also groom himself according to Karan’s likes.
Ten minutes later, Karan walked into Paige Café Restaurant in white casuals for his regular morning order. He sat in his regular table and placed his order, which confused the waiter because he thought Karan was the guy Gustave was waiting for 40 minutes. The waiter was only half-right, because Karan didn’t know anything about Gustave.
Gustave placed his order with the waiter and moved towards Karan’s table.
“Hi, do you mind if I sit?” Gustave gestured towards the opposite chair and asked.
“No. Go ahead,” Karan replied.
Karan didn’t look as lively and energetic as the night Gustave saw him for the first time. His eyes looked sleep stricken, his face pale, he seemed to be mourning over something. It was strange that the bug had given Gustave every data, but still he didn’t know that Karan wasn’t well. Yet Karan hadn’t visited a doctor in the past three months.
“Are you feeling okay?” Gustave asked Karan.
Karan avoided the question. “I didn’t know people still read classics.”
“Some still do.”
“But ‘The Idiot’ is quite heavy to read at breakfast,”
“I like it, it is serious but it makes interesting points,” Gustave paused and then asked, “What is your favourite book?”
He already knew the answer, but he must keep the conversation going, because Gustave’s time loop will not allow him to modify much in his day.
“Will it surprise you if I say this very book is one of my all time favourites?”
“What? No Way!”
They introduced themselves and shook hands. As Gustave shook Karan’s hand, he played multiple versions of handshakes that he had simulated with his data. Following all steps of the process of his art had indeed worked wonders. Now Gustave had to make him like Gustave enough so that he can ask him out real. The waiter brought them their orders and said, “Have a wonderful date, sirs” and left.
There was awkward silence.
“Was this supposed to be a date?” asked Karan.
And just like a gust of wind, a woman came running on the sidewalk, knocking out their table, splashing the food, spilling the coffee. Gustave tried hard to use his time loop to reverse the situation. But he was already using his power to execute his ‘date', he couldn’t use a time loop within a time loop. Instead, something went wrong in the high energy situation and Karan’s soul ended up in Gustave’s body while Gustave’s soul ended in Karan’s body.
It was then Gustave learned why Karan was pale: Karan, his body, was going to die within 24 hours. Due to the influence of time loop, it meant Gustave was going to experience death at the end of each day. Or it could be Karan, or the both of them. Gustave’s face went white. He needed to figure things out fast.
Segment #2 by Satrangi_Curls
Karan.
Karan looked at his clothes soiled by the food and coffee. It was his favourite white shirt. And the coffee stain is impossible to remove. He looked at his reflection in the restaurants' glass partition. He was... In the wrong body? What just happened? He looked in front of him, only to see the stranger he vibed with a few minutes ago, standing confused? Surprised? Karan was at a loss of words to think.
He looked around, dazed. His mind fuzzy.
They met in the café, bonded over The Idiot and then?
Karan sat down on the chair again. He wanted to run home but his body was frozen. Gustave's cell buzzed. Now that I am in his body, do I get to access a stranger's things? Will he be accessing mine? Do I stay in his house or go back to mine?
A hundred questions flooded Karan's mind.
"Hey!" Gustave called out, tapping on Karan's hand. " I think we should go to my place."
"Huh?" Stranger danger. Karan's mind screamed. I am a grown ass man. I can fight. He reasoned with himself. But my body has been feeling weak lately. I can definitely take myself out ... in a blow?
What? Karan? Get a hold of yourself.
Why are there so many overlapping voices in my head? What kind of place is this man's mind? Or is it mine?
...
Gustave.
I think I should get back to my apartment first. Then consult my books. Should I keep Karan around? How do I explain this body swap to him? Will he understand? Can I undo the time? But my watch is in Karan's hand.
I will just ask him to come home, nicely. If he doesn't agree, I will - convince him. Sounds like a plan.
"Was this supposed to be a date?" Karan's question lingered at the back of Gustave's mind. Either I make it or break it. What do I do? If I go to sleep and wait until the time resets...
"Karan, I think we should go to my place." Gustave said again. This time with more confidence and 'will not take no for an answer' manner. Gustave placed some cash for the bill and promptly gripped his own body's hand and walked towards the bus.
Karan was silent throughout the ride to Gustave's home while his mind, was a loud mess.
Gustave's apartment was a neat one bedroom set. Everything was too perfect for Karan's taste. He walked up to the aquarium. The fish swam in his direction.
(◕ᴗ◕✿)
Author’s Note : I've used the names their souls have and not the body ones. With the swap, it was slightly confusing who is who but I hope it remained clear. I know it's too many questions but I think with the sudden body swap, it was a bit natural?
Ande, tamatar welcome (ʘᴗʘ✿)
(人 •͈ᴗ•͈)
Segment #3 by la_Reine
Gustave’s POV
Gustave had brought Karan into his apartment, but now what? Where do they go from here? They had less than 24 hours and no solution.
The clock was ticking.
Gustave sat Karan down on the couch as he went into the kitchen to fetch him something, buying himself some time to think…of a solution and an explanation. What was he supposed to tell Karan?
Maybe he could call Ritvik, his best friend always had a solution. He fished in his pockets only to remember that his phone was now with Karan.
He could use Karan’s phone, but what was the passcode? He tried to sort the jumbled numbers out in his brain. After a few attempts, he finally got the sequence right and unlocked the phone. But wait, wasn’t this wrong? Going through someone else’s phone without their permission? Oh screw it, he had done worse things than this before. This would do no harm.
He fished through the contacts wondering who to call, perhaps he could get some hint if not a solution. He came across a contact titled “Doctor”. He decided to give them a call–maybe he could find out how to save Karan from dying.
He could have just read through his books and figured out a way to swap their souls back, but he knew that once he was out of Karan’s body, it would be more difficult to save him. He had to save Karan first and he had to do it fast.
“Hello?” The voice of the Doctor on the other line brought him out of his reverie.
–
Karan’s POV
Why the hell had he just agreed to accompany a stranger to his apartment?
He had no idea. But nothing was making sense right now. His own body didn’t seem like his own. He was suddenly feeling…stronger? More energetic?
He sat on the couch while Gustave went into the kitchen. He surfed through the channels on TV, but when he found nothing that caught his interest, he decided to take a stroll around the apartment. It was a very beautiful apartment, the rooms were double the size than his own, everything was neat and tidy, much unlike his own. Did someone else live here or did Gustave stay here alone? He wondered.
He was lost in his thoughts when his eyes fell upon a door, presumably a bedroom. It had GUSTAVE written over it in big letters with a photograph underneath. But that photograph was not of Gustave.
Karan turned around to look into the mirror, he then looked back at the photograph resembling the face which he just saw in the mirror. Was he going crazy?
*tw: body ache*
Segment #4 by oh_nakhrewaali
"Are you ready to place your order?" Vamika's warm brown eyes looked up at the waiter who seemed to have gone into a trance. There was something so beautiful, almost divine in those almond eyes. She smiled gently. Even though she looked in her early thirties, she was around for a long time now, the dark magic swirled in her, keeping her from ageing, from her body decaying, and her mind from collapsing. She was using dark magic to maintain the balance of the universe itself. All is fair in love and war.
She thanked the waiter who kept a plate of waffles and a cold chocolate shake in front of her. "It's on the house," He smiled charmingly and walked away.
Vamika placed the straw between her lips and started at the table that was occupied not so long by Gustav and Karan.
Karam, the poor man looked so weak, like the universe itself was collapsing on him, like he was being consumed by dark matter inside him. But unknown to him, or Gustav, Gustav had created this collapse.
She could still feel the magic, even though it had been almost three months since Gustav had played a small, fatal trick on Karan. He hadn't just bugged Karan's phone, he had bugged the man's life, his destiny, and now it was collapsing on Karan and the people around him.
Gustav was not realizing it, but he was killing the man he was attracted to, and Vamika had to stop it. A small spell and Karan would know the truth, and Gustav would feel Karan's pain.
Vamika never understood Gustav, he had powers to change the world, but he used them for something as feeble as love. It was a different matter that his powers would kill people except him, but love was nothing compared to the universe and the purpose of people to serve the bigger greater good.
For Vamika, magic was her world, it had to be protected, and preserved, for the universe, so it pained her when people didn't realize its value, its beauty. She knew what it was to lose everything to magic, but the power it gave was like no other and she wished Gustav understood it. She hoped that her presence was alone enough for him to wake up from his infatuation.
Vamika placed the notes and left. The waiter blinked in surprise, no one had ever tipped him this well.
______________
Gustav winced in pain. It felt as if someone was pulling his veins together in a ball. He fell to the ground and Karan towered over him.
"Yeah, that happens sometimes. Doctors haven't reached a proper conclusion, but they say that it's like my cells are corroding."
Gustav looked at him in shock. Only one person could cause people's very being to disappear. Was she here?
_____________________________________________________
Author’s Note: Vamika is based on Wanda and Ancient one from MCU and her motivations on young 17 year old Dumbledore from Harry Potter. You can continue it as you wish, but if you know these characters, you can flush out Vamika better. Since she was introduced in Miss T's post, she counts as lead/antihero/villain of this one, your call.
Badass women screwing the world, yes please!
Segment #5 by DreamOfEndless
TW: body pain, thoughts of death, talks of death
There was absolutely nothing in the books. At least Gustave couldn’t find anything. As the hours progressed, his (Karan’s) body kept losing its energy and mirth. There were hardly twelve hours left for the day to end. If this was how Gustave would feel everyday, then he would gladly wait for the day he would never wake up. He felt so terrible thinking this was how Karan had been feeling before he came to the restaurant. But how did he fall so sick?
Karan was seeing a doctor. Maybe the doctor could throw light on what had really happened. Except the switching of souls. The doctor may not have any idea about it.
“Here, drink this. This will make you feel better,” Karan said.
Karan, who was in Gustave’s body, offered Gustave a white concoction that smelled of coconut and roses. He made this home based remedy that he carried around in his bag, for Gustave in his kitchen so that he felt a little better while the doctor arrived.
“Thank you so much,” Gustave, who was lying on his bed, took the concoction from Karan.
A warm fuzzy feeling took over Gustave as he looked at the concoction. Three months ago, he would not imagine that Karan would be at his apartment and caring for him. Karan was very surprised at Gustave’s trust on him, how he drank the concoction without questioning him even once.
The bell rang. Karan walked in with Vamika in Gustave’s room. She gave a knowing smile to Gustave and continued playing the charade. Gustave was frozen at his place, already having a panic attack.
“Hello Mr. Gustave, I am Dr. Vamika Ved, Karan’s doctor. It is very kind of you to care for my patient at your place.”
Karan nodded at Vamika. It was quite odd being addressed as someone else, but he couldn’t blame her, he was in Gustave’s body after all. Vamika sent Karan to bring few things for the ‘treatment’, and she turned to Gustave.
“Surprised much?” Vamika said.
Gustave groaned. His body was weak and writhing in pain. His pain seemed to intensify with Vamika’s presence.
“Why are you here? Did you put me in Karan’s body?” he managed to say.
“Of course, I did. Did you think you would divert yourself from the cause of the universe and play house with your little love interest, and I would say nothing?”
Gustave did not believe that Vamika was doing everything for the cause of the universe. What did she want?
“They are my powers, Vamika. I am free to choose what to do with them.”
“We are not on first name basis. Show some respect,” Vamika scolded him. “And they are universe’s powers, and I do not approve how you waste them. Besides Karan is innocent, he deserves to live.”
“Are you saying you are going to kill me and save Karan’s life?”
“I can’t kill you,” Vamika said. “You must die at least 30 times before I kill you. Which means you still have a month. Damn your time loop! Meanwhile I can make you weaker so that you are easier for me to kill. Clever plan, isn’t it?”
“Not so much. In case you didn’t notice, I am in Karan’s body. Are you going to kill his body?”
Vamika gazed at Gustave intently.
“I am not obligated to answer all your questions… Oh, thank you Mr. Gustave, now we can start the treatment right away.”
As Karan handed over the things to Dr. Vamika, he felt light headed. Visions of beeping phone, Gustave working in his house, his unusual break-up with Vani post which he fell ill. It was exactly after the break up that he fell ill. Why was he having Gustave’s visions connected to his break-up? Unless… He gasped as he realised the truth.
Segment #6 by Satrangi_Curls
The visions made Karan's head heavy. He sat on the couch and drank a glass of water. Should I confront Gustave about what he did? Why would he do something like this? Is that why our souls got exchanged?
The questions overwhelmed him again. Karan decided to confront Gustave.
"When did Dr. Ved leave?" Karan asked. He remembered seeing Vamika come in but not leave.
Gustave breathed a sigh of relief. He has reset the last few minutes, making Karan forget about the visions. Vamika had administered an injection and left. Gustave didn't have much time but he managed to undo things for Karan. He can't know the truth, not yet.
Karan looked at his body, it seemed weaker than before. "How are you feeling?"
Gustave groaned in pain as he tried to push himself up, against the bed. The injection in his arm had shot up the pain. "Not good."
"Would you like some soup?" Karan offered.
"Yes please." Gustave smiled.
Karan walked into the kitchen.
Gustave held his watch. He had to plan every second and minute of Karan's day, within the loop. He didn't have much time. Vamika. What is she going to do? I will have to stop her.
Karan brought in the soup. "What should we do now?" He wanted to run to his house, lie in his mother's lap and feel her warm hand over his head. All his problems would vanish once he meets his mom. "Mothers are magical, aren't they?"
Gustave nodded slightly. Mother. He wished to meet his. A faint smiled appeared on his face as he remembered her face and voice.
"Gustave! Don't go near gramps' room and don't you dare touch his things." She had warned.
"No, mom. I won't." A seven years old Gustave smiled cheekily as he slipped away from her hands and sneaked into his grandfather's study room after making sure his mom was napping later in the afternoon.
His grandfather, a monocles-wearing old man, with wrinkles across his face, sporting a white moustache, was an alchemist. All the instruments in his room fascinated young Gustave. Gramps always satiated the young curious mind with detailed answers. Gustave didn't always understand it but the passion and conviction with which Gramps shared the anecdotes touched his heart.
Gramps' diary. Gustave's mind flashed with a picture of an old, leather-bound journal that his Gramps maintained, it contained all his experiments and detailed notes. Where is that diary? Will it have the answers I need? Gramps, I really wish you were around. I miss you. His heart ached.
Segment #7 by oh_nakhrewaali
Karan looked at the worn-down house, it reminded him of the Portuguese houses he had seen in Goa, though even in Puducherry, his city, the houses looked the same. But something about this house reminded him of the stories he read about witches and magicians.
Karan's body was giving up, and Gustave insisted on going to his grandfather's house, he claimed that maybe they could find an answer there. Though Karam had his own set of questions to ask him, he knew right now, fixing the switch was more important, and if Gustave said he could find a fix, then maybe he could.
Gustave went into a room and locked himself while the old, house help offered Karan some tea. Karan was surprised at how ok the house help was to see a random stranger search through his owner's house while the owner of the house was enjoying tea. Did he know about the switch, Karan wondered.
The tea was the strangest kind of tea, it made him feel so warm and happy. For a second, he felt like he had touched the heavens. What was this place, it was like someone had dropped him in a Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland's plot. He drowned his tea and waited some more, but then, he got bored, so he walked into a room.
The room had so many beautiful sketches of women, children, and men. People intertwined in hugs and kisses, people working, people at war, it was like the room was a storybook. Karan started observing each sketch when something caught his eye.
The beautiful brown almond, almost divinely eyes, capable of hypnotizing anyone, stared back at him from a sketch of a woman holding a crushed stopwatch.
Segment #8 by Satrangi_Curls
"Karan!" Gustave's voice brought him out of the trance he'd felt seeing the painting and her almond brown eyes.
"Who is this woman?" Karan was still entranced.
"My grandmother."
"She's beautiful." Karan said and wondered if it was a weird thing to say.
"I know! I have always seen her as an old woman but she was really beautiful, almost ageless and so kind. There was something special about her being...always so warm and bright."
"It reflects in her eyes."
"Le- let's go back."
"Did you find what you came here for?"
"I did." Gustave nodded, holding a big brown envelope close to his chest.
Gustave had found the journal where his Gramps had kept it years ago. In a secret compartment under his desk. He had skimmed through the pages of the journal and a few things were at the back of his mind. To undo the dark matter consuming Karan, his current body, he needed the force of light.
Light.
He remembered how warm his grandmother felt. As if she... She was an embodiment of sunshine.
Gustave's heart beat faster. If his grandmother possibly had the opposite powers that Vamika possesses, then he has to search for her counterpart in present times. Gramma, how I wish you were here. Gustave closed his eyes. His grandmother smiled at him and so did his mother.
Mom.
Gustave's eyes lit up. The chances of things being in his favour were slim to none but he had this chance and he was ready to risk it all. For the love of his life. Karan.
"Who made those sketches, if I may ask."
"My mother did. She loved art, all forms of it. She was a master craftswoman." Gustave said.
Karan could feel the vigour in his voice return. It feels odd to hear your own voice from somebody else's mouth. To see yourself as someone else. Karan did feel good about not feeling the aches all the time but he still wasn't much comfortable in a stranger's body. It felt weird. It was weird. This whole thing that was going on. I just want my normal life back. That's all. His inner voice, his heart ached to be at home. His home. Where his mom was.
(◕ᴗ◕✿)
Author's Note: This segment is loosely inspired by Grishaverse, Shadow and Bone trilogy where Grishas are people that are blessed with connections to different elements. Vamika controls dark matter so we should have someone control light as well.
Segment # 9 by LizzieBennet
*TW: Violence, graphic imagery
Vamika screwed her eyes tightly closed as she focused intensely on the task at hand. Finally, she would have the missing, elusive piece of the puzzle. She had engineered the soul switch to weaken not only Gustave’s body but also to weaken his powers so she could break into his mind vault and access that crucial information that would help her put together what had happened on that fateful day. The Maitresse & the Council had been worried that Gustave’s powers had caused Karan’s body to fill with dark matter and any adversary with powers like that had to be stopped. They had assigned the task to Vamika, whose fierce dedication to protect magic was well-known.
But Gustave’s mind vault had been too strong. She had used all her powers but hadn’t been able to break in. She had to know what had happened to Karan and to ... her.
Her hand gripped the sides of her armchair tighter as she felt the emotions coursing through her veins, setting them ablaze.
She had to access his memories of that day - the day she had lost everything to magic.
She concentrated hard, summoning all her strength to break into Gustave’s mind vault. Damn, the man was tenacious. Even with the extra dose of the mind control injection she had given him, he was still putting up a mighty struggle.
“Let me in, you b**t*rd!” she muttered, her hands moving in circular motions around her head, gathering the aura of memories that had begun to swirl in her mind.
They were muddled. Mixed in with her own memories.
A child crying and then gurgling. She cooing to the baby in her arms. A little girl taking her first steps, falling, getting up and running into her arms. Being swung high in the air. Laughter. Tears when she fell off the bike she was learning to ride. A piano recital. Fishing by the lake. Hiking up the mountains. Singing. Dancing. Love. Oh, so much love. '
And then, love in a different form. A young man. The incessant smiles. The long conversations. Their first kiss. The promises they had made. And then.. cruelly and inexplicably… the girl had disappeared.
SLAM! The mind vault shuttered with a bang and Vamika gasped for breath her eyes shooting open. No! She almost cried aloud. She was so close! But she would not despair.
Taking a deep breath, she began anew, this time steeling her mind and wiping it clean of emotions. This was not the time for being sentimental. She had to be cold, calculating, as devious as the man she was trying to defeat.
Visions swirled around her again, fuzzy at first and then slowly becoming sharper as she willed her mind to remain calm.
A party. People. Food and drinks being passed around. A couple with their backs to her and in the corner a fuzzy figure. Who was it? Go closer…
She zoned in on the man as he disappeared around a dark corner. He was important.
Vamika felt her veins burning up, fire consuming her as she went deeper into Gustave’s mind vault.
The man was him! He lifted his right hand, bringing the watch he wore closer up his torso and then tapped on it. He was using the time loop! Just as he turned the switch, everything went black.
There was a loud gasp and the young man fell to the floor, clutching his heart. Karan!
But the girl hanging on his arm was whipped up and suspended in air, a furious black vortex swirling around her, as the time loop took full effect. In a few seconds, the vortex closed and she was sucked in.
As she disappeared, her arms flailing, her body being tossed ruthlessly, the girl screamed out in panic, “Ma!”
Vamika’s eyes popped open, tears streaming down them, her breath coming in frantic gasps as she fought to gain control of it.
“Vani! My baby!” she sobbed.
She finally knew what had happened. Gustave had used the time loop to reset Karan’s feelings for Vani so he would forget her & he had succeeded in doing so. Karan only had vague memories of Vani now. He knew she was his ex, but Gustave had caused every other detail to be erased. Which was why Vamika could not tap into Karan’s memories to find out what had happened to her daughter.
But in a weird form of justice, Gustave’s magic had defeated his own nefarious goals.
Karan and Vani had been so in love and so connected, through their very souls that when Gustave had tried to break them apart with the time loop, the ensuing physical split had induced a parallel soul split. It had caused the dark matter to rush into Karan. And it had caused Vani to be stuck in an infinite time loop, stuck in a dark dimension that Vamika had no access to. Her daughter was in limbo and there was nothing Vamika could do to save her.
Edited by DreamOfEndless - 10 months ago
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