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Magic always has a cost.
It’s the simple, inescapable truth that drives the magic world forward. No matter the intention and no matter how pure one’s heart is or how good their intentions are, magic always has a cost. Unfortunately, many cannot pay the price for the magic they used. It was a fate that Jenkins Galahad had seen one too many Librarians fall victim to.
He had seen one to many Librarians and Guardians and allies and friends reach for power that was not theirs to use and pay the price. From a bright young chemist who tried to make a deal with the Fae who died nameless and forgotten, to an older gentlemen with a passion for the spiritual world who made a deal with the wrong vengeful spirit, to the teenager with a proclivity for the old magicks whose body was so disfigured it could not even be recognized other than the medallion she always wore. He’d long since lost count of how many Librarians and Guardians he’d been with in the final moments of, been witness to the last acts of bravado of, heard the last words of.
As he watched the coffin lower into the ground knowing the body inside was unrecognizable, Jenkins made himself a promise. No more helping. No more late-night talks and midnight tea for lost Librarians. He was tired of watching the light in people’s eyes get extinguished too soon. No more caring.
Jenkins goes without visitors for a very long time, and he is content. He can focus on his experiments in peace. It's better this way, he tells himself. He doesn't have to stand before any more unmarked graves this way. He doesn't have to watch as magic corrupts more innocent souls this way. He doesn't have to care, to grieve, this way. That changes when the whirlwind that is one Flynn Carsen and his gaggle of wannabe librarians and his Guardian make their way into his annex. At first, it was easy not to care. They’ll leave eventually. They'll die eventually. They all do.
They did, in fact, not leave. Jenkins found himself slipping into old habits. Sarcastic banter that he oh so missed with the young thief, historical discussions with the almost-cowboy, and sparring with the new Guardian. He had forgotten how much he loved to love.
And as he stands behind his desk, watching as Ezekiel argues with Jacob over the cultural significance of pizza, Cassandra attempting to be a mediator of sorts while Eve simply watches from the side lines, he finds himself going back to the first very lesson he ever received in the world of magic. Magic always has a cost. This is true, and he has watched countless friends pay the price over the years, but as he watches his friends, his family, bustle around the Annex, he can’t help thinking that if it guaranteed their safety, there weren’t any costs he wouldn’t pay.