Chapter Ten
Ten
"How can four groups of cats have lived here?" Ten asked. They were surrounded on all sides by houses. Everyone had been filled in on Lix's prophecy and what their mission was.
"They were pushed out by development," Seven responded.
"There are five moving auras in the area around us," Lix stated. "They radiate auras in similar ferocity to Kurt's and Baba's. I think that the Magic Masters are around us."
"That is a title that I haven't heard in awhile," a voice came from one of the nearby alleyways. The voice had a French accent to it. A man stepped out from the shadows. Upon seeing him, Nine gasped.
"Nicholas Flamel," Nine gasped. "The Master of Alchemy."
"Also one of the Magic Masters," Flamel added.
"Where are the other Magic Masters?" Two asked.
"Well Perenelle was right behind me," Flamel stated. "Grigori was a few blocks over when I last saw him. Morgan and Merlin are in our base. Now tell me, what brings 16 teenagers to New Forest?"
"We came here looking for the Sibylline Book," Six filled Flamel in. His new arm was glinting in the sunlight.
"Par Dieu," Flamel stated. "You must have some serious guts to look for the Book. Didn't you hear that we have to test you to see if you can get the Book."
"No one knew that it still existed until a mysterious prophecy was stated a few years ago," Net explained.
"Well let's go back to the base," Flamel remarked. "The others will want to hear your story as well."
Ten Minutes Later:
"Welcome to home base," Flamel stated. Flamel had brought them into an underground network of tunnels, the entrance to which was hidden inside a nearby farmhouse. Flamel explained that the tunnels were something that he and the others created using the Labyrinth as its basis. "This place was once under the center of the forest. The Clans would peacefully meet here every full moon to share news. Morgan! Merlin! I'm back! And I brought a few people who want to take part in the challenge for the Sibylline Book! Are Grigori and Perenelle back?"
"They came back a few minutes ago," a silky reply came from right behind them. The Sixteen turned around to see a young looking woman standing right behind them. "This is more than a few Nicholas. There are currently too many unique auras here, it is giving me a headache."
"This is Morgan le Fay," Flamel explained. "She is currently the most powerful living enchantress. A word of advice, don't mess with her library. I made that mistake once and got turned into a toad for a whole week."
"It serves you right," Morgan pouted. "Now why are you all here?"
"We want to explain our whole story once all of the Magic Masters are here," Ten responded.
Morgan nodded at this request and brought them all down lower into the base. "I can see that you got one of our clues, seeing that you have the Kusanagi. I also see παλίρροια, Kronos' Scythe, and Vasilis." They had stopped at a huge metal doorway. "The others are inside. Try not to bother Grigori, he has been pretty off recently." They went through the metal doorway and the other side seemed like a different place.
"Flamel!" a brown haired man shouted from a corner of this new room. "I thought that the monster that has been here recently got you."
"No Grigori," Flamel responded.
"Bah, you know I hate that name Flamel," Grigori complained. "Please children, call me Rasputin. I am the most powerful mystic in the world. Would you care to introduce yourselves?"
The Sixteen told the Magic Masters their names. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Four asked Rasputin.
"I see you heard the story of how we got Rasputin into hiding," Perenelle commented. "The Rasputin that was killed that night was an illusion made by Merlin. We had more members back then that allowed us to pull it off without a hitch. The replacements for those members are currently out their, they just haven't seen any of the signs to turn up at New Forest. Now tell us your whole story." With that the Sixteen started to explain how they got to this point.