A/N: Thanks so much for all of your reviews! Now on with the story!
"Talking/stressing"
"Thinking/stressing"
"Spell/casting spell"
"Casting spells mentally"
"Talking mentally"
Chapter 14: The Plot Thickens
"So why are we hiding in school again?" Alex asked Justin with an unbelievable expression on her face.
Justin sighed at this as he continued leading them through the halls of Tribeca Prep.
"Because the school around the summer time is like a minefield, meaning people try to avoid it as much as possible and it would be the last place anyone would ever want to go," explained Justin for about the fourth time now.
"What about summer school?" Max asked.
By now Justin had lead them in front of a door that was near the far end of the school. Justin used a quick spell to unlock the door before he answered Max's question.
"Which is why we're hiding in here," replied Justin as he created a small ball of light in his hand and started walking down the stairs with his siblings right behind him.
When they reached the bottom of the steps Alex and Max were surprised to see that they were in a basement. Justin then tossed the ball of light up in the air, making it hit the ceiling and explode into smaller pieces that laminated the whole area.
"This place isn't half bad," Alex commented as she took a quick scan of the basement.
"Yeah, I didn't even know the school had a basement," stated Max with some excitement in his voice.
"A lot of people don't, that's what makes this the best place for us to hide," Justin told them.
"Then all that's left to do is give this place a magical makeover," happily replied Alex before taking out her wand as she started adding her own special taste to the place.
Following her lead, Justin and Max took their own wands out and made some of their own improvements as well.
Evilene had quickly evaded the emergency wizards when she knew the children had escaped and went straight to work on making the specific preparations for casting the powerful spell. She was now wearing a huge smile on her face after she had finished setting up everything she would need. The only thing left to do now was get the children to help her perform the spell.
It had been hours since the three young wizards turned the basement into an apartment like complex. The place now had two bathrooms, one for Alex and the other for the boys. A nice sized kitchen with a stove/oven, microwave, refrigerator, and sink. A large living room with a sofa, loveseat, living room table, giant plasma flat screen TV, a Nintendo Wii mainly for Max, along with the game Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for Justin and Alex. And lastly there were two conjoined bedrooms, one for Max, and one for Alex and Justin.
So far the siblings had found ways to enjoy themselves as they waited for Evilene to come get them. Max spent most of the time playing many games on the Nintendo Wii while Alex and Justin had stayed in their bedroom, only coming out to eat and play Guitar Hero a few times with Max. However once they all had their fun, all three went to Alex and Justin's room to discus some important things. The subject that they were now talking about was the comment Justin made earlier regarding the wizard council.
"So basically they're afraid of being revolted against or overpowered," summoned up Alex, who was now lying down on her stomach on the bed with her arms propping up her head so she could face Justin.
"Pretty much," replied Justin also lying down on the same bed but with his back against the cover and his arms crossed behind his head.
"So what does preventing ties in the wizard competition have to do with all that?" asked Max, lying down on the bed the same way his sister was.
"Magic that runs between family members is very strong. That's why when we all start out we all have magic. But when we get older the magic itself grows with the holder and makes its bond with any familiar magic near it stronger as well."
"Wait, are you saying that if all of us keep our powers for the rest of our lives we'll keep getting stronger?" Alex asked as her interest grew even more now.
"Not only that but each of us would be three times as stronger than a normal full wizard because each of our magic sources would strengthen their bond with the other. That bond between the magic causes us to draw power from each other."
"But then wouldn't one of us get drained or something if we continued to draw power from the other?" wondered Max.
"No because the source of magic in us is infinite. That's why it continues to grow the more time passes."
"Then how come when I try to do really hard or advanced spells it doesn't work?"
"Well…….wait, when did you try to do that?!" asked Justin, looking at Alex with a surprised yet strict expression on his face.
"Just answer the question, Justin," she told him.
"Fine, but we'll discuss that later," he replied to which she just rolled her eyes at.
"Anyway, because of the magic source being infinite, having too much magic in use at one time could cause a lot of stress and overload the body if it can't handle it. So in order to avoid hurting or damaging our bodies, it gives us a certain amount of magic to use until it knows we're ready to use more of it."
"Ok, but I still don't understand how we don't get drained or how we would get more power from each other."
"Yeah, I didn't get any of that either," said Max with confusion clear in his voice.
"Ok, think of it like……if we were three waterfalls that flowed into one lake. The water flowing from each waterfall never stops pouring water into the lake. So the lake never dries up and continues to grow larger from all the water it's getting from the waterfalls."
"Wow…I actually understood that!" excitingly proclaimed Max.
"Yeah, me too," responded Alex.
"Good," remarked Justin as he allowed his body to relax a little more and closed his eyes.
"So…Justin," Alex started slowly,
"Hmm?" murmured Justin with his eyes still shut.
"You said teleportation is easy to track right?"
"Yeah."
"So is that how you seem to find me no matter where I go?" Alex asked with a slight accusing tone at him.
"No," simply answered Justin, which threw her off guard since that wasn't the answer she was expecting.
"Oh, then how do you always find me?"
"Remember when I said family members' magic have a bond with each other?" Justin asked her now turned towards her with his eyes open.
She nodded her head yes and then Justin noticed that this topic also got Max's attention.
"Well the connection between our magic can be used to help us find one another, among other things of course."
"Cool, so if I was somewhere like China, you would still be able to find me?!" excitingly asked Max thinking about all the possibilities this could bring.
"Not yet, our magical bond would have to grow a lot more before I could sense you half way around the world," explained Justin, bringing a small frown on Max's face.
"So how far can we sense each other now?" wondered Alex showing true interest in the answer.
"We should be able to sense each other at least several states apart."
"Awesome!" happily replied Max as the frown quickly left and turned into a huge grin.
"How do you know so much about all of this Justin?" Alex suddenly questioned him.
This question was something that she had been wondering about for a while now and figured this was a good time as any to answer it.
"It's called reading," plainly stated Justin, making Alex shoot him a hard glare.
"Please Justin, I'm not buying that. There's no way you know all of this from a book so spill!" Alex commanded with a severe voice.
Justin didn't say anything for a while as a contemplating expression was now written all over his face. After a few minutes of thinking, Justin sighed and sat up on the bed to face his two younger siblings.
"Ok but you guys can never ever tell anyone, understand," he said in the most urgent voice that neither one of them has ever heard him use before.
"Ok/Sure," they both honestly agreed, knowing he was being very serious about this.
"Alright well…"Justin abruptly stopped speaking before a look of concentration crossed his face.
"Justin, what is it?" worried Alex.
"Evilene's here, let's go," replied Justin before he immediately got off the bed with his siblings following his lead.
Justin didn't miss the disappointed looks on Alex and Max's faces so he stopped walking to turn around to face them.
"I'll tell you guys later I promise," replied Justin with a genuine smile, making the other two wizards smile at him as well.
"We'll definitely hold you to that," commented Alex before they continued to follow Justin to where Evilene was
It was pitch black outside as the emergency wizards, Crumbs, Theresa, and Jerry were currently walking through an old magic cemetery.
"Are you sure they'll be here?" Jerry asked the emergency wizards as they all continued walking.
"We're sure; this is where we tracked Evilene too," answered the Goblin.
"It's just a good thing we managed to cast that invisible tracking bug on her before she got away from us," replied Lamp, taking occasional glances at a scanner that was in his hands.
"Indeed and we know now what she's planning," Crumbs commented, making a slight frown on Theresa's face.
"Is it really that bad for her to do something like this? I mean, I have to admit as a mother myself if I could I would probably try and do the same thing if it was Justin, Alex, and Max who were taken from me like that," she admitted to them.
"I know it doesn't seem bad, but with Evilene you can never be too careful. I have no doubt that there is much more behind it than what it seems," stated Crumbs.
"I just want to be sure if we can get our kids back," stressed Jerry, making a frown on Crumbs appear on his own face.
"I'll be very honest with you; it's more possible for Alex than for Justin," he answered sorrowfully
"What do you mean we might not get Justin back?!" Theresa asked, now even more worried for her children than ever.
Crumbs didn't have the heart to face the two parents as what he was about to tell them would hurt them even more.
"It seems that the dark magic in Justin is quickly growing and is starting to take him over. If we don't remove the dark spell from him soon it will be too late," he told them with dread in his voice.
This piece of information had not only caused Jerry fear but the emergency wizards as well.
"You couldn't mean what I think you mean?" asked Jerry with fear dripping in each word.
"Yes," he bitterly responded, hating the mere thought of what was happening to one of his students.
"If we can't stop it in time then you do understand that we would have no choice but to stop him permanently," regretfully but seriously said Lamp.
"I know," Crumbs remarked softly, however this just made Jerry angry.
"How is that even possible?! That spell couldn't have strengthened their magic that much!" yelled Jerry.
"I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know why it's affecting your son the way it is," was his simply yet painful answer.
"What are all of you talking about?" carefully asked Theresa, knowing that she wouldn't like the answer at all.
No one said anything for a while, not knowing how to tell her the awful news. Unfortunately Theresa was getting fed up with not knowing what could happen to her son.
"Someone answer me!"
Hearing the desperation and pleading in her voice, they understood that she needed to know. So Crumbs decided that he would be the one to explain it to her.
"If a wizard reaches a certain level of power they'll…….change," he hesitantly elaborated causing her eyes to widen in fright and panic.
"Change?! Change to what?!" screamed Theresa trying her best not to cry but failing.
Jerry felt that he needed to be the one to tell her, so he hugged his wife as close and tight as possible before he whispered the rest of what she needed to know in her ear. As soon as he finished telling her that bit of information she broke down and cried in her husband's arms.
"So this is what you wanted all along huh?" sarcastically asked Alex with her arms crossed as she gave Evilene an agitated look.
"I should've known that you were just using us!" bitterly stated Justin with anger clear in his voice, which made Evilene become livid at the accusation.
"I have no intention of deserting any of you! So don't you dare make that assumption!" she retorted back, slightly shocking the three.
"Then what were you going to do when you get your children back?" Justin asked curiously after calming down some.
Alex and Max were wondering the same thing so they waited eagerly for Evilene to answer the question. Evilene let a small smile grace her lips before she answered him.
"Take all of you with me of course. Surely having two other teenagers included wouldn't be considered using you would it?" challenged Evilene with her brow raised.
"So what, you expect all of to get along and be some happy evil family or something?" Alex skeptically questioned, wearing a "you've got to be kidding me" expression on her face.
"Yes," declared Evilene, causing stunned looks on their faces.
Once they got over their stunned state, they decided that they needed to discuss it more.
"We need some time to think about this," Justin told Evilene.
By the look on her face you could tell that she wasn't happy with that but knew if she didn't let them discuss it they would get suspicious.
"Alright, but I can only give you an hour."
With that the three siblings left Evilene to find a more secluded place to talk in private. Once they were sure they were far enough, they started talking about their current situation.
"Even though it's cheesy it doesn't sound too bad. What do you guys think?" asked Alex mentally since they all agreed it would be safer.
"Hey you know me; I just go with the flow. Whatever you guys decide is fine with me," normally answered Max.
"What about you Justin?" Alex questioned, knowing that whatever choice he makes they would go along with it.
Justin didn't respond right away as a very focused and deliberation look was on his face. He then took a deep breath and turned serious eyes on his siblings.
"I think now is the best time to tell you both how I know so much about magic," Justin told them, making both gaze at him in confusion.
"There she is," silently announced Lamp with the others closely and quietly beside him.
The five adults were hiding behind one of the mausoleums in the cemetery that was a good enough distance away from when they first spotted Evilene.
"But where are Justin, Alex, and Max?" wondered Jerry searching the area for his children.
"If that woman has done anything to them she's going to be sorry," angrily stated Theresa with a hard look on her face.
Out of all the grownups, Theresa was the angriest one. After she had gotten over her little break down, furry had taken her over. She swore to herself that she was not going to lose her eldest son because of this woman. Even if she didn't have magic it wouldn't stop her from giving Evilene a piece of her mind for messing with her kids.
"Theresa I know you're angry and I am too, but we can't let it cloud our better judgment," Jerry told her in a calming voice, hoping to diffuse some of the anger she was feeling.
Deep down she knew her husband was right and that being angry wouldn't help save her children so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep herself under control. When the others saw Theresa starting to calm down, they were ready to set their plan in motion. All they had to do was wait until the kids showed up and pray for the best.
"So what have you all decided?" Evilene asked the three young wizards who had just returned.
The said three wizards made quick eye contact with each other before Alex decided to be the one to speak on their behalf.
"We'll help you, just as long as we don't get thrown to the side like a pile of garbage," remarked Alex with seriousness in her words.
"Of course. Now stand around the graves to form a circle and we will take each other's hands," Evilene told them.
They all did just that before Evilene began reciting the incantation to activate the spell.
"Refero ut mihi liives ut erant captus! Ones ut erant profugus caelitus! Permissum suum animus quondam iterum reverto quod roam solvo evinco orbis terrarium!"
As soon as the words were recited, the atmosphere grew tenser and started changing. The wind began blowing heavily around them as dark ominous clouds appeared in the already black sky.
"Move back!" Evilene told them before they did as she said and moved several feet away from the graves.
Suddenly two streaks of lightening produced from the clouds and struck the two graves causing derbies to fly all over the place. The ground soon began shaking as if there was an earthquake, which almost made everyone fall to the ground. When the shaking stopped, loud groaning noises could be heard from the graves. This brought everyone's attention to them as they watched to see two pairs of hands sprout from each of the graves. It wasn't before long before two bodies were climbing their way out and were now attempting to stand up. Now that the two were up, you could tell that one was a young male and the other a young female. Despite all the dirt and grime that covered them you could tell that their skin was naturally dark and that the clothes they were wearing were defiantly old fashioned. They both began looking at their surroundings in total confusion. Puzzlement and curiosity appeared on their faces when they noticed Justin, Alex, and Max, but they remained silent and continued to look around more. However when they spotted Evilene next to the three, shock instantly took over their faces and they spoke for the first time.
"Mom?"
A/N: So, here's my belated Christmas and Early New Years present to you all!
Since I'm a procrastinator, I realized that for now I have to separate this stuff. The last chapter, this chapter, and the next were supposed to be all one long chapter but my procrastination wouldn't let me do that. Hopefully the next chapter will be the last for this episode and I can go on to the next one.
Refero ut mihi liives ut erant captus. Ones ut erant profugus caelitus. Permissum suum animus quondam iterum reverto quod roam solvo evinco orbis terrarium -Bring back to me the lives that were taken. The ones that were banished from heaven. Let their souls once again return and roam free to conquer the earth.
Hope this was satisfactory enough for you!