A/N: Life is good. Very good. Thanky for all the reviews, I'm loving them. Okay, I'd like to address a few of those who reviewed:
Clez: When I said in the first chapter that there were references to my earlier story "One Last Adventure", it was to say that this is more or less the sequel to it.
Qoheleth: Since I'm thinking that most of the people who read/write LXG fanfiction only watched the movie, and probably didn't read the original books. So, to minimize chaos, I'm putting the footnotes (is that what you call them?).
Thank you all for the kind (and sometimes not so) words! Needless to say, I'll be trying to cut down on the footnotes, so some or most of the locations will be made-up by my genius mind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
CHAPTER 5
LONDON, ENGLAND
LIBRARY OF MYSTIC AND WICCAN TEXTS
PRIVATE ROOMS
Allan, being the gentleman he was, pulled open one side of the sprawling double doors for Jesse and company. Skinner, who, throughout the whole trip back to London, had been staring out the window at Vicky flying, took the other side of the oak doors. Vicky smiled at him as she followed Crow inside.
"Whoa," Jesse whispered, looking around in awe. The floor-to-ceiling shelves were lined with books of varying thickness, many of them so old that they seemed to be falling apart at the seams. At the far wall, the only one without a shelf, was an ornate holder which held precious volumes of scrolls dating back from ancient times. "Seriously whoa."
Crow studied the volumes closest to him as the rest of them filed in. "Some of these are worth a fortune."
"What's that?" Vicky asked as she flew in. She landed near the table.
"Wiccan texts," Sierra informed her. "Most of which we don't have." Mina stood by the doorway, Dorian (as usual) never far. Skinner pulled the door shut with difficulty as Jekyll tugged at the other. Nemo opted to stand a little behind Jesse and Allan. Tom entered in front of Sloane.
"That's saying something," Sloane added. "Good evening, Mr. Holmes."
She was talking to Mycroft, who stood at the empty table in the middle of the room, Pike with him. He nodded. "Lady Heathrow. I'm glad you could help."
"We all know why, Mycroft," Jesse said, icicles dropping off her voice. "I'd rather not go into it."
"Yes. Well," Mycroft turned to face them in general. "I suppose you have questions."
"Indeed, Mr. Holmes," said Mina. "Why are we in this library?"
Sloane kept her neutral face, as did Crow, while their other friends glanced at each other. Mycroft answered for them. "That would be for Lady Heathrow to explain. Please, take a seat."
All fourteen of them did, with the Lady and her friends at one end, the League on the other, with Mycroft and Pike in the middle. A battleground for the debate that would no doubt follow.
Jesse started. "Once Mycroft here told me about what had happened and asked for my help, I had a hunch. All seven children were missing. In some forms of magic, seven is an essential number. For example, in an Aseyewrn spell of fire, for example, you need seven kinds of herbs, seven sorcerers, even seven targets, at times."
"Jesse told us to check it up," Sierra helped her. "We found that, if one wanted to use a spell on a certain group of seven people, they would need anybody related to these seven in anyway; friends, family, ex-lovers, that kind of thing. In this case, it was the children."
"The only kind of spell that needs seven children below fifteen years of age are that of the Syrem," Crow added. "They are one of the most powerful of all those who live under the rule of magic."
"What does this spell do?" Nemo asked from down the other side of the table. He was leaning forward, eager to har more, as were the rest of them.
"Well," Vicky said, tucking her wings deeper into her back so she could lean back into her seat, "the Syrem spell we identified is mainly for cursing people or Fightening."
"Frightening," Tom immediately corrected. Vicky chuckled.
"No, Fightening. It's a term, mainly used for the kind of spells we found."
"And which is...?" Jekyll asked, leaning forward even more. It's something bad, he thought. Just look at their faces.
Crow's stern face had already taken its dark hints of a scowl, while Jesse was frowning. Sierra looked grim. Sloane, as usual, was just plain broody. Only Vicky seemed unnaturally happy in a way.
"The spell, doctor, is a spell that makes children grow up and inherit their parent's abilities," Jesse said. "And we suspect that whoever wants this to happen has a big grudge against you."
"What makes you say that?" Allan asked. Jesse sighed. Sloane said something in the previous language used to converse in private.
"I keep forgetting that you aren't versed in the history of the other worlds," Jesse sighed again.
"Ignorance is bliss," Dorian chipped in. Sierra nodded.
"The only other time that this spell was used was to take over the vampires, something that Dracula helped avert," Sloane said, looking pointedly at Mina. "It led to a civil war of sorts between each species. Jack the Ripper was from a race of blood-thirsty elves. He believed that the prostitutes he killed were part of the war, but no one knows for certain."
"It's a miracle how the humans weren't drawn into the war, though," Crow commented. "Although there were a few of our kind involved."
"So, this spell," Tom verbalized, "It's most likely going to be used against us. By who?"
"Someone who has mastered the power of the Syrem," Sierra frowned, "Or one of the Syrem. Either way, the prospects aren't good."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
LONDON, ENGLAND
LIBRARY OF MYSTIC AND WICCAN TEXTS
PRIVATE ROOMS
"Skinner, help me get that scroll over there," Jekyll told his friend, pointing towards a stack of scrolls in the middle of the table. Skinner pulled one out. After Pike and Mycroft had taken their leave, someone had suggested they search up the books. Vicky was flying around the higher shelves, pulling out likely books. She finally landed with an armload of books and took her seat next to Skinner, who sat between her and Jekyll. Sloane flipped through the huge tome, taking down notes in a series of symbols that Mina recognized as shorthand.
Jesse and co had told the League what to look for, and they frequently checked their notes against theirs. About thirty percent of all the books were in a foreign language, and those went to Jesse, Sloane, Sierra, and Vicky. Crow had disappeared, and Jesse guessed that he was hiding out, looking for other stuff that would be helpful.
"Let's see," Skinner muttered to himself, flipping through the book he took from Vicky. "Spells, six, eight...aha! Seven! Syrem spells: the number of Seven." He read that out loud, and everybody looked at him as Vicky grabbed the book from him and read aloud what it was written on the page.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
A/And: Sucky chapter, short, I know. The next one will be the text and continuation. See ya then, and pls, review!