Another chapter for everyone! Please enjoy as I begin packing my belongings to head back to the US. I hate Japan…

chyp: Dude, enjoy the summer (and band camp). Tell me what instrument you play again?


"This won't be pretty," Wesley said to his brothers.

"What if we waited for him to get the Gem," Matthew suggested. "Then maybe we could take it from him."

"But we don't know what's gonna happen," Wesley countered.

"It's our only chance," James said, looking to Wesley and shaking his head. "If you could only glimmer…"

"I told you, Jimmy," Wesley started.

Before he could let out another word, his mouth opened wide as white lights appeared from nowhere and encircled his body, eventually engulfing him. The three Millers watched on as the same thing happened to Matthew and James. Then, just like that, the three brothers were gone. Derrick looked to Charity, who looked back at him while holding George close to her side. All three carried an expression of confusion on their faces.

"What the hell was that?" Derrick asked. "How could they just leave like that?"

"Did you see their faces?" Charity asked. "It looked like it was as much a surprise for them as it was for us."

"Are we stuck here?" George asked Charity.

"We're working on it, sweetie," Charity assured her son.

They huddled in a corner as Xernevod continued chanting. Whatever he was doing, they were grateful that it seemed to take a considerably long time. Xernevod meanwhile appeared to had lost interest in the witches at all as chanting became his priority. He kept speaking in the strange language, his body glowing even more intense as he chanted. Soon, he thought to himself, everything would change when the Gem of Legend was in his possession.


"Maybe I spoke too soon," James said as he and his brothers appeared in front of Marcia. "You need to work on your aim, though."

"I didn't do it," Wesley protested.

"Mrs. Coleman?" Matthew asked. "What are we doing here?"

"You know her?" Wesley and James asked together.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Wesley asked Marcia with a strained look on his face.

"Long story," Matthew said, pointing to the Book. "How did you get this?"

"I'm afraid I can't say," Marcia said, "but there's no time for that. I was called on to help y'all with whatever it is you're dealing with."

"We have to go back," Matthew said. "The Millers are back there with Xernevod."

"Who?" Marcia asked.

"Bad guy," Wesley summarized. "Real bad situation. We can't leave them there alone with him. Is there something in the Book?"

Marcia gave Matthew the oversized spellbook and watched nervously as he flipped through it. He skimmed through the pages, looking for anything related to 'Xernevod.' He groaned loudly in frustration as the size of the Book overwhelmed him. Then something magical happened. From Matthew's apparent sigh of discontent, the pages of the Book began to flip on their own. Marcia jumped back a little out of shock.

"Don't worry," Wesley said to her. "It's not the first time it's happened."

"I see," she replied. "You're all brothers, aren't you?"

"Just since the past year and a half," Wesley said.

"Even though you're…" Marcia began.

"Pressed for time," Wesley spat, finishing her sentence differently. "I know. Matt, you got anything yet?"

"Yeah," Matthew said, pointing to the page. "It's a whole page on Xernevod. There's no spell to vanquish him, though. Just a list of ingredients. Looks like we have to make a potion."

"A potion?" James asked. "Have we done that before?"

"Not that I can remember," Wesley said. "Usually we can just get by on spells."

"I can help you with the potion," Marcia offered. "I've done enough brewing in this kitchen to know a thing or two about potions. What do you need?"

"Thank you," Matthew said, smiling. "Wow, there's a lot. Uh, mandrake root, wolf's bane, hemlock, ground cumin, it just goes on and on. There's no way we can get this done in time. Plus, it says that he has to ingest the stuff. We can't even get close to him. Meanwhile, we don't even know what's going on with the Millers."

"All things in time," Marcia said as she took the Book.

Looking over the ingredients carefully, she concentrated and held out a hand towards the coffee table. Instantly, all twenty-three ingredients materialized onto the table in a flash of light. The three brothers were all taken aback at what had just happened, but Marcia remained focused. After studying the instructions in the Book, she waved her hands and the ingredients magically merged into three small bottles. She smiled and handed a bottle to each brother.

"Here's the potion you need," she said. None of them said a word, but looked perplexed. "It's called thought projection."

"Thought projection?" James asked, finally breaking the silence.

"You think of something and it happens," Matthew explained.

"Nerd," Wesley mumbled.

"So these will vanquish him?" James asked.

"Only one way to find out," Matthew said, taking the Book from Marcia and flipping through it. "Now we just need to get back there."