Caitlin
November 10th, 2018
The day after the gremlin attack, Iris called a meeting at STAR Labs. She said that she found out some important information. The night before Caitlin had been unable to sleep so she was the last to arrive. To be fair, she only had trouble sleeping because she had to out herself as a spellcaster to Joe and Cecile in order to explain the gremlin shenanigans. She could have lied but there was no point in only half the team knowing. Might as well go all in.
"Hey, sorry I'm late," she said, running in.
"Huh, that's usually my line," Barry laughed.
"We've got a problem," Iris said, silencing them.
"What's going on?" Joe asked.
"That gremlin didn't end up here on accident," she told them.
"How is that possible?" Caitlin asked in a panic.
"I reviewed to security footage and I saw another breach open up where the last one closed," she said. "I saw the gremlin come through but I also saw a pair of hands drop in in."
"No one from the Spellcaster Realm would dare touch a gremlin willingly," Caitlin responded.
"They were wearing gloves, I don't know if that actually did anything but I saw what I saw," she said. "Look." Then Iris pulled the security footage on the screen.
"Those are definitely hands," Ralph said.
"Who would do this?" Cecile asked, Jenna squealing in her arms.
"I have no idea," Caitlin said honestly.
"Do you think they were after you Cait?" Cisco asked. "You said it could be dangerous for us to know about you, maybe this is their way of getting rid of you."
"This is not how they would punish me," she told them. "This was something else."
"So was the target humans or spellcasters in our dimension? Iris asked.
"Could be either," Caitlin said. "Gremlins eat electricity and there's enough here for that thing to become bigger than King Kong. On the other hand, any spellcasters here would certainly be targets whether on purpose or not."
"And speedsters apparently," Barry mumbled. Iris swatted him on the back.
"It doesn't matter why they did it, it matter that it happened," Iris said.
"Yeah, and what are they going to do next?" Ralph asked.
"Hopefully nothing," Joe said.
"Don't hold your breath," Caitlin groaned. "If someone is getting involved with the mortal world for any reason, they mean business."
"Perfect, so not only do we have to fight metahumans, we now have magical creatures to deal with," Ralph said.
"Okay wait," Cecile said. "You guys told us that the first time the breach to the Spellcaster Realm opened it was because Cisco opened it in the speed lab. So why did it open here a second time?"
"Someone had to have opened a breach here deliberately," Iris said.
"Not necessarily," Barry said. "I don't know a ton about magic but what if whatever spell or potion or whatever they used to open a breach back here it just latched onto the last location a breach was open."
"Then why wouldn't that happen every time a breach opens?" Ralph asked. "Do breaches always open in the same location as the last one opened in our world until one opens in a different location?"
"I don't think it was automatic, it was deliberate but not necessarily on purpose," Caitlin said. The team gave her confused looks. "I think that whoever sent the gremlin through was ready. They knew that a breach had connected our worlds at this location recently so they knew people would be here. At the very least they probably assumed a spellcaster was here in some capacity."
"So the target WAS spellcasters," Iris said. "But why?"
"They probably think that I'm a traitor for leaving," she said. "This isn't the castle guard though, I can tell you that much."
"Why do you think it was you specifically?" Barry asked.
"Well, I'm the only spellcaster here but beyond that I know that people branded my mom a traitor after she left when my father died in the line of duty," she said. "They probably recognized my spell signature from when I sent the dark phoenix back."
"Spell signature?" Joe asked.
"Like a magical fingerprint," she said. He nodded.
"Okay, so their goal is to attack the perceived traitors," Iris said. "That puts you in danger Cait.
"And you guys for protecting me," Caitlin said.
"Yeah, well, too bad for us," Barry said, smiling.
"I know you guys are there for me but I would feel better if I taught you some magical protection," she said.
"So we don't have to come up with insanely thrown together plans at the last minute while a creature is attacking us anymore?" Ralph asked. "I'm in."
"What kind of protection?" Cecile asked.
"Well, I can't put absolute protection on you or anything but I can help you learn to dodge spells," she responded.
"That's not helpful against magical creatures though," Ralph said. Caitlin sighed.
"I know but at least it's something," she said. "I'll also bring some of my spell and information books. They have some info on creatures."
"I think that's a good idea," Iris said. "We can't be too careful." Cisco nodded in agreement.
"Okay wait," Ralph said. "So we're just supposed to trust Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them over here, to know what she's doing? She told us that she's a low level spellcaster. Is she even qualified for this?"
"Ralph!" Joe barked.
"No, Ralph's right," Caitlin said. "I'm not qualified for this. If things get too out of hand I will call the royal guard."
"But wouldn't you get in trouble?" Iris asked.
"Maybe, but if I go to them maybe I can get them to go easy on you guys at least," she responded.
"We can handle this on our own," Barry said. "I believe in you Cait."
"Me too," Cisco said.
"We all do," Iris said. "Right?" That last part was directed at Ralph.
"Okay, fine," he said. "Excuse me for questioning the sanity of this situation."
"I don't think any of us even know what sanity is anymore," Joe said.
"Our lives are crazy, what's one more thing?" Iris asked. After that, the team set up a few times a week exclusively for magic training before going back to their regular schedule.
November 24th, 2018
It had been about two weeks since magic classes had started. Caitlin would spend most of the class teaching about the different creatures she found in her books but they weren't all encompassing. She could only do so much. She also would go over magical laws and customs. They would usually wrap things up with how to combat magic as a mortal, which was basically deflect, deflect, deflect. Question and answer would be sprinkled in. Cisco usually asked the most questions. They weren't always on topic but better to know than not know right? It was better than Ralph. She wasn't entirely sure that he was paying attention. Not that he didn't care, he just wasn't a fan of school and said that this felt a lot like it.
"Okay, so, I was thinking that today we could risk some real life spell training," Caitlin told the team.
"You mean like, you cast spells at us and we deflect or dodge?" Iris asked. Caitlin nodded.
"What happened to not wanting the royal guard to find out?" Barry asked.
"I'll use simple spells and I'll only do one each," she told them. "It's not perfect but I don't want your first test to be with a more experienced spellcaster during an actual attack."
"She makes a valid point," Cisco said.
"As long as we actually get to do stuff now," Ralph said. Caitlin pulled her wand out.
"Okay, whose first?" she asked. Cisco raised his hand.
"I'll go!" he said, popping up.
"Alright, center stage then," she said, laughing. They went to the center of the speed lab.
"I'm just going to cast a temporary color spell. Okay? Ready?"
"Ready," Cisco said.
"Cloro K-Pin!" Caitlin yelled, thrusting her wand forwards. Cisco dropped into a duck and roll. The spell shot over his head and hit a practice dummy behind him. The dummy turned bright pink.
"Wait, if that had hit me was I going to look like that?" Cisco asked.
"Just your hair and just for five minutes," Caitlin responded. "But excellent dodge."
"Okay, but Ralph is going next," Cisco said, pointing at the stretchy meta.
"Fine then," Ralph said. "Same spell?" Caitlin nodded.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Bring it," came the response. Once again, Caitlin raised her wand.
"Cloro K-Pin!" she called again. Ralph used his powers in his defense by stretching himself into a circle. The spell went right through him, this time hitting a wall. Unfortunately, magic doesn't always act the way you think it will. Especially with Caitlin's control over it. It's a simple spell but it can still do what it wants sometimes. Which is why it bounced off the wall and slingshoted into Joe who was watching from the side.
"Ooh!" Caitlin gasped upon seeing the detective's hair, facial included, turn bright pink.
Barry and Iris were trying to contain their laughter. Cisco just looked relieved that it didn't hit him.
"Well, at least we know the spell works," Cecile said, trying to comfort Joe.
"You need to work on your dodging dad," Iris said, finally giving in to her giggles.
"How about you go next then see how you'd do," Joe said. "At least you'll know the spell is coming for you."
"Yeah, Cait, you forgot to mention the ricochet possibility," Cisco said.
"Honestly, I thought I would hit most of you," she said. "But it usually doesn't happen with higher level spellcasters unless it is on purpose. It's more of a spell getting out of hand than a tactic."
"Well, lets hope it doesn't happen again because I'm going to dodge your spell," Iris said in teasing cockiness.
"Are you sure we should still be doing this?" Barry asked. "I mean, what if something goes wrong again?"
"Babe, it will be fine," Iris told him. "I can handle a little color."
"Just a few more and we're done for the day," Caitlin said as Iris walked to position.
"Okay, bring it," she said, looking at Caitlin. For the third time Caitlin raised her wand and called out the spell. It blasted from her wand as Iris moved to jump out of the way.
"Weak," Ralph coughed out at the same moment. It made Iris glance in his direction just long enough for the sell to make contact.
"Damn it," Iris said. "How bad is it?" she asked. No one said anything.
"So that hit her right?" Cisco asked.
"I think so, nothing else turned pink," Ralph said. Caitlin stood frozen and very confused.
"Caitlin, what's going on? Did you do the spell right?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, I know I did," Caitlin said. "Same words, same cast pattern, same focus." At this point Iris realized decided to check her hair for herself and realized that it was in fact, not pink.
"Wait, what?" she said. "That hit me right? Why isn't my hair pink?"
"Maybe your powers are just off after the ricochet," Barry suggested.
"I mean, yeah maybe," Caitlin said.
"It was just one spell," Iris tld her. "It could have been a number of things right? Especially with the weirdness that has been going on around here."
"Yeah," she responded. "But I can think of-" She was cut off by the meta alert alarm.
"Well, have to finish this later guys," Iris said. "The city needs us." Barry sped ahead to the cortex and the rest of the team followed. Caitlin left last, still unsure of herself. She stared at her wand for a moment before she left. Maybe she was getting sick? That can affect powers is strange ways. It's been awhile since she had a cold but with Killer Frost gone she had less of a combatant. Hopefully she would be fine when or if another creature shows up. Or worse, another spellcaster.