Cisco
December 16th, 2018
One moment, Cisco was brushing his teeth and the next he was standing in the middle of the cortex. He looked around confused and pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth.
"Wha da?" he asked, his mouth still foaming with toothpaste. Suddenly, Austin stormed up to him and held out a cup.
"Spit," she said. He obeyed and then wiped his mouth.
"Austin, what the hell?" Iris asked, Cisco glanced at her and almost laughed. She looked pissed but she was obviously still in her night shirt because she was currently swimming is Barry's jacket. Barry, for his part, just looked annoyed.
"Sorry, but there was an attack on the castle last night," she explained. The look on Caitlin's face after she said that could only be described as scandalized which didn't make any sense given the context but it was the truth. He gave her a look but she didn't seem to notice.
"Was anyone hurt?" Barry asked, his annoyance dissipating.
"No, but the magic vault was breached," Austin said. "The attack was a distraction for someone to sneak in elsewhere but we don't know who or how."
"What's the magic vault?" Ralph asked.
"It's essentially where we keep the physical manifestation of magic powers," she responded.
"How does that work?" Joe asked.
"And is it dangerous?" Iris asked.
"We have these, orbs," Austin said, pausing to find the right word. "Contained in these orbs is a fog, or swirl of magic. Each one corresponds to the known houses of magic. Many of them contain ancient magic, from the earliest known member of each family. And yes, that power can be dangerous in the wrong hands. It's supposed to be an archive, not a weapon. That magic can be used to directly affect an entire bloodline, or magical lineage."
"Which family's magic was taken?" Caitlin asked.
"Officially? No ones," Austin said. "Unofficially, we don't know. Every orb is accounted for but whoever was in there was there for a time before they were scared off. They may have been doing something more than stealing."
"Like what?" Cecile asked. Austin had a defeated face.
"Any number of things," Austin said. "It will take time for us to tell. The point is, we need to step up our timeline. Assuming these people are the same ones we've been dealing with then they are making a move and we have to counter."
"So that's why you flashed us here at eight in the morning?" Cisco asked.
"I was still in bed," Iris shot back.
"Clearly," Austin said. "Go and get dressed and get back here. We're leaving for the realm in an hour."
"Wait, today?" Barry asked.
"You don't have to go anywhere Barry," Austin said. "And Ralph, Joe and Cecile, you are wall going to stay here like we planned. But everyone else, yeah. Today." Barry looked ready to say something but Iris grabbed his hand.
"We can talk about this at home," she explained. Essentially her way of saying "take me home right now, I'm literally wearing your jacket as a dress" he assumed. Barry relented and sped her out of the room.
"Okay, I'll go and get the potion and my wands, Caitlin, you get the comms," Austin ordered. The other spellcaster nodded and followed orders. Then Austin flashed out of the room.
"You ready for this Cisco?" Joe asked, since he was currently the only one in the room actually going.
"I guess so," he responded. "This is going to be interesting."
"Didn't Austin say something about finding different clothes?" Ralph asked.
"Yeah, you going to the equivalent of a different country or universe, the styles are probably different," Cecile added.
"She did but I don't know if she found everything yet," Cisco responded. "I don't think they wear schooling robes on a day to day basis." Because that aspect of Harry Potter they got right, or similar but actually pretty different according to Caitlin, whatever that meant. A moment later Caitlin came running back into the room and handed Caitlin a comm, then Barry and Iris sped back in the room. Barry still didn't look happy but Iris was now fully ready for the day.
"So you guys are really doing this?" he asked.
"Yes," Iris responded shortly. "Barry, we are going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. We've been over this."
"Yeah dude, I wish I could go with them," Ralph said. "Just calm down with the rhabdophobia."
"Rhabdowhatia?" Joe asked.
"Fear of magic," Caitlin said.
"How did you know that?" Cisco asked.
"I know things," Ralph said.
"Okay, well however you know it, I don't have it," Barry said. "I just don't like this situation."
"No one does," Iris said. "But I think you're still upset over Devoe. We all want a break Barry but you can't just keep on being mad at the problem." Barry made a self conscious glance around at the others in the room who all pretended like they weren't watching.
"Okay, fine I'll try to keep it in check, just be careful okay?" he said softly to her. Cisco could only hear because he was relatively close to them. He saw Iris nod and then give Barry a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, that's cute," Austin said. Wait, Austin? Cisco turned to see austin standing at the entrance to the cortex with a bag in her hand and her arms crossed.
"Do you have everything?" Caitlin asked.
"I have wands, potions and some current spellcaster stylings," she said.
"Which means what exactly?" Cisco asked.
"Jackets," she said. "That's all I really had time to find so just keep them closed," she told them before passing out items to the proper people.
"You're sure this potion will keep people from recognizing me?" Caitlin asked.
"It's not so much your face as your magical signature," she explained. "So I changed it a little from the original plan. You are a lot older than people remember so as long as you try not to draw too much attention to yourself, all you'll need this potion for is to alter your magical signature."
"You can do that?" Caitlin asked.
"Well, it wouldn't fool magical sensors or anyone actively checking but the general feeling of it yes," she explained.
"People can really just tell who you are by sensing it?" Joe asked.
"They sense your magic, not you," Austin clarified.
"Well, higher level casters anyway," Caitlin clarified. "Lower level ones like me aren't really able to sense magic without a spell unless another caster wanted us to."
"Why is magic so confusing?" Ralph asked.
"Right, because technology is so easy to understand," Austin responded. Cisco was scandalized.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"Woah, hey, stand down," Caitlin said, stepping forward. "Magic and technology are essentially equivalents in our world."
"Are they really though?" Austin asked.
"Why is this a conversation we're just having now?" Iris asked.
"Yeah, seems like this little debate should have happened a long time before you guys decided to take a journey to the realm," Cecile said.
"I'm just kidding," Austin said. "Mostly. But we really do just need to focus on the mission right now."
"And what exactly is the mission of this little trip?" Joe asked.
"Just recon," she explained. "You guys need to find your footing and fast."
"What about the vault?" Cisco asked. Austin shook her head apprehensively.
"I can't get you guys in there," she explained. "The entire guard is on high alert. Even if they weren't the vault is the most secure place in the castle. Or, it's supposed to be."
"Yeah, okay," Iris said. "We get it, one step at a time. As long as we start moving."
"Exactly," Austin responded.
"Yeah, makes sense, I'm in," Caitlin. "It's going to be weird going back though."
"Which is exactly why we need to get going now," Austin said.
"Right now?" Iris asked.
"The sooner the better," she responded. "Gather round." Austin motioned for them to step forwards.
"Oh so this is happening, okay," Cisco said, stepping forwards. He looked back at his friends. Iris was giving Barry a peck on the lips, assuring him that she would be fine before walking over. Caitlin had paused and taken a breath before moving, he saw her close her eyes and reach up to grab her necklace. A moment later she seemed fine and finally stepped forwards.
"Everyone ready?" Austin asked. Everyone nodded. Then Caitlin downed the potion and as soon as she was done Austin called out the spell. There was a bright flash that faded into a darker one. When the light dissipated Cisco looked up in awe. They were in the Spellcaster Realm.