The Wizardess and the Vampire, Chapter 15 by patricia51
"Saturday?" Justin started to panic. "That's the day after tomorrow! We have to get ready. We have to practice. We have to..."
"Sit down and calm down," Alex instructed. She thought for a moment, then unexpectedly she laughed merrily, covered her mouth and pretended to cough.
"Cough... Loser!... cough."
Justin stared goggled-eyed at his sister. Then his lips twitched. A smile spread over his face. Then he was laughing and Alex was laughing with him. Max joined in and Juliet and finally the older Russos until everyone was in near tears.
They finally calmed down. Justin stood, walked over to his sister and hugged her where she sat.
"Thanks. I need that."
"We all did," agreed Jerry.
"Gosh I thought I had forgotten how to do that. Thank goodness I haven't. I'll have to remember to keep in practice." Alex teased her older brother with a straight face but the twinkle in her eyes belied her words. That twinkle was matched by Justin even as he covered his ears with his hands and pretended to moan in dismay.
Jerry looked approvingly at the byplay between his children. "Seriously, I told you. I wouldn't have agreed to their coming had I not been fully confident about you four. They are NOT coming here with evil intentions. They want to know, as do I, what the limits of your powers are. They're fascinated by Juliet; how she became human and a wizard to boot. There's no record of someone becoming a wizard who wasn't born one. Only extremely powerful artifacts like the Stone of Dreams were thought to be able to do things like that. Certainly not three apprentice wizards."
He surveyed four, no five, faces that still showed some lingering concern. "Don't be worried. I'm not. It will all be okay."
That night Juliet slipped into Alex's bed just as the other teen girl was deciding to do that very thing. The two girls wrapped their arms around each other and held on. No words were spoken or needed. And tonight they drifted off to sleep in one bed, comforted by the warmth of their bodies together.
To just about everyone's surprise Friday turned out to be pretty much a normal day. School kept all four teens busy. There were reports to turn in, the girls had a science lab with an interesting experiment, and Justin was participating in the preparation for the mock UN and even Max actually paid attention in class. After school Theresa needed help with household chores and Jerry at the Sub Station. Everyone picked at supper, including Juliet for once. Yawns took the place of conversation.
Friday night had become video night ever since Juliet had joined the family. Almost automatically everyone took up their usual places in the family room. Max sprawled on the floor, propped up on a huge pillow. Justin sat in his favorite recliner while Theresa perched on the edge of the couch Jerry had already stretched out on. Grins were exchanged by all four kids who knew that as the evening wore on Teresa would slip farther and farther onto the couch until she would be nestled in Jerry's lap.
Alex and Juliet hadn't waited. They had hopped into their usual overstuffed arm chair and wiggled until they were comfortable, their arms around each other. Sometimes when they did that there were suppressed giggles and sneaky touches designed to make the other girl squirm. Tonight though they simply snuggled together and relaxed.
Jerry started the video, which no one but he could later remember the title, the plot or any of the characters. One by one they dozed, only to be gently roused and sent off to bed. Less than thirty minutes after it started Jerry turned off the player and the TV.
"Well that worked pretty well," smiled Theresa.
"Uh-huh" Jerry replied as he wrapped one arm around his wife and the pair turned of the lights before heading to their room. "I'm glad school was interesting today, we would have had to work them twice as hard otherwise. Now though they won't be sitting up all night worrying."
"Right. You can do that for them."
"I really don't think there IS anything to worry about. But yes, you never know. But that's what we do honey. We worry so the kids don't."
"Well if you're going to be awake all night anyway..."
A deep throated chuckle was the only verbal answer.
The next morning everyone was up at the break of day. The conversation around the breakfast table was rather forced but everyone seemed determined not to let the upcoming visit by the Council bother them too much.
The Sub Station opened on schedule but shortly before the Council was due Jerry hung a sign on the door saying "Closed for Repairs". The family gathered in the kitchen for a bite. As they finished their sandwiches and sodas they felt the magical surge that announced the arrival of someone through the portal.
"That will be the Council members," said Jerry. He spread his arms and everyone indulged in a group hug for a moment. "Remember, it s all going to be alright."
The sextet entered the Magic Lair. Awaiting them were five adults. Four of them, two men and two women, were strangers. The fifth one was not.
"Professor Crumbs!" exclaimed Justin.
"Yes indeed," the elderly man smiled. "Justin, Alexandra, Maximillian, how nice to see you again. And Jerry and Theresa, it s been quite too long." The wizard turned to the remaining family members. "And you, my dear, must be Juliet." He offered his hand and very gently shook hers. "It s quite an honor to meet you young lady. You've been quite the talk of the Council for some time." Seeing how embarrassed she was he hastily reassured her. "No, no Juliet, we're quite pleased to have such a lovely young lady as a new addition to the family of wizards. We're just all amazed, and pleased, at how it happened." The old man introduced the other four members of the Council.
"Before we start exploring how this did happen," the long bearded Headmaster began, "We want to assure everyone that this is in no way a witch hunt or inquisition of any kind. There have been enough of those targeted towards us over the centuries. Rather it s a serious investigation of a couple of unprecedented events."
One of the two female Council members took over. "The power that brought Juliet to life and seems to have conferred wizard powers on her is astounding. And frankly, just a little scary. Our history shows an occasional flash of bonding between siblings, generally between two brothers or two sisters. But we've never known it to involve three children, nor to reach the level of magic that you all have done."
Professor Crumbs took back over. "We promise there will be no harm. All the members of the Council here are not only powerful wizards but also are extremely adept at controlling their powers. Nothing will get out of hand."
"Juliet, if you agree, we would like to start with you." The other female, Zelda as Juliet recalled her being introduced as, spoke up. "And," the female wizard smiled, "If you would feel more comfortable with Alex by your side that would be fine." Noting the surprise on everyone's faces she continued. "After all, the connection between the two of you is what made all this happen I believe."
Juliet nodded, reaching out for Alex's hand. Surprisingly, Zelda was extremely low key and a great deal of the time was spent not in casting spells but in conversation. Zelda asked a number of questions. Juliet answered hesitantly at first but as her confidence increased she felt more comfortable and became more the bubbly young woman she really was.
Juliet was asked to cast a simple spell or two and the entire group observed as she and Alex repeated their light casting exercise, which had the same result as before. All the Council members applauded as the glowing balls shifted color to match.
"Very good," congratulated Zelda. She exchanged glances with the others, all of whom nodded approvingly. "Juliet, welcome to the family of wizards. I look forward to the day when you will become a full wizard."
Surprising everyone the older woman stepped forward and hugged both the former vampire and Alex. "And you two, never doubt that what you feel for each other is not real. The magic came to you Juliet because of your love, not the other way around and I for one am happy for you both." She looked at Alex's Father and Mother. "Some people strongly disagree with some the paths that love may lead us. I never have."
There was a moment of silence, and then Professor Crumbs nodded and spoke up briskly.
"Let us proceed. Would the three of you," he indicated the Russo siblings, please stand here, here and here." Once they had he waved over one of the male wizards who took over.
"What we want you to do Justin is to cast a barrier spell. Once you have we'll attack it; slowly and carefully until it gives way and only until we feel it give way."
Justin nodded and cast the spell. He felt the older wizard's power push against the invisible wall. He concentrated as hard as he could on maintaining it but it was only a couple of minutes before it gave way.
"Well done Justin," the tester nodded approvingly. "You did very well. Don't feel that you didn't, breaching barrier spells is a specialty of mine."
Alex followed and the Max. Alex didn't last as long as her older brother but to everyone's surprise Max lasted longer than his siblings put together.
"Well," Justin laughed as Alex hugged Max for a second. "He IS the hard head of the family."
"Okay now," the Council member said. "Take each others' hands, as you did that day. Concentrate on each other. FEEL each other. Justin, when you feel right cast the spell."
The three siblings grasped each others' hands. All three closed their eyes and concentrated. Shortly all noticed that the trio's breathing had matched, inhaling and exhaling as though they shared the same lungs. Suddenly Justin's eyes snapped open and he cast the spell.
The tester waited just a bit to allow the barrier to stabilize. Then he pushed against it with his power. Nothing happened. He gestured and Zelda joined him. The pair had no more luck in breaching the barrier than the man had by himself. A third wizard and then a fourth joined them.
By now the magical power in the room was so great it had become visible. The energy pouring out from the four Council members appeared as beams of light, beams that beat against an unyielding wall that rippled with the colors of the rainbow. The light flared, burning brighter with each passing moment until the room was filled with shifting colors.
After what seemed hours Professor Crumbs called in a loud voice "Enough!" The seven involved participants stepped back and lowered their hands.
"Whew," said Justin.
"You can say that again," chimed in Alex. Max nodded agreement.
"Absolutely astounding," said Zelda. "You would not expect three junior wizards to be able to resist one full wizard and in fact individually none did for longer than four minutes. But together, WOW."
The Wizard Tech Headmaster smiled and stroked his long beard. "Even more so than you know Zelda." he addressed the four Council members. "Did any of you see what happened as the power bent on bringing down the protective barrier increased until all was visible?"
Four heads shook. The other female wizard said rather sheepishly "I'm afraid we were concentrating so hard on breaching the barrier that we probably wouldn't have noticed an elephant in the room."
Professor Crumbs nodded. "I can understand that. That's why I just watched. I had a feeling this was going to go rather like it did. But I was caught off guard myself. When the power level rose to visible levels it could have been dangerous for anyone not protected in the room. I, of course, was protected but not Jerry, Theresa or Juliet. I was about to take some sort of action when I saw the barrier begin to curve and extend. In the blink of an eye it reached out to shelter the other members of the Russo family. And I have no doubt that it was instinctive." He turned to the siblings. "Did any of you think consciously about your parents or Juliet?"
Three heads shook side to side. Alex even blushed a little. "Normally I think about Juliet all the time. But during the test all I could think of was the link with Justin and Max and holding firm."
"All of this is as Jerry and I suspected."
Four pairs of eyes turned in surprise to the oldest Russo. Only Theresa seemed unsurprised.
"I told you I had been in touch with the Council," he reminded them. "Professor Crumbs and I have exchanged a number of letters and met twice. This is why I was so confident that you all were ready for this."
While Jerry spoke the members of the Wizards Council held a short meeting that mostly seemed to consist of exchanging looks and nods. Professor Crumbs turned back to the Russos.
"We have reached a consensus, which includes an extremely unusual decision. Our traditions call for a Wizard Competition to be held between all siblings when they have all reached the proper age. This has been done as a measure to conserve and concentrate our magic. It was always thought that spreading it out among the entire group of siblings would weaken us and eventually our magic would grow so thin we would become as mortals."
The Headmaster met each Council member s eyes in turn for confirmation.
"In this case the opposite is true. As your Father declared, together you are so much stronger than the sum of your individual powers it would be ridiculous to take the magic from any of you. Therefore, with the full agreement of the Council I declare the three of you released from the magic competition. Instead, each of you will retain your powers and when you individually reach the proper age you will be tested and confirmed as full wizards. Congratulations."
(To Be Continued)