Chapter 38: A Giant Out of Time

Infinity

I looked at myself in the mirror after I had used my magic to cause harm for the first time in my life and wondered if the change would be immediate. I felt guilty and empty afterwards, but it was something that needed to be done. Billy needed to be rescued from Badlock and the Bloors needed to be stopped before they allowed the Enchanter back into this world and more people were killed. I ran my hand over my face, but there were no wrinkles. My eyes were the same hazel color that they had always been and my hair was still blonde. Nothing looked different. I just felt guilty inside and swore that I would never use my magic like that again.

I washed my hands and left the bathroom hoping that no one else would be able to tell what I had done. I knew that I had hurt Manfred when my spell sucked the memory from his head, but I had walked way. He deserved the pain but if I fought the way that they did, then I wasn't any better. I hoped that I had gotten rid of the memory for good because I planned on telling Charlie everything. It was time for us to act and if I was going to find Septimus' true will, I would need help.

I got through the rest of the week without any issues. Manfred didn't seem to have any more animosity towards me than usual and my body wasn't changing at all. I wondered if witches and magicians only started to deteriorate after extensive use and not just from one simple spell or curse.

I was grateful to get away from the academy and everyone else. I wasn't ready to go home and face Charlie yet, so I went back to Katya's to tell her about the week. I told her my plan to tell Charlie everything and to finally stand up and fight against the Bloors. That night, she made me train harder than she did the week before. My skills were enhancing rapidly and I felt regret for all the time I wasted being in denial about what I could do instead of training myself and protecting my friends.

I spent Saturday training as well, going until my body was ready to give out on me. I did double the training so I could go see Charlie on Sunday and tell him everything that was happening. "Infinity, you're working very hard. But I think I need a break." Katya said breathlessly after our evening training session. We sat down in the kettle shop. While it had been cleaned up and looked better than it had when I left for the academy on Monday, she still didn't have any replacement kettles. The shop looked forlorn and bare. "How are you feeling, dear? You shouldn't overwork yourself."

"I know, but I have so much time to make up for. I should have been doing this sooner." I looked down at my blistered hands. I knew I could heal them, but I felt that I needed the discipline. "It shouldn't have come to this."

"You were a child thrown into an adult situation. You shouldn't beat yourself up." Katya said reassuringly. She went to speak again, but something stopped her.

"What were you going to say?" I asked. She held up her finger to silence me. She was listening for something. I listened too. I could hear shuffling and running. Something big was going on and I wondered what it was. We went over to the window and I saw a woman running down the street followed by the distant sound of angry, murderous voices.

"That woman is in trouble." Katya said, rushing out the door. I watched her seize the mystery woman by her waist. The woman screamed but Katya carried her into the building anyway. "I'm rescuing you, my dear. Not murdering you." Katya tried to explain to the thrashing woman. When the woman noticed me standing there, she stopped moving.

"Infinity?" She asked. While I thought I recognized the voice, I couldn't place her. She quickly reached up and snatched a wig off of her head and her straight, straw colored hair came down. "It's me, Benjamin's mother."

"What?" I was confused. "What are you doing out here by Piminy Street? And why were those people chasing you?"

Mrs. Brown began to tell me about Charlie coming to her with a problem. The painting that held Billy had gone missing so Charlie went snooping through Grandma Bone's room. Charlie had come across a card, which Mrs. Brown handed to me. It was postcard sized and read Meeting of sympathizers to our cause. The Old Chapel, Piminy Street, Saturday, 8pm. TT. Bring card. Mrs. Brown decided to dawn a disguise and go see what this meeting was about and get some clues about Billy's disappearance, but nothing could prepare her for what she saw. Titania Tilpin was there along with a large group of grim, unfriendly magicians and sorcerers that had been hiding dormant in the city. She admitted to everyone that Billy was in Badlock and they were keeping the painting in the Old Chapel. Mrs. Tilpin was close to finding a way to have the Enchanter come back into our world. She was making progress with repairing the mirror of Amoret.

The longer Mrs. Brown story went on, the later it got. "You should go up to bed. You have a lot to do tomorrow." Katya said as she looked at the clock. "I have a feeling that you're going to need to accompany your brother to the old chapel tomorrow and you need to be in top form."

I suppressed my yawn but agreed. I went up to my bedroom and crawled into bed. I was ready to face whatever adventure I would go on.

When I went downstairs the next morning, I could hear the loud clang of a hammer against hot metal in the workshop. Katya appeared to be working on more kettles for her shop. I wondered if she had bothered to eat breakfast. I didn't want to bother her while she worked so I sat down at the lone table and began to polish the few kettles that were left along with some of the new ones she had made. After an hour of polishing, I heard the jingling of bells from above the shop door. I wasn't at all surprised to see Charlie.

"You haven't been home all weekend." He said accusingly. "I really needed to talk to you."

"I've been training." I said calmly. "You and I do need to talk though. Could you please sit down?" I looked over at an empty chair.

"I don't really have the time, Infinity. I have somewhere to be."

"The Old Chapel. I know. I talked to Mrs. Brown already. What I have to tell you is something that you need to know before you go get Billy in Badlock. You need to know why they're holding him there in the first place. Please… Sit down." He hesitated, but eventually sat down. "Back whenever Salem and I were hiding out in the wilderness, he told me the Bloor Family's best guarded secret. When Septimus Bloor died, he left everything he had to his daughter Maybelle, not Beatrice or Bertram. This made Beatrice very angry so she killed Maybelle, but not before Maybelle could hide her father's will and leave everything to her family. She hid the will in a Mother-of-Pearl inlaid box and the box was passed down through her descendants. There was no way to open the box but they knew what it contained. There was nothing they could do about it. Maybelle's lineage is the Raven family. Billy's parents gave the box to dad for safe-keeping." Charlie's mouth dropped open but I kept talking. I needed to get everything off of my chest. We couldn't have secrets. "After Salem told me this, we found out that we needed to come back here so he erased my memory to protect me. The day Salem left, Manfred wanted to make a deal. He told me that if I helped him with something, he would leave dad alone and everything would go back to normal. When he was getting ready to tell me all of this, Salem gave me my memory back. Manfred told me it was my job to make sure Billy got into Badlock and that I needed to try and find the box. …I agreed. He swore that Billy would be safe in Badlock and no one else had to get hurt."

"What?" Charlie said angrily. He slammed his fist down on the table. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I thought it would help us." I snapped back. I knew Charlie would be angry, but I was still annoyed tha the didn't let me finish. "I decided against it at the last second and I stayed with Katya that night instead. I thought that you would listen and stay away from the painting, but Billy went without you." I looked down at the kettle I was polishing and felt sick to my stomach. "Then Tancred was killed and I couldn't take it anymore. I went to Manfred's office and I told him off. I screamed at him and I told him I hated him and that I was going to tell you everything and then… I cursed him. I used dark magic and stole his memories of me knowing. He suffered through every second and I left him passed out in his office." I buried my face in my hands. "I know it doesn't make me better than them, but I wanted to undo the harm I caused. I want to help you get Billy back and I want them to lose everything they stole. I've been training and studying and trying to become stronger. I want to fight this fight with you."

I heard the loud groan of the workshop door as Katya forced it open. Her coveralls were caked in soot and ash and she was holding a large pair of pliers in her hands. "I guess that means you two plan on going to the Old Chapel together."

Charlie glared at me with resentful eyes. I didn't blame him, but I hoped he believed I was sincere now. "Yes." He said finally. Katya sat the large pliers down on the table in front of him.

"You two need to watch each other's backs. You'll need Solomon too. He'll keep you invisible and safe in Badlock." She plopped Solomon down on the table too. He crawled over to me with a happy hiss and wrapped around my wrist. "I'm afraid I can't go with the two of you. I'll draw too much attention, but you two are small enough to be stealthy. Please be safe. Protect each other. I'll stay far enough behind to keep an eye on you." She slipped a lock pick in my hand before she backed away.

With Katya's blessing and wise words, Charlie and I walked up the street and towards the old chapel. It was every bit as crumbly and dilapidated as the rest of the street, but I could actually feel the evil in the thick, musky air. It made it difficult for us to move or breathe. Every part of me wanted to turn back and run, but this needed to be done. We had to bring Billy back.

Much to my surprise, the church doors weren't locked. I had been looking forward to using the large pliers, but it seemed that I wouldn't need them or the lock-picks that we had brought with us. When we stepped through the ruined doors and around the half-broken pews, I caught a glimpse of the painting on the stage.

"There it is." I whispered. I lifted Solomon from my neck and placed him on Charlie's. I took a step forward, then found that I couldn't take another. "What? I can't move?" I frowned. The feeling of danger and dread began to make my heart and stomach sink to the floor. Tears pricked my eyes and threatened to overflow. This was a bad place and the evil was trying to protect the painting.

Charlie took a step towards the painting as well. The same fate befell him. "I can't move either."

"She must have cursed this place." I murmured under my breath. I didn't want Claerwen to waste her strength here, so I mumbled a blessing. Charlie looked at me in horrified awe.

"What language is that?" He asked once I had finished and we were able to continue across the floor.

"I don't know." I admitted. "I found an old spell book bound in red leather deep within the library shelves at the academy. I don't even know what I'm saying most of the time. My brain or my heart or wherever the hell my magic comes from seems to know what kind of spell I need, when I need it and what to say. Most of the time, it's good magic, but what I did to Manfred wasn't good. My anger must have taken control."

Charlie accepted my answer without any more questions and we continued onward to the painting. The closer I got to the painting, the more terrifying and dreadful everything seemed. I didn't want to go into the painting. I looked over at Charlie who was holding the boa and whispering something. I couldn't quite understand him until I realized that he wasn't speaking English. I recognized the language as Welsh. While I never learned to speak it, it was Ailwyn's native langue. I wondered if Charlie's magic language came to him just as mine did. "Infinity, I don't think we can both go in." Charlie said quietly.

"I don't think I can either." I admitted as I stared at Claerwen. Their magic together was stronger than mine. I wouldn't be able to pass the barrier that the Shadow had created. "Just go and get Billy. I'll wait here for you." I reassured him.

He gave me a quick, reassuring hug before the painting sucked him in. I sat down on the stage and waited. I took in my surroundings just in case Charlie and I had to make a hasty escape. There were holes in some of the walls. They didn't lead to the outside but they would be good to hide in. I was small enough to fit.

I sat in silence and waited alone for about fifteen minutes before I heard footsteps. "Someone is here. I sense it." Came an angry voice. I panicked and didn't know what to do. I ran and hid in a hole in the wall that I had just noticed minutes before. It was a tight squeeze, but I managed to conceal myself.

"The boy was probably here. His essence is lingering." Said one of the voices. It sounded deep and angry and ancient, but I was positive that the woman it belonged to was Titania Tilpin. I couldn't see her, but I listened intently. "Idiot child came alone. We'll just have to ambush him when he comes out."

"I sensed two people. And the other one is still here. It's a girl." The second voice croaked. She sounded like she had smoked ten packs of cigarettes a day since she was a child. Just listening to her speak made my own throat dry.

"You may have sensed his wand, Dolores." She spoke so condescendingly to her accomplice that I wondered why people followed her. "No one else could have gone into the painting with him. The girl isn't strong enough. Nor is she brave enough to linger here."

"You're probably right." Dolores sighed.

I leaned further back against the wall in an attempt to make myself more comfortable. If this woman had second sight but believed she was sensing Claerwen, then I was safe. There was no reason for me to freak out. Except for the fact that Charlie and Billy would be ambushed whenever he came back. I had to come up with a plan before more "sympathizers" showed up.

We could always try a force field and dash through them all to safety, but I didn't know how that would help in the long run. We hadn't thought this plan through. I should have told someone where we were going other than Katya. I didn't know what kind of endowments these people had or what I was going to do. I had stupidly left my phone behind at Katya's and I was paying for it now. Charlie would be coming back to certain doom.

Footsteps echoed through the church as other people came to Titania and Dolores' aid. "Is there a reason you're calling me at this time? I have important things to do, Titania." Manfred barked. His voice made my blood turn cold.

"Bone is in the painting. He's trying to get the boy out." Titania waved her arms. "I don't think the Enchanter can sense him, nor do I think Billy Raven will want to leave, but this is our opportunity to get what we need."

"Did he go in alone?" Manfred asked. "How long as he been in there?"

"I believe it was just him, and it's been about twenty minutes." Dolores said. "I'm sensing someone female, but Titania believes that it's actually the wand. It's a very light, pure magic that I'm feeling." She walked close to my hiding spot and touched the wall. "I'm not entirely convinced."

I hoped Charlie would come out soon before I lost my nerve to try and escape. I doubted that I would get that far with Manfred there, but I had to do something. There was a loud squeak that disrupted my thoughts. I glanced over and saw the most vile, angry rat. The urge to scream washed over me but I held it in. "Infinity?" Manfred called out to me. His voice didn't have the venom in it that it usually did. "If you come out now, then I won't punish you. I'll let you go and we'll pretend this never happened." He knelt down next to my hiding spot in the wall and I clamped my hand over my mouth to try and hide my breathing.

"I thought you said that she wasn't brave enough to stand against us?" Titania snapped. "You said she was helping."

"She was. I just don't think Charlie would have gone inside without his moth. The magic Dolores is sensing sounds like Infinity's." I could hear him walking away from the wall.

"Oh, I think they're coming back." Dolores said suddenly. "He's not alone, but it's not the boy… He's coming back with…a giant?!"

"Fuck." I whispered. I knew Charlie had wanted to save Otus, but I didn't know what we were going to do with a giant.

With a loud crash, I knew Charlie had come back, albeit invisible. What I assumed were Otus's feet crashed through the floorboards. The church rumbled with a frightened wail. "WHERE ARE WE?"

I came running out of my hiding place with my sword in hand. Manfred had tried to grab me, but missed. I was faster. I didn't know how far I would get, but I hoped I would buy Charlie and Otus enough time. I ran in front of their invisible forms with my sword held high. "You." Titania pointed a finger at me. I had known Miss Chrystal as a beautiful woman at one point, but this was not her. Everything about her was dark and gloomy. Even her voice had changed. Her once beautiful blonde hair was an oily silver. Large bags drooped her eyes and her cheeks sunk into her skull. I swung my sword at her and she shrieked and jumped back. "Manfred, do something!" But Manfred was just as dumbstruck as everyone else.

"You were supposed to bring back Billy." I yelled back at my brother. I noticed that he was starting to become visible again as Solomon hugged him in fear.

"Plans changed. Otus, grab the yelling one and let's go!"

An invisible arm wrapped around my midsection and lifted me into the air. Although I knew it was coming, I still panicked anyway. Otus carried us through the front door with a hoard of angry people following behind. "Charlie, do something." I begged. I was too scared and knew my magic wouldn't work right and had the chance of backfiring.

"Aros!" He called out. To my amazement, everyone froze in place. I couldn't believe my eyes. I could see them slowly gaining back motion but this would give us the head start that we needed. "I don't think they'll stay like that for long. We have to get away from here, and fast."

"And how are we going to get an invisible giant through the streets on a busy Sunday?" I snapped at him as Otus sat us back down on the ground.

"Don't talk about him like he's not here, Fin. That's rude." Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Otus." I said to what I thought could be the giant's face. I wasn't sure, though. Our argument was interrupted by the honking horn of a camper van. It was Uncle Paton and he looked angry at us. "You and Otus go with Uncle Paton. I need to get back to Katya and tell her that we're okay so she doesn't come looking for us."

Charlie ran for the van and I ran in the opposite direction towards the Kettle Shop. I was relieved to hear the van speeding away, but I didn't know how Uncle Paton would react to who Charlie had brought back with him. Otus was a giant 900 years out of his time and as far as I knew, Charlie didn't have a plan for him.