Shannon O'Reilly was bullied and everything his older sister wasn't. When his sister Sarah gives him a chance to change things through a single wish things don't go as planned.     I Wish: Book 4 Chapter 20 Preparations By Amethyst

We ordered pizzas for dinner since we were all getting hungry and I wanted Lisa to rest a bit and then eat something to get her energy back after her awakening. While we waited for dinner to arrive Ziralin and I explained the connection that Lisa and Michelle now shared as Witch and Familiar, how it would bring them closer, and their responsibilities to one another from having such a pact. I also tried to give Lisa a general rundown of how magick works.

Needless to say, they both had some reservations about their new situation, especially being in one another’s heads all of the time. They were only slightly mollified when we explained that it was just a strong empathic connection and that their real thoughts would remain private. That probably wouldn’t be easy for Michelle in particular, since she always seemed so guarded, but I figured that they would both adapt and it would bring them close together, just like what had happened with Beth and me.

By the time we had finished eating Lisa was looking a lot better and so was Michelle. Michelle’s bruises had completely healed as we ate, making me believe that one of her abilities in that for was a form of accelerated healing. She had also gotten accustomed enough to her empowered cat-girl form that she was able to speak without the lisp, though she had bitten her tongue a few times while eating.

With dinner finished, I stood up and began casting a gate Once the gate was open I gestured to the shimmering portal and said, “Let’s go everyone, we should have about ten to twelve hours to get a good start on your training and you’re going to be working hard.”

“But it’s after seven, Lisa is going to have to take me home around ten o’clock if I’m going to be home before eleven, and we still haven’t done our homework yet,” Michelle protested.

“Bring your homework along,” I replied, “we’ll be doing the same. We’re going to another plane of existence, the world where Ellie’s people come from. Time passes differently there and about three hours here is around twelve or so there. The extra time will allow us to make sure that Lisa can get all the basics down before school tomorrow so there won’t be any accidents at school, and Ziralin will have plenty of space to find out what your empowered form is capable of. My sister promised to come and retrieve us just before ten o’clock local time.”

It was before dawn in Tír na nÓg when we arrived and very few of our troupe were awake yet. With that in mind, I led everyone to the guest hut that had been constructed for our visits, where Ellie cast some ghost lights and we started on our homework to get it out of the way. I didn’t want our training to wake anyone or bother the other members of the troupe.

By the time that we had finished our homework, dawn had lit the horizon and the troupe was preparing their morning meal. We took the opportunity to say hello to Yanisse and the others and to introduce them to our new apprentices but since we had eaten not too long ago we didn’t share their morning meal and went straight to training. Lisa and I worked in the guest hut while Ellie got in some sword practice with some of the troupe and Ziralin took Michelle into the woods to see what she had to work with.

I started Lisa off much as Sarah had with me, teaching her how to sense magick energy, gather it, and stop herself from gathering it. When she couldn’t gather any more magick energy I would have her direct it while focusing on changing her hair color repetitively until she was drained and could start gathering again. By the time we joined the troupe to share their midday meal, Lisa was tired, hungry, and a bit frustrated but she had the sensing and gathering part down. She and Michelle both were fascinated by a village full of Faerie and wanted to learn more about them but we didn’t take much time to eat before saying our thankyous to our hosts and putting our apprentices back to work.

“So? What now Shannon?” Lisa asked tiredly as we returned to the lotus position on the ground in the guest hut and she played with her currently neon blue hair. “Are we going to keep gathering magick and changing my hair? That’s pretty cool and it will save me a ton on hair dyes, but I was hoping to learn something I can use in a fight.”

I shook my head as I thought about how to explain my teaching process to Lisa. “I know that you want to learn the cool stuff and be able to protect Michelle and the rest of us but I need to make sure that you have the fundamentals down first, for everyone’s sake. If you were teaching someone to play basketball would you just throw them into a team practice or the big game right away? No, you would make sure that they know how to handle the ball and that they’re familiar with the rules first. That’s what I’m teaching you.”

After a moment Lisa nodded. “Okay, I can see that, so up until now you’ve been teaching me how to do the basics so it comes naturally when I do need to use magick?”

“Yes,” I agreed with a smile, “and now that you know how to handle the ball fairly well, we’re going to go on to the rules. Basically, we don’t harm others except in defense of ourselves or others and try to help people where we can, but not in ways that can’t be readily explained. The biggest rule though is to control your urges and thoughts and only use magick when you intend to. For Witches like us, magick can be easy to use by accident since we just need to have magick energy gathered and direct our will. A stray thought or impulse could be dangerous to everyone around you, like that concussive spell that you hit Michelle with when you awakened.”

“I feel horrible about that,” Lisa admitted self-consciously.

“Don’t, Lisa. Sarah told me that awakenings like yours can be unpredictable, you were running completely on instinct. Michelle doesn’t blame you, so you shouldn’t either. She was far more worried about you than herself. It does support my point though, that’s the kind of thing that can happen if we don’t control our urges, desires, and thoughts. You were lucky that it happened in the privacy of your room. You do not want to accidentally cast a spell in public and have someone witness it. The existence of magick cannot become public knowledge, it would be dangerous for everyone,” I told her as seriously as I could.

With that in mind, I started to work with Lisa on mental exercises that would help keep her thoughts organized. I was hoping that it would help her concentrate, prevent her from acting impulsively or without thinking, and help her multitasking ability once I did start teaching her actual magick. They had been helping me after all. We continued those exercises until Sarah showed up to let us know that it was time to return to our own world.

Annie ended up giving Michelle a ride home while Sarah drove us home in my car. They didn’t want any of us driving since it was snowing heavily again and with the time we had spent in Tír na nÓg with Lisa and Michelle none of us had slept in over twenty-four hours. Still, I felt confident that Lisa wouldn’t have any accidents in school the next day and she had promised to continue the mental exercises in her free time as she cleaned up her room.

Ziralin had gotten a good start with getting Michelle adjusted to her new empowered form and its abilities as well. Michelle showed no aptitude for magic except for the magick sense and magick resistance that all Familiars get, but she had some impressive physical abilities. My Familiar said that her sense of balance was amazing in that form and that she could nearly match a Faery in stamina, agility, reflexes, and speed. She was only a little stronger than a regular human in that form, but Ziralin figured that her claws, night vision, accelerated healing, and physical gifts would make up for that.

The street was as clear of traffic as normal and there was nobody camped out on our lawn when we returned home. Apparently, the police had chased them off since they were trespassing on private property and invading our privacy. We might still have to deal with some hanging around outside the school on the sidewalks and stuff but Annie had a number for us to call if they were doing anything blatantly illegal, harassed us too much, or if they came to the house again.

Once we got inside the house and comfortable in the living room with Talisha, we began to discuss the plan for taking on Khinara. Jennifer and Mason were probably going to have issues since they both had an eleven o’clock curfew and Khinara had ordered Lisa to show up at midnight. When we called them, neither was sure they would be able to get away so late at short notice. Sure they could hide from human sight using their Celestial forms but they would have to wait to sneak out until after their respective parents were in bed to be sure they wouldn’t be missed.

Sarah told them that we would try to handle it ourselves, though she was reluctant to let me and Ellie come along since the lights and security cameras in that parking lot had been fixed and we didn’t have Celestial forms to keep our presence hidden. She also didn’t want to take vehicles in case someone was still watching the house. She planned on gating there to avoid that problem and to get Khinara’s immediate attention but she was worried that one of the cameras might catch me and Ellie appearing from thin air. She wasn’t worried about our identities being revealed since Ellie would be without glamour and I would be in my Hunting outfit, but rather about having something unexplainable recorded on camera.

“We really should try to handle this with just the three of us, Shannon,” my sister said with a sigh after explaining her reasoning.

“But Lisa probably isn’t the only minion that Khinara has called if she is setting up a trap, and she’s powerful, Sarah. You haven’t felt it but I have, we’re going to need everything we have against her. Besides, I’m the one she really wants,” I argued. “She might just take off again if I don’t show up.”

Sarah sighed again and looked away. “That’s just another reason for you to stay, Sis. If you come she’ll go right after you and, if she’s as powerful as you say, we might not be able to stop her.”

“Khinara wants to keep the existence of magick a secret as much as we do though. She might just hit the lot with the same spell that she used before,” Ziralin put in.

“Well, she did choose a time when there won’t be many people around,” Sarah said pensively. “I would think she would avoid using the same tactic twice in the same place though, once could be a freak accident or something, but twice? You’re probably right though, I doubt that this Demon would show herself or her followers unless they had a plan to keep their presence hidden.”

“Ellie, sweetie, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to be going anyway,” Talisha told her daughter with a worried expression.

“I can handle myself, Mom. And Ziralin, Shannon, and I make a good team. I’m through running from Demons, somebody has to take a stand if they’re ever going to be stopped,” Elsaishe insisted with a look of determination on her face.

Talisha looked just as determined as she stated. “Well, then I guess I’ll be going with you. I will not allow my daughter to do something that I am not willing to do myself. Your father and I fought our share of Demons before fleeing to this world but we got complacent after living safely among humans for a few decades and being blessed with you. Ziralin, could I borrow your old bow?”

My girlfriend’s eyes widened a bit in surprise but she nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t really used it since gaining my Celestial abilities. I was going to teach Shannon and Ellie how to shoot but we just haven’t had time. I didn’t know you could use a bow.”

“I was the best archer in my troupe before the Demons showed up, dear. That’s part of the reason that I, Ellie’s father, and the group that we fled Tír na nÓg with were able to make it to this world in the first place,” the Faery replied.

With it decided that we were all going we began to discuss tactics and changed into our Hunting clothes so Sarah could start a load of laundry, including Beth’s school uniform, so she didn’t have to go home for a spare one if she ended up spending the night. She called her parents to let them know what was going on and they agreed to her spending the night after we finished with our task. Annie got home from taking Michelle home just before eleven-thirty and it was as we were going over the plan with her that the lights went out.

Annie hurried outside and came back several minutes later frowning as she reported, “It’s not just our neighborhood. I changed forms and got some altitude and it looks like half the city is blacked out.”

I sighed as we all sat in the darkness and Sarah muttered, “Well, that explains how they planned on keeping their presence hidden. Everyone get ready, we have work to do.”