The magic council

A week had already passed and Alice was yet to see her mother and Peter which made her all the more worried but Melissa constantly gave her reassurance that everything was ok and Peter was fine. Alice spent most of the week researching new magic spells when Melissa was around her and secretly learned curses when Melissa had gone to sleep or was busy with the shelves. Alice was forbidden by her mother from learning curses as the only thing they could do was kill and she didn't want the burden of someone's coffin resting on her daughter's conscience but after the incident at the beach, Alice was bent on learning them so she could protect herself and Peter as she felt guilty for what happened to him. The book on curses was in the restricted area of the back room and it was closely monitored by the man and watched by Melissa when he had to work at the counter which made getting the books difficult for Alice. So Alice devised a plan to get the book from the shelf without anyone noticing. She used a spell to ring the bell at the counter so the man could leave and she would knock the books off the shelf so Melissa could get distracted with arranging the shelf, all this while she sat Innocently reading books of spells on the chair located at the back of the room. When Melissa was occupied she would stand facing the direction of the restricted area and randomly pick books on curses and replace them with books on spells with levitation magic and went on to disguise the cover of the books. She learned lots of curses but she couldn't practice them. On a faithful day there happened to be an altercation at the book store, a customer was making trouble for the man and Melissa ran out to help. When Alice noticed she was the only one in the room she conjured a golem so she could practice what she had been learning with the hope that she would defeat it quickly.

"Flammeum!" Alice said as she shot a flaming spear toward the golem. The golem deflected the flaming spear towards the shelf and instantly set it on fire, the golem attacked Alice knocking her over a shelf and she collapsed just then Melissa arrived at the scene put out the fire, and struck the golem with a blast of water and destroyed it. When Alice woke up later that evening she found Melissa sleeping by the side of her bed. As Alice tried to get down, Melissa woke up.

"How're you feeling?" Melissa asked.

"My back hurts a little but I'll be fine" Alice responded.

"You made quite a mess in the back room, what were you trying to achieve by using a curse on that golem?" Melissa asked.

"I just want to be able to protect those dear to me and to do that I need to learn everything I can on magic," Alice said as she turned serious.

"So you want to kill people now? is that it? you want to be a killer?" Melissa asked.

"Whatever it takes to protect the ones dear to me" Alice responded with conviction.

"You're just like your mother, so stubborn and hot-headed. I wonder how she is" Melissa said as she got up and left the room. Alice for one second did not regret what had happened in the back room she only felt bad for the books that were lost in the fire and not being able to know a curse that would defeat a golem. As she continued on the bed she memorized the curses she had already learned and would say them out to herself.

Since Peter woke up that night he hadn't been the same. His nightmares came back and he began to have panic attacks he also began to mutter spells he didn't even know in his sleep and that was what caught Elena's attention. Elena took Sarah out for a walk to discuss what she heard Peter saying as she was scared he could be a danger to people around him.

"Sarah, I'm sure you've heard the spells he's been muttering these past few days in his sleep?" Elena asked.

"I have and trust me I'm pretty scared too but what can I do?" Sarah said.

"You should seal him away before he becomes an actual threat, or remove that power from him," Elena said.

"You're asking me to kill my son?" Sarah said with anger in her voice as she turned sharply to face Elena.

"He isn't your son Sarah, get over yourself and be real. He's with the Demon Lord's power and he's human what assurance do you have that the restraining spell you put on that power will hold it for long?" Elena asked this time in a serious tone of voice.

"I can't believe you'd say that El, I thought you of all people would understand," Sarah said as she turned and went back to the house. When Sarah got to the house she saw Peter standing by the door looking worried.

"What's the matter, Peter?" Sarah asked.

"We have to leave now. Vermont has already readied large battleships and plans on starting the invasion in two days. We have to hurry and warn the council" Peter said hurriedly.

"How do you know this" Elena asked as she walked up to them.

"In my dream, I saw large ships on a riverbank at first I thought I was just recalling the events that happened when we arrived here but then I noticed the sun was rising from the West and the waters was green I also heard a voice saying we leave in two days just then I woke up" Peter explained.

"Then we have to leave now but first let's go get the others," Sarah said.

"I'm coming with you," said Elena.

"Then do what you have to and let's leave" Replied Sarah. They left that night and got to the bookstore in an hour. The store was closed but Sarah broke in anyway, when she entered the shop she called out for the man but it was Melissa who responded as she was still awake. She came out from the back room and on seeing Peter she ran and hugged him tightly.

"Alice will be so happy to see you," Melissa said. "She's been so worried".

"Peter!" Alice screamed as she stood by the door of the back room and broke down in tears with the man behind her. Peter walked up to her and helped her up.

"I was so worried, you fool why did you do that" Alice said crying.

"I'm pretty sure you'd do the same for me," Peter said smiling at her. They left for the bus station that night after Sarah disguised them so they wouldn't draw the attention of Nomags.

"Ooh shoot!" Sarah exclaimed "I didn't carry any money for bus tickets," Sarah said holding her head in frustration.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it" Elena said reaching for her purse beneath her coat. They took the La Défense - Métro-RER-Tramway, which costs €10 - €19 and usually took about four hours to get to Paris. It was a long quiet drive amongst the adults but Peter and Alice looked like they were enjoying their little chatter. After they got off the bus they took a taxi to Le Marais and boarded another taxi to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré which took eighteen minutes to reach. The street Rue St Honoré is a world-famous shopping street, it is also historical and is said to have been planned as early as the Middle Ages. With beautiful landmarks just along the street at least that's what the Nomags could see. When they arrived at the street Elena brought out staff from beneath her coat which surprised Peter and Alice as the coat was her body size but the staff was taller than she was. She muttered an incantation to the staff and stretched it towards the street and suddenly the lit empty street turned into a bright noisy one filled with people going about their normal business. The place was brightly lit but you could still tell it was Nighttime. They made their way deep into the street and far away from the noise and got to a building that looked like a castle it was well guarded with golems that were imbued with tertiary magic. Elena was human and the magic council was one of the places she worked at before joining Sarah on her adventures, so she knew the incantations that opened the gates. After they got in they located the receptionist and on Elena's orders, she took them to see the chairman of the council.

"Elena Dubois, what a pleasant surprise, how have you been?" the chairman asked.

"I've been in good spirits chairman Deschamps, and you, how have you been?" She asked.

"You know just going about my duties as chairman," He said and they both burst into laughter. "I see you have friends?" he asked.

"Yes chairman and they bring bad news I'm afraid and you need to act quickly," Elena said.

"What's going on?" the chairman said looking confused.

"The new Demon Lord wishes to capture your world and he plans on starting an invasion on Normandy," Melissa said.

"Impossible! the chairman retorted.

"I'm afraid that's the reality sir and you'll have to move quickly," Elena said.

"We've been at peace since forever, why would they want a war now?" the chairman asked.

"Power I guess, He has the power so why not?" Alice said.

"How long do we have?" the chairman asked.

"Two days max," Sarah said.

"I'll have to call for a meeting and discuss with the council members," the chairman said.

"If I were you I'd block off inter-dimensional travel now because with each passing moment more of the Demon Lord's spies will enter to probably start the first attack. Sarah said.

"I can't take decisions like that on my own, there's a protocol for such matters and I won't have you telling me what to do!" the chairman said angrily.

"Alright then, call your little meeting but I suggest you send fighting men to the beaches of Normandy because they're there, we had a run-in with them a week ago, and also, contact the magic councils of the different countries of your world and prepare for battle cause I'm not even sure blocking inter-dimensional travel can stop Vermont," Sarah said as she exited the room with the rest of her team.