by Elon Vidal
Maggie twirled as she floated towards her, her ever present dreamy look on her face.
“Out and about, seeing things and people,” was the ghost’s response.
“That is a perfect way of not answering a question, Maggie.”
“That is subjective to intention.” Maggie giggled and twirled again. “Why are you asking and what do you intend to do with the answer?”
Dawn sighed and Maggie’s smile disappeared. The ghost floated to her side and put her pale hand next to Dawn’s. It was the closest they could come to touching, and Dawn appreciated the comforting gesture from her friend.
“What is wrong?”
“There’s a lot going on right now, Maggie. It’s-”
A loud knock made her grumble again as she got out of bed to go and open the door. Maggie moved out of the way as if she was human, then leaned her head against the wall facing Dawn.
“What were you thinking?” were Damon’s first words as he walked into the room looking a bit frantic.
Dawn rolled her eyes. “When I opened the door without checking who it was? Clearly I wasn’t.”
“When you jumped through a portal to who knows where without any backup. We went in together for a reason remember? So that I could protect you. Which is hard to do when you are not in the same place as I am!”
Dawn turned away from Damon, not really in the mood for another lecture. She’d heard enough from the parents and she knew what she’d done. There was no need to continue hammering it in.
“You could have been killed!” Damon continued.
“But I wasn’t,” Dawn pointed out the obvious.
“You think this is all a joke?”
Dawn barely contained her anger. “Elijah lost his magic, of course I don’t think this is a joke! I’m trying to think of everything that I can to get it back, if we can even get it back. So if you want to help, don’t tell me about something that has already happened, but come up with some solutions.”
They stood facing each other for a few seconds, both glaring until Damon finally sighed and gave in.
“Fine,” he said gruffly. “But not until you tell me what happened back there.”
“And not until you tell me where you found this fine specimen,” Maggie said, checking out Damon from head to toe.
Dawn would have laughed if she wasn’t so mad, but a smile must have escaped her lips after all because Damon frowned and asked her what she was smiling about.
“Please do introduce us,” Maggie said excitedly, batting her lashes.
Dawn smiled again at the wasted effort. It wasn’t like Damon could see Maggie. And this was the last thing she wanted, the ghost having a crush on the annoying warlock.
“Are you afraid of ghosts?” she asked instead, looking at Damon.
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you afraid of ghosts?” Dawn repeated. “Because there is one right beside you who is all googly-eyed.”
“I am not googly eyed!” Maggie protested, then sighed and continued making said googly eyes. “I’m just appreciating the sight.”
Dawn scoffed. “That is the textbook definition of googly eyed.”
“You are serious about the ghost?” Damon asked with wide eyes.
“Yep. But I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”
“Ha-ha,” Damon said in a mocking tone, but Dawn didn’t miss his slight movement away from where he had been standing before.
“Maggie, would you please give us some privacy?” She glanced at Damon. “And you, let’s go somewhere where I can find some coffee, or else I’ll never be able to deal with you.”
“But if I stay quiet, you won’t even know I am there,” Maggie said with a pout.
“We’ll talk, Maggie,” Dawn promised. “But right now, I need to talk to him first.”
Maggie nodded and vanished, leaving Dawn alone with the angry warlock. She anticipated she would be dealing with her father as well sooner rather than later, and she wanted to get this out of the way before the parental chat. She should probably make a roster of everyone who would want to see her and shout at her for her reckless behavior.
There was a guard sitting in the living room, and Dawn asked for a few minutes of privacy. When they were alone again, Damon glared at her.
“Talk, now!”
“Me? How about you start by telling me exactly how you performed a memory spell? Time manipulation spells are not exactly light magic, Damon.”
Damon’s eyes widened as if that had been the last thing he ever expected to come out of her mouth. Well tough luck, she thought. She wanted answers too and she wanted them now.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Dawn, it’s not what you think.”
“Really? And what is it that I am thinking?”
“I am not Wiccan,” he sighed.
“I didn’t say you were, but you do use some of their magic?”
Damon shook his head. “Not dark magic.”
“It’s not light magic either.”
“I have never harmed anyone, you have to believe me. I just…I just know some things, okay?”
Dawn studied him for a second. She intuitively had to test him out. She did not know him until her life so drastically changed. Then again, he had been there to help her unearth mysteries she alone would not have managed, and his demeanor seemed sincere enough. Satisfied that he was telling the truth, she eased a bit. “Good to know that you are not perfect,” she said and smiled.
A cup of coffee appeared in front of her before she turned to start making one. She took it and greedily took a sip. “Gods, this is good. If you fail at this whole First Guard business, you can always become a barista.”
“Gee, thanks. My father would be so proud.”
Dawn shook her head. “Warlocks. Always thinking you are better than everyone.”
“If I was, I would have been able to keep a leash on a nineteen-year-old Halfling. But we all know how that turned out, don’t we?”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“And Elijah, is it really true?”
Dawn put down her cup, no longer feeling like drinking the coffee now no matter how great it was. “Yes. And the only hope I’m holding onto right now is that the Council can fix this. Together, they have the strongest magic in the world, don’t they?”
Not counting Wiccan magic because it seemed there was dark magic stronger than the Council’s protection wards. This was all new to her and the balance of things, her preconceived notions of what was and what should be were being challenged. The Enlightened, the highest order ruling over her world, seemed not to be a match for forces of light and shadow that she had witnessed first-hand in a very short time span.
“Right now, everyone is busy trying to reinforce the wards,” Damon said as if he had read her mind. “Our magic, no matter how strong it is, has limitations.”
“Don’t forget rules,” Dawn added.
“And rules. So now it’s a matter of time before we see just how strong this person is, because Wiccan magic might have limits, but they are willing to break whatever rule of nature there is to fuel their magic.”
“Like slaughter an entire clan of Pixies,” Dawn blew out a breath.
“Exactly.”
Her phone vibrated and she quickly checked it out.
“Bad news?” Damon asked as she put the phone down.
“My father is on his way,” she replied. “You think you can make a portal for me to go to an island somewhere far from here?”
“They were just worried about you. I know if it wasn’t about trying to protect your brother, he would have been here in an instant last night.”
“I know. I suppose I’m losing the daughter of the year award again this year.”
Damon laughed, “How do you lose when you are the only nominee.”
“Oh, you would be surprised,” she said as she placed her cup in the sink. “Let me get ready. We need to pick Elijah up on our way to doomsday.”
Damon chuckled. “At least you know how to make it sound fun.”
“You know what they say. If you can’t have fun at your own funeral,” she winked, then went upstairs to get ready for her funeral.
Her father hadn’t been as hard on her as she’d thought, he had been more concerned with getting her away from everything to do with magic, which was hard since it meant everything to do with her mother as well. She had toyed with potions to bring them together, and in a way wanted it all to be back like how it was. She herself was the embodiment of the mix, a mixed breed of sorts. She’d promised him that she would stay out of trouble from now on until the situation was fixed, but she hadn’t mentioned anything about trouble finding her. Now they were at Elijah’s, where another problem reared its head.
“He is refusing to come out of his room,” Elijah’s mom said, pacing and frantically rubbing her hands seemingly not knowing what to do with them, looking like she had been trying to change that for hours now but to no avail. “Maybe you can have better luck.”
Dawn doubted that, but she had to try. She couldn’t think of the perfect thing to say, and even if she did, Elijah probably wouldn’t want to hear it. But she just nodded and made her way upstairs, with Damon right behind her. When Dawn got to her friend’s door, she hesitated before knocking.
“Go away,” Elijah said on the other side.
"It's me," Dawn said, hoping that still had some power over this situation. "Please let me in."
"Dawn, please."
"I know it's hard," Dawn started, trying to think of what to say.
The truth was she didn’t know, and she couldn’t promise him that it was going to be okay. All she could ask of him was for him to have the strength to try.
"But we can't give up. We have to go see the Council and try and figure this out."
Elijah didn't say anything for the longest time, and just as Damon was stepping forward to give it a try too, the door clicked. He had finally opened the door, revealing a shell of her best friend.
"Hi," he said weakly.
Elijah was pale, with dark circles under his eyes and a hopeless expression to match. He looked like he had lost weight too, which Dawn knew was impossible since it had only been a day since she last saw him.
"Hey," she said. "How are you feeling?"
He groaned and walked back to his bed and sat down, facing them. Dawn and Damon walked into the room but didn't sit down anywhere, choosing instead to stand. Things looked a bit untidy, not his usual self, with books stacked between piles of tossed clothes.
"Like my magic is missing," he replied, then coughed.
"Are you sick?" Dawn asked with concern, wishing she could do more than just ask questions.
"Just the beginning of a cold," Elijah shrugged. "Apparently it's a normal human thing."
She didn’t miss the way he said the word human with such distaste, and it made her wonder if being human was so bad. She didn’t think so, but then again, she had been half human all her life.
“I’m so sorry that this happened to you. Please come with us," Dawn tried again. "We can find a way to reverse this."
"Why? The Council already has all the information they need. If they find a way to fix me, they know exactly where to find me. Going there isn't going to change anything."
He had a point, but she also didn't want to do this without him. They were supposed to always stick together, it was an unwritten agreement somewhere.
"He's right," Damon said, surprising Dawn. “Perhaps having them closer can help them reveal something we might have missed.”
She gave him a look that she hoped conveyed exactly what she was feeling. Why was he suddenly leaving their side?
"Is there anything else we need to know or don't know yet about what happened?"
Elijah shook his head at Damon's question.
"Will you be okay?" Dawn asked.
"I don't think so," Elijah said then looked away.
He wouldn't be okay until they found a way to fix him. Which gave Dawn resolve to not leave the Council chambers until they found an answer.
"We'll get help," Damon said. "Get some rest and we will be here as soon as the meeting ends."
Damon turned and left the room, leaving them alone. Dawn rushed to her friend and hugged him.
"I'm so sorry that you are going through this, Elijah. It should have been me."
"No, I don't wish that. Ever. It’s just that… well, it just sucks trying to adjust to being human.” The color in his familiar blue eyes was still the same, but the usual life in them was gone. “I… I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you."
Dawn drew back and looked into his eyes. "We will fix this, I promise," she said.
She didn't know what compelled her to do what she did next, but she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. Elijah leaned into her slightly, not taking any more than he was given and she drew back after a few seconds. Her eyes widened when she realized exactly what she had done, and she almost scrambled to get away.
"Yeah so um, we'll let you know what um, the council says," she said awkwardly, before turning around and fleeing the scene of the crime she had just committed.
ELEVEN
“What is going on with you?" Damon asked as they sat in the waiting area before going in to meet the Council. She was by now becoming familiar with its unpretentious décor of a wall-lined bench opposite coat hooks and a simple thin long rug running down the middle.
"I don’t like this room," she replied, hoping there wasn’t a flashing red sign on her forehead indicating that she was a lying liar who lied.
"You've been acting strange since we left Elijah's house," Damon pointed out. "He will be fine, you know?"
Would he? Would she? Would any of them ever be the same again if they didn't get the answers they were hoping for today? Would they be the same after that kiss? Which she had to admit to herself was not so bad. He had been gentle to the touch, probably in as much shock as she was when she had leaned in. What would he be thinking now?
"Who are you if not the queen of trying to get to the bottom of things?" Damon added lightly, giving her a small smile.
She was always the queen of getting in trouble it seemed now.
"The last time I was here, everyone was trying to find out what was wrong with me," she said, trying to get her thoughts away from that kiss. "It feels like such a long time ago now."
"And they couldn’t find one thing wrong with you? Because I have several," Damon smirked. "Give them time and they will."
Dawn sighed and lowered her voice. "That's the problem. Time. I'm afraid of what will happen if Elijah remains this way for any longer."
"He's tough, and he will pull through. It's still a shock that's all."
"And if they never find a way?" she asked the dreaded question.
"Then we cross that bridge when we get there."
Dawn nodded, hoping they would have more solutions than questions by the end of this meeting. She wasn’t going to hold her breath, but she knew the Council would do whatever it took to fix this. And she was starting to think that if dark magic had caused this, maybe it would have to be the answer in the end. Just like the kiss, she didn't want to think about this, too.
"You really care about him, don't you?"
Dawn nodded, not able to voice just how much she cared. She thought back to when she and Elijah were just kids. He had been a little prankster, always using his magic to get in some kind of trouble or another. For as long as she could remember, he had always been that way. His magic was a part of him, a part of their memories together.
"We need to find Fisher, he can fix this," she said finally.
Damon gave her a look that said it all, she was starting to brew trouble again. "Define we."
She didn't get time to answer as the guard came and announced that the Council would see them now.
Facing the Council a second time didn't seem so scary. Dawn knew what to expect now; twelve
magical creatures who were not going to be happy with her. All they had to do was answer the questions the best way they could and avoid angering anyone.
Damon didn't seem to be doing so well next to her and she had to smile at that. The usually confident warlock looked like he was being led to slaughter, and his hands were shaking.
"You'll be fine," she said, and he looked at her like he didn't believe that to be true at all.
It finally dawned on her that he had a lot at stake here, and just how much he had risked by trying to help them. No matter how noble his intentions might have been, he had still sought the help of Wiccans. And that was a punishable offence. Dark magic was just not tolerated around here, no matter the reason behind using it. A love potion and poison to kill someone were the same as long as it was dark magic. Which reminded her that she had lost the small vial. Darn it, at least all this trouble would have been worth it somehow to have her parents back together.
She drew closer to Damon and took her hand in hers, feeling silly at trying to comfort someone who usually did the comforting. Her hand was much smaller than his, and warmer too. He looked down at their joined hands and then back at her in surprise. But she just gave him a small squeeze and looked ahead.
"You know where to go," the guard said as he stopped, and Dawn nodded.
"I know the way to the principal’s office," she said, feeling victorious when she drew a small smile from the serious guard.
