Going Your Own Way, but with Magic

Chapter 21

Nikki's office has been made into a kind of war room. There's a whiteboard now and the 7 non-leaders are sitting around a circular crate strewn with papers. There's a couple of others too. People with scars and budges on their hips. I keep my distance, but they don't seem offended. Nikki is laser-focused, all of her sweetness gone.
"If we attack her, she can raise an army of possessed people. And she has a lot less qualms about secrecy or people caught in the crossfire." Nikki is talking very fast, addressing everything to an audience just above my head. "So we can't fight her in her house. Max, is there any chance of her getting a visitor?" I think about it for a second.
"Maybe. She's reclusive, but also a bit starved for company. If you do it right, with...dried flowers and a handwritten note, kind of, I think she'll reply. As long as it feels like a game for her." Everyone nods like I said something clever, and I press my lips together to stop myself smiling like an idiot.
"How often does she leave the house?"
"Once every few days, usually in the afternoons. I don't know where she goes."
"Lazarus is a talented teleporter." Goth 6, who must be about seven foot tall, blushes. "If we can get him inside, they can get her to the battleground."
"There's a battleground?" Nikki looks wounded.
"Of course we have a battleground. Okay, maybe not a...purpose built..." Miranda smiles wryly.
"Nikki is talking about a quiet field we found that doesn't have any walking paths." Hey, don't knock fields. I learnt most of my magic in one.
"And then we....what? Ambush her?"
"And then we apprehend her and she'll face punishment for her crimes. Hopefully, once we've done all the work the Elders will swoop in and imprison her."
"And take all the credit," Lazarus mutters bitterly.
"Good thing we're not here for recognition, huh Lazarus?" Nikki's voice drips with honey. She's a good head smaller than him, but Lazarus looks away. "Nova's made a shield spell that everyone can do at the same time. It's incredibly strong and keeps her magic at bay. If we hold it, she's outnumbered." The plan sounds good. Nothing can possibly go wrong. I go for sarcasm, but I can't quite stop myself hoping. This genuinely feels like it could work. And then done. We win. Cecelia's gone. No more kidnapping/attempted murder, no more creepy shadow creatures. No more purpose no more enemy. Having to figure out who the hell I am. I push those thoughts away, and focus on the plan. We've got to fight her first.
"What do we do?"
"You learn and perfect the shield spell, Nova will teach you the shape. I'll call when it's time." Nikki dismisses us with a handwave, and we cease to exist. It's reassuring, actually, that she knows what she's doing.

The shield spell is infuriating. 'Soleil' is a pretty name, but it's hard to shout with much conviction or menace. I'd prefer a harder name, something with a bit of steel in it. The motion is simple enough. Join to the other's magic, draw the air to you and turn it into a dome of metal. Let all magic bounce harmlessly off the dome. Obviously, it doesn't work like that. I set a lot of fire's, Jamie keeps making the flowers around us slightly taller and not much else. Our magic doesn't mesh, so I'm not sure how it's going to work with about a hundred people. But we're getting better. Me faster than him, which I will never admit makes me smug. It's nice not to need magic. I practice until the word becomes the spell and the spell becomes the word and soon I cast it effectively more often than not.

Sometimes we meet up with other people to train. Lazarus's magic is literal lightning, and his teleporting is impressive. A person who seems to switch genders with the weather casts shards of green glass, so beautiful I keep asking them to do dumb spells. Sarah's power is sparkles. Anyone who laughs gets choked out by a cloud of sparkles, which is surprisingly painful. Everyone is cheerful and brings food and there's a constant sense of giddy excitement. We have a plan, we have strength is numbers. Optimism will light the way to my downfall or some other emo bullshit, but I'm happy. Dangerously, deliriously happy. Something is going to go awfully wrong, but I think we'll manage it. I spend a lot of time in the weird void thing with Jamie. It's lost a bit of romance, but it's still nice. Pretty, too.