Magic in the Key of Joy (A Wylde & Cray Adventure) UIC2022

Chapter 13 - Cray Zieh People

Doing major magic quietly is an art. Being in the center of Selrach Windar's bastion – a few floors below his Council quarters - made the creation of a portal take three times as long as normal. In addition to establishing coordinates, we had to create a very small pocket of space, and then a secondary pocket in which the casting would be performed. Otherwise, it would be picked up by the Council's Banshee Guards, whose 'detect magic' skills are legendary.

Luna & I step through and into the Moorpark College cafeteria, which is thankfully empty. You Sapiens have GPS. The Sidhe have locator spells. Our first stop is the home of someone who calls himself Chuckie the Duckie. (Sapiens – I will never understand you!) The door is opened by a young, bespectacled man who has a mass of unruly brown hair, wearing a bright green sports jersey with 'The Mighty Ducks' on it. He barely remembers me, but clearly recognizes Luna.

Chuckie's mother owns more than half of the movie theatres in the L.A. tri-county area. For Wylde's plan to work, he's going to need her cooperation. I tell Chuckie that his teacher had the idea that holding impromptu weekday marathons of horror classics, pay-what-you-can, where intermissions could feature local college theatre students doing horror movie-based improvisations, all proceeds going to a local charity – would be a great way to draw people, post-Pandemic, back into movie theatres. Advertisement would be done via social media posts – digital 'word-of-mouth.'

Luckily, he thinks it's a terrific idea, and after speaking with his mother, gets the go-ahead. It's then that I tell him Wylde wants the first one to be held tonight. (It's just past 12 noon.)

"What? Are you nuts?" he asks, "Things like this take months to organize! I, however, could have it ready in, say, 6 weeks?"

Suddenly, I feel Luna take over my body and voice. My body assumes a weird position. I hold my right elbow with my left hand against my chest, and my right palm cups my chin. "Well, you keep working on it for the future, then. Wylde said you are the finest stage manager that MCC has ever had. But if you're not up to it..."

"Hang on!" Chuckie shouts. "Not even the Flash can work that fast!"

"Yeah," I am made to respond, "Madrigal said you'd say something like that."

Five minutes later, after saying our goodbyes, Luna lets me have control of my body again.

"Next time, ask before you do that!" I growl.

"Hey - if I had waited, we'd have lost the opportunity to goose our duckie into high gear! It would have taken me too much time to explain what I wanted you to say."

"Sapiens!" I sigh.

"File that tactic of poking at their egos in your lifelong Living with Sapiens manual. It will work on our Wylde man, I promise you."

The door to Cherriere's small apartment is opened by a towel-wrapped, sweaty Ken. Two minutes later we're joined by an equally sweaty 'Chuck' and Barbie. Luna's laughter is echoing inside my head as she leaps into Ken's lap. I tell Barbie that her teacher wants her recommendations for the scariest modern horror movies, to which she squeals in delight and begins writing down a list.

I take the other two into the other room – the bedroom, as it turns out. I'll give this to you Sapiens: you are certainly imaginative. Anyway, I explain that Wylde is working to choreograph a battle and needs Cherriere/Chuck's advice along with help from any of his marine buddies to set up the playing fields. Ken proudly mentions that he is Captain of the Moorpark College Raiders' football team, and also knows a bit about strategy.

"Bring him," whispered Luna in my mind. "I've a hunch he might be useful."

After telling them that we'll be back for them in an hour, we make our final stop. Madrigal Przwrenski works part-time for a non-profit that helps immigrants settle in the U.S. When I explain to her that there might be a sudden influx of immigrants from across the globe, she of course asks me to be more specific. I can't, I explain, because it might put their lives at risk if I do. She agrees to help, along with several other volunteers.

Finally, we return via portal to the underground room in the Council of Elders' building. "Tell Wylde that my heart is his, and that I believe in him, no matter what happens."

Luna vanishes while quietly humming what I recognize as the opening chords of Richard Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyrie.'