The Andre Miller Saga

Andre Miller 62 The Potion

It had been two weeks since the strange woman who had given the group various gifts had died in front of them. The group was not unfamiliar with death, having seen far too much of it, but to watch the end of a life slowly slip away was a moving and life-changing experience.

Andre continued to lead the family and summon the celestials that were needed for the various jobs of Infinity Brand Ltd.

Caleb had taken to carrying the shield that Prolanacle had given him and practicing with it and his silvered mace against Frankie.

Frankie was becoming more and more frustrated at not being able to do anything about the pervasive presence of the Infernal House Retaletan. The Retaletan Groups and Black Flame Security were becoming regular staples of the community and that infuriated him.

Tilly and Janice busied themselves with the shop and producing the runes, wards, and talismans that were the business's bread and butter.

Kyle had spent the past two weeks fighting with his wife about their daughter's growing interest in other girls. While not totally against the idea, his wife and her parents in France were very much traditionalists as far as gender roles were concerned. The topic of divorce had been touched on by his wife and he resisted it with his whole heart. He took the first flight to Paris and had spent the past week there, continuing the argument and trying to speak reason to his wife.

Conroy continued to reacquaint himself with summoning after so long and having to learn an entirely new style of summoning after having done it the traditional ways for over 40 years. He was also following the news of the FDPA trials on the burnout cure and their progress. Several of the European Union countries had adopted the cure already, with more signing on each week it seemed.

Kris was working at the potion forge obsessively, spending 12 to 14 hours a day and having built a second distilling station. She was having to start from scratch on her new potion designed to increase a person's sense of self and their connection to reality. It was a complete 180 from her current potion that dulled the diviner's powers to a lower level to allow them to maintain some grasp on reality. She had taken to sleeping on the couch and working all hours of the day and night napping between distilling cycles.

Bobby Dunkirk, the family's catch-all attorney was currently fielding over 30 inquiries into the procurement of Kyle and Frankie's spells, the water shield, and the power washer. Both had placed at the industry event two weeks before and were garnering national attention for a variety of different uses.

A week before the family had seen to the burial of the woman who had simply become known as the grandmother. They purchased a plot at the local cemetery and had a small service in her honor. The entire family was moved by her final gifts to them, even young Celeste.

Andre had taken over Kyle's duties as a teacher while Kyle was dealing with his family issues in France. Andre taught her the shield spell, which she had picked up in just 3 days. Like the rest of her spells, it was a brilliant cobalt blue and much stronger than anyone had hoped.

Frankie had decided to hold the focal gauntlet in reserve for her until she turned 18 as it was a powerful artifact and had to be wielded responsibly.

"Any word from Kyle?" Andre asked Tilly.

"More of the same. Continued fighting about their daughter with her parents. He's fairly certain he's convinced his wife to accept that their daughter's like of other girls in a natural thing. His in-laws on the other hand are a completely different story. While not against the thought of having a gay grandchild, they believe that she should be encouraged to pursue boys first, and once she comes of age allowed to choose. They have threatened to kick out his wife and daughter should their wishes not be met. So, we may have to expand the house in the near future." Replied Tilly.