The Quiet Ever After

Fourth String - 7

Summoning circles, Nina thought, were a silly thing. Fae from the Starlit Plane lived for millennia yet couldn't figure out a better way of communicating than doing it either through a complex spell, summoning someone directly, or through trees. Come on.

The only thing sillier was where Nina and Axel had to put these summoning circles. They had one carved into a plate, hiding it within the decorative pattern on it. Hopefully, Deb was expecting to be summoned. It was often a startling and sudden thing whenever one was called for a summons—worse yet was when a higher power summoned someone forth because there was very little warning about what was about to happen.

"Don't. Please. Don't."

Nina started, almost dropping the plate. Deb emerged from the hall restroom, her hair done nicely.

"How long have you been in the house?" Nina asked.

"I only just arrived when I noticed you using magic," Deb said. "Thought it was a silly idea without my purview. Now I see it was going to be a ridiculous idea. Please don't summon me, especially not through a plate. I hate those things."

"Plates?"

"You're a bit too chipper for someone with a Phantom problem," Deb said. That wiped any joy from Nina's face. "Particularly this one with its complications. I have the banishment spell ready to cast. It'll cover the whole house. It's the anchoring spell that's perplexing me."

"I have that taken care of," Nina said and explained that her friends were coming over for the game. It'd likely get his attention. "For the most part."

"We'll need wards," Deb said. "To ensure he doesn't do any damage to the house. He's already broken through the front door, right? You should've had wards up all along."

Nina wanted to agree, but, given how it was handled, a threat like Sarzo wasn't something to think about. Besides, with the magic at their disposal, fixing the door was quite easy. The lawn? Not so much, not when it was done naturally.

"I can help with those," Nina said. "But what about containing him? Will it need to be in the house?"

"Or around the perimeter, unless you want your friends to encounter him," Deb said.

"Can't we trap him in, like, the attic?"

"Sure. But, how will you get him there? Look, we can create spells that will contain him, but it'll be a matter of seeing him. Getting eyes on him. He may be able to cast illusions that will fool even my spells with his presence. We need clear visuals on him to control the spell. You need clear visuals."

Stealing time from her friends, as of an hour ago, didn't seem too complex. But with what Veronica knew she may start snooping if Nina were to continuously vanish. That'd put her in direct danger of Sarzo, who may not take kindly to someone else catching onto his games.

Or, it could. It could entertain him, but Nina got sick at the thought of using one of her friends as accidental bait.

Though using herself as bait wasn't the worst idea. Nina leaned back against the counter.

Her mind raced back to something Ryan had said in the grocery store. Playing his own game against him. Nina hadn't been trained to use illusions, but the lords and ladies of the Starlit Plane were vain, vile creatures that didn't care much for someone's own beauty. They needed one projected onto them.

Through glamour.

"Deb, let's get going with those wards," Nina said, standing up straight. Deb creaked up a crooked eyebrow. "When we're done with that, I'll need help practicing and perfecting something else."