Hidden Magic: The Call of the Prophecy

Chapter 6.1: A Search for Answers Continued

"Great! Now we're back in this shit hole again," Annie comments as we walk towards the training room.

"Well, this shit hole is our home for the time being so learn to love it," I retort.

"Wow, this is where you've been staying?" Rebecca asks as she walks with us.

I nod as I follow everyone down the hall. We need to get a plan together because things are starting to ramp up. I don't know how they keep finding us, but we need to do something.

"What are we going to do now? Apparently it's here on earth, so I assume this battle is happening real soon, " I ask once we reach the training room.

"Well, how about Miranda opens a portal to different libraries, and we grab some folklore books on magic. Some are bound to have some information in them," Stephanie suggests.

Sydney sends her a doubtful look. "So, you want us to steal a bunch of books? How is that going to help?"

"Not, steal. Borrow. We'll put them back when we're finished reading them," she responds.

I take a seat at a nearby table. "Maybe we can find something that may offer some information about this prophecy or fighting demons, Sydney."

"It's not like we can drive. I've yet to go back for my vehicle, and we left Rebecca's house without hers. Anything can help, so I'll do it," Miranda adds.

She starts opening portals for us. Ashley goes through the first portal to the Chicago Library. She steps back through with about ten books. Rebecca and I step through the next portal to a little bookstore in Hyde Park. 

It's mostly old-used books and not much on magic and demons, so we step back through with only a couple of books. Annie goes through the next portal to the Henry Washington Library. I'm a little surprised when she strolls back through with a cart full of books. Miranda opens the last portal to the Chicago University library.

Sydney goes through but sticks her head back out. "Miranda, this isn't Chicago University."

"It's not?" she asks confused.

"No, this is a library in Chinatown," Sydney shakes her head.

Miranda shrugs. "Oh well, look through there because I'm done opening portals."

Sydney only came back with four books because most of the books were in Chinese. Together there are about forty books for us to read through and this is going to take all day. Miranda creates one last portal to the local store where we load up on snacks and drinks before reading.

There are lots of stories in Arthurian legends about love and the hunt for the Holy Grail, Greek mythology on Gods and Goddesses, and Chinese tales about ghosts, most of them scorned women who feed on human flesh. 

There are only a few stories about demons that would appear just to torture humans, and we have a few books about magic but it's so many tales that we don't know which way is up and which way is down. This is getting us nowhere.

"Has anyone found anything relevant or even remotely helpful to our situation?" I ask in frustration. A round of no's sound in the room.

I close the book I'm reading. "We just need to work with what we have. Let's return these books and focus on fighting with our powers. In the end, our abilities are all we're going to have,"

"I'm not opening any more portals today. All this reading has me tired. We'll return them tomorrow," Miranda replies.

Annie nods. "I agree. No more reading. Let's get some sleep."

"If you can open one more portal, I would appreciate it. I have to get to work. I can stay with my grandmother afterward," Rebecca says to Miranda.

She reluctantly opens a portal not too far from the police station so Rebecca can go to work. We clean up in the training room and then head to bed. I woke up early this morning to shower and eat breakfast before helping my sisters return all the books we borrowed.

"Has anyone seen Buranath? He's been MIA for a while," I ask as we enter the training room.

"No, and I don't care where he is," Ashley replies.

"Time to get started," Miranda shouts to get our attention.

We start with our usual warm-up exercises and stretches then on to sparring with each other. First, we fight using our martial arts skills. This goes on for a couple of hours before we take a break. 

I'm breathing heavily, sweat is pouring down my body, and I'm thirsty as hell. We're training hard because we can't afford to slack, and we have to make sure we win this battle since we're going to die in the end.

After our break, we pair together to work on using our magical abilities and how to use our fighting skills in conjunction with our powers. Sydney works on using her force field, power enhancement, and healing abilities. She uses it to block attacks against her and even manages to shield us from attacks. She's also gotten better at healing us and herself.

However, our main focus for this training is learning to work together. Miranda is now better at conjuring what she wants when she wants it. She surprises herself when she teleports Sydney across the room. I didn't know she could do that and apparently, she didn't either. Right before Sydney lands on the floor, Miranda teleports a bed from one of the rooms for her to land on.

Stephanie works on enhancing her control over the elements. She creates strong winds, rain, snow, lightning, and hail. To keep from destroying the room, Sydney quickly erects a force field around the area and as the storm she created dies down, she removes it. 

Next, Annie works on telepathy. She could hear me think the next attack I'd make and block it, or she'd mentally redirect my thoughts to make me falter while fighting. I create an illusion of her falling off a building and I laugh as I see her lying on the floor screaming when the illusion fades.

Everyone's busy training so none of us realize that Miranda teleported out of the room until we hear a big thump as she teleports back. I turned around to see she dropped a few cadavers on the floor.

"Ashley, these are for you," she states.

Ashley claps her hands in glee. "Oh, goody. You know I love dead bodies. Tell me, tell me, tell me, how did they die?"

"You're seriously creepy you know that?" I tell her.

"Well, since your power has to do with the dead and none of us are dead yet, I figured this could help you," Miranda says to her.

"You sure know how to make me feel special," Ashley sings as she skips over to the cadavers.

I stand back and watch as Ashley raises the dead. Each one gets up and starts to walk around. It's not as disturbing as the cemetery because the bodies aren't decomposed but it's still creepy, nonetheless. Unfortunately, they start walking toward us as Ashley gets that far-away look in her eyes again.

I wave my hands to get her attention. "Ashley?"

She never replies and continues to stand there with a glazed expression as the dead move toward us.

"Ashley!" I yell to get her attention.

The undead drops to the floor abruptly as she turns my way. "Huh? What?"

"What?" I ask incredulously. "Can you keep the undead from trying to attack us please?"

She looks contrite as she replies. "I'm sorry guys. It's just so hard to control my powers."

Just then Miranda teleports the cadavers out of the room.

"It's okay, Ashley," she comforts her. "It's been a long day. Let's eat, clean up, and get some sleep. We'll continue this tomorrow."