Legal Spells

A Warm Welcome (more or less)

"Well", Zachary began, "I want you to come with me"
Merica glared at him suspiciously, "Where? I just met you two minutes ago and you already want to take me to somewhere?"
Zach sighed, "Look, I know it seems crazy, but I want you to just trust me, ok?" And you could probably beat the crap out of me if I tried to hurt you...
Merica folded her arms, "Is this some sort of trick?"
"No, it's definitely not a trick" he promised. He stuck out his hand, "Now, are you going to come with me or not?"
Merica knew it was stupid to take his hand, but she was genuinely curious about where he was going to take her. Zachary smirked and let down the barrier he'd had up around the alley, which was probably why none of the Perilstanians noticed them using magic. (Which was punishable by death) With her hand in his, Zachary walked Merica down the streets of Amaland's capital city.
The longer they spent walking, the more Merica was beginning to think that she shouldn't have accepted his offer. They walked for nearly four hours and were now in a field in the middle of nowhere. Why she'd stuck around, she had no idea, but he eventually stopped. Crap. This was definitely a trap. How had Merica been so gullible?! Zachary lifted his hand into the air. Merica was ready to either bolt or fight, but then a white light emitted from his palm and a portal opened up on the ground.
Merica's eyes widened, "What is that?"
"The entrance" Zachary replied casually.
She glared at him, "You better not be expecting me to jump, because that's definitely not happening."
He smirked, "Of course not"
He pushed Merica through the portal.

She landed with a soft thump. She let out an annoyed groan. Zachary jumped down, landing perfectly on his feet.
"You alright?" He asked. That's when she realized that they'd landed on a patch of three mattresses.
"Um... yeah...?" Merica replied, "where... where are we?" She examined the small, cubical room with cream colored room. There were two doors on separate walls.
Zach grinned, "Welcome to Legal Spells."
Merica raised an eyebrow, "Legal Spells? Aren't all Spells illegal?"
Zach shrugged, "The name is more for the cause"
"What cause?" Merica asked as she stood, "What do you do here all by yourself?"
"Well I'm not all by myself, actually. Legal Spells is our group name, and we catch Magi Criminals."
"Yeah, it seemed a bit suspicious that our cruddy police force could catch so many people" Merica snickered. "Wait, how do you not get caught?"
"Memory dust and Illusionism."
Merica's eyes widened, "you guys have freaking memory dust?!"
Zach smirked, "Heck yeah we do. Want me to like.... show you the place?"
"Well ye-" she paused. Something about this seemed wrong. "Why are you letting me in so easily?" She asked as she folded her arms.
Zach's expression darkened, "Well desperate times call for desperate measures. And considering the threat we've just found, it's a pretty desperate time..."
"It still doesn't make sense that you'd let a total stranger into your... underground portal thing! I mean what if I'm not trustworthy? What if I like... try to kill someone or something? No. This is too risky. Why would you do this unless you were trying to like... kill me?"
"Merica we need all the help we can get." Zachary said sternly.
Why had Merica come here to begin with? She was already in danger of being killed to begin with, now they were in some place she didn't even recognize... Now, Merica didn't have much faith in what she did, but she was fully confident in her abilities to fight off a couple magics.
She didn't know why she said what she said, but she did.
"Alright. Show me." She agreed finally.
Zach smirked, "Ok cool. Just remember we have memory dust."
She rolled her eyes, "I'll try not to get on anybody's bad side.
Zach opened the door. It was a fairly small room with a beat up couch and old TV. (Well old in 2848 standards XD) There was also a tiny kitchen in the back. Merica noticed a teal haired girl with medium dark tan skin. She looked around their age, maybe a tad bit older wore a cool looking purple leather jacket. Merica noticed something... familiar about her.
"Hey Zachary, find anything on..." she looked back at them, her dark blue eyes locked on Merica, "Who the hell...?"
"Lina, this is Merica. I think she could help-"
The girl- Lina- stood, "You let a complete stranger into Legal Spells?! Are you insane?!"
"Lina listen-"
Lina ignored him, "Lawrence is going to be absolutely ticked!"
"It's not like you seemed any more trustworthy" Merica retorted.
Lina folded her arms, "You come into our home and act like you can just speak to me like that?! Well listen up you little prick-"
"Look, I just wanna see if I can help" Merica insisted, "Then you can use your memory dust on me or whatever..."
Lina snorted, "You think just because you're so willing to trust a stranger that we'll be? Well- what was your name? Macy?- you're wrong."
Merica wanted to punch her so badly.
Then she realized who she was...
"Wait. Aren't you... the president's daughter?"
"Don't change the subject." Lina said coldly.
"Get me out. Now." Merica demanded.
Zach's eyes widened, "Wait. What? Please-"
Merica glared at him, "You claim to be fugitive magics, yet you're working with the daughter of President Slayerman?! The psychopath who's corrupting the government in the first place? Sorry, but that's too shady..."
As she turned around to leave, Zach grabbed her wrist, "Merica please give us a chance." Merica met his kind, yet firm, grey eyes, "I know it seems... odd but please trust me."
"Zach, I-"
Suddenly, the door swung open, and a red-haired girl about their age walked in carrying two shopping bags, "I BROUGHT GROCERIES!"
There was an awkward pause...
The girl examined the room, "Did I come at a bad time...?"
Another girl came in carrying at least eight bags of groceries. She was really sweet looking with bright pink hair put up in a high ponytail and a brown skirt and yellow polo shirt.
"Marie, where do I put all these damn groceries?" The pink haired girl asked in an annoyed tone. She looked at Merica, "Who are you?"
The red-head- Marie -replied, "You know, Nira, I've just kinda learned not to ask... and just leave them on the kitchen counter" She turned her attention back to Zach, Lina, and Merica, "Now... what the heck is going on? Who's the blue haired girl?"
"She's Merica." Zach explained, "and I think she could help us..."
"And how's she going to do that?" Marie asked, one hand on her hip.
"Is she even a magic?" Asked Nira.
"I um... " Merica murdered, "can make fire with my hands...? So that's a thing"
Marie nodded, "So did you just kinda... find her?"
"Well... pretty much" Zach admitted.
Nira rolled her eyes, "So it never occurred to you that she might not be the most trustworthy person?"
"I agree!" Lina exclaimed, "she's just some random girl! Her parents are probably going to call the police and just cause more problems-"
"Actually" Merica interrupted, "I don't have parents. I live in an abandoned coffee shop in downtown Perilstan. I promise you, no one's going to look for me..."
There was silence.
Merica didn't know why, but she wanted to help these people with whatever problem they were facing.
Merica noticed another door was in the room as it swung open. A man with dark skin, business clothes, and a (very fabulous) mustache busted into the room, "Kids! We-" he stopped when he saw Merica. He was followed by a pale teenage girl with bags so long they covered her eyes.
The man eyes her suspiciously, and a sharp pain shot through Merica's head. She winced, and the man gasped.
"Lawrence...?" Lina muttered.
"That's..." the man- Lawrence -said in awe, "that's not possible..."
"What's going on...?" Asked long-bangs girl.
"Everyone on the couch." Lawrence commanded, "And you kids better tell me everything that's going on."