An Odd Sort of Magic

Chapter Ten

"I have good news," Jessica said, returning to the room. Jayan sighed in relief. "The army should be ready in the three days. However, I think it best if you do not tell them you are misfits if you come into contact with them. They still don't take very kindly to you."

"Thank you," Kiya bowed, "We will see you in three days." She bowed, and lead the way out of the room. After conjuring up the portal, she let the others pass her until she was next to Jayan. She waved her through.

Back in the attic, Jayan looked at Kiya expectantly. The others did the same. Kiya looked up at them all, "What?"

"Um," Drew shuffled his feet, "What do you want us to do?"

Kiya threw her hands into the air, "I don't know. I'm not the only one who can make desicions, all right? Just do whatever."

Jayan approached Kiya as the others disperesed. The leader of the Underground seemed a little agitated, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Kiya said, taking in a deep breath, "I'm just a litttle upset. We're treated like dirt in there, just because we aren't 'perfect', like them. It makes me so... I don't know the right word. Self-consience maybe. Like I don't know if what I'm doing is really the best for everyone. Like maybe they could do it better." She sighed, "It's so hard being the leader, you know."

Jayan nodded, "I get it. I've never been a leader, so I dont really know what it's like. But for what it's worth, you're a great leader, Kiya. I'm glad you're leading us."

"You have no idea how much that means to me, Jayan. Thank you."

"Not a problem, Kiya." They stood there in silence for a moment, before Kiya spoke.

"I should probably find Vanessa. Do you want to come with me?" Jayan nodded, and followed Kiya down the stairs. Locating her wasn't a problem. She was meditating in the yellow room again. She opened one eye as they came in, and uncrossed her legs, standing.

"What happened?" Vanessa asked quietly, "Will they help us?" Once again, Jayan was gripped with the worry that Vanessa could betrey them. She knew quite a bit about double agents, although not much about magic ones.

Kiya seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she hesitated. Then she flat out lied, "No. They don't trust us. We're going to have to fight her on our own. Can you do that?"

Vanessa shook her head, "I can't ingage in phsical contact. I wish I could help. If I make an appearence at the battle, I'll be forced to side with Ms. Shelling. I'm sorry Kiya, but you'll be doing this on your own."

Kiya said nothing. She had her eyes closed, as if calculating. Jayan watched her, then glanced at Vanessa.

Vanessa smile at her sadly, "and how are you doing here Jayan? Figured out any of your powers?" Jayan shook her head. She desperatly wished she could say yes, but two things stopped her.

One, the more she thought about it, the more worried Jayan was that Vanessa was against them, and two, it would have been a lie.

Vanessa sighed, and Kiya opened her eyes again, "Well, I think we'd better go. You can go back to your meditating." Vanessa nodded and slipped back onto the floor, crosslegged and eyes closed.

Kiya left, with Jayan in tow. Once outside, Kiya muttered, "I hate lying to her. But we can't be too careful. This is war."

Jayan put a hand on her shoulder, "We'll find out if Vanessa is a traitor soon enough. We only have two and a half days left. We must be ready for anything."

"You're right," Kiya's eyes darkened, "We must be prepared."

Jayan spent the afternoon in the attic. Underground members came and went. Jayan told them what happened. She did exclude Jessica's reluctance to believe them, and the part about Vanessa. Those wen't nessicary to share. They would just lower moral.

And the moral was low enough. The few hundred students were being asked to do the near imposible: stop a malicious magic caster with a far more powerful army. The odds weren't looking to great, even with the magic realm's support.

In the evening, Drew and Beta stopped by to hang out. Most of the Undeground gathered in clusters. The air was filled with tension. Everyone knew what was going to happen soon, and no one was looking forward to it.

Beta was one of the few who still had an upbeat attitude, "I've never seen Kiya throw a fit that big! So much fun to watch." She chuckled.

Jayan stared at her, and Beta cocked her head, "What?"

"How can you be so happy all the time?" Jayan asked her.

Beta shrugged, "It's easy. I figure, being all gloomy and depressed won't win the war. With a positive attitude, I feel like I can do anything."

"Wow," Drew commented, "That was very deep, Beta. I didn't know you could be all phylisophical! Impressive, very impressive."

"If you tell anyone," Beta threatened, her eyes gleaming. Drew cracked up, and Jayan joined in. But she still felt down. Beta was wrong. Being positive didn't mean you could do anything.