Welcome to Almusilaa

Chapter Twelve

"But that's illegal!" Charlie interjected loudly.

"Shh, not so loud. Besides, what the council is doing is wrong." Lauren said with a quiet forcefulness. Charlie looked torn.

"We're talking about breaking the law, going against the direct orders of the council. We could be put in jail." Charlie whispered.

"I can't be stuck in this body for the rest of my life." I told her.

Charlie frowned but after a minute she nodded with a sigh.

"I know, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. But if it's the only way to get your body back I'll do it. I haven't spent all my time and effort over the past couple of weeks trying to get your body back just to be stopped by the council." Charlie finally said.

"Thank you." I said quietly. Charlie had no idea the gratitude I had for her at that moment.

"Okay, so how are we supposed to do this?" Nicole asked.

"Do you know where Sam is being kept?" I asked, looking around at the others. They each shook their heads.

"But we could find out. What would we do afterwards then?" Lauren asked.

"We'd have to take him to Eleanor. I don't know what we'll do about the guards but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I said. "Right now we need to find out where they're keeping Sam. He was with Ellen last time we saw him. Could we ask Victor?"

"He said he wished us the best but I doubt he'll commit treason with us." Charlie said.

"Phoenix?" I asked. The other familiars looked confused but Charlie looked thoughtful. "It can't be a coincidence that Phoenix brought up all of that stuff the day before the council made it clear that they were biased." I continued. Charlie thought for a moment.

"Phoenix definitely does strike me as the type of person to help, not to mention Phoenix would be a powerful ally." Charlie said. "We're have to test the waters."

"Okay, but what about finding Sam? You're witches, isn't there some kind of spell you could do to find him?" Grace asked.

Charlie stopped in her tracks. Lauren and her shared a look. Lauren shook her head while Charlie nodded.

"It probably won't work." Lauren said.

"There's a chance." Charlie said. "We would need something of his though." Charlie said.

We thought for a while.

"Ben and Lee are still back home, do they know Eleanor's address? Would their stuff even be there?" Lauren said. "What can you guys tell me about him?"

We looked at each other, then by some silent force, we turned to Grace.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Grace asked.

"You were there the longest. You probably know more about him then us." Cooper said.

"Uhm, he didn't get out much, he's a fussy eater and he plays a bunch of different instruments. That's about it." She said.

"What sort of instruments?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know. Piano. Violin."

"So what if we could steal his violin? A musical instrument tends to collect more essence then other objects, not to mention it's small." Lauren said. Charlie whipped out her phone.

"I'll text Ben." Charlie said while she typed away on her phone.

"What do we do when we find him then?"