Gravity Rises (S3)

PP: Part Thirteen

Pacifica's skin tingled with magic.

It was a thrilling feeling. Pacifica hadn't felt anywhere near this powerful since she'd had her amulet. She smiled to herself and sat back in her passenger seat on the snowmobile, feeling the cold wind rush past her warm winter coat. Not only did she have magic again, but she had the Northwest servants, who had commandeered some of the Northwest's resources, including a small fleet of snowmobiles, five of which were now racing to the minotaur village. Why hadn't Pacifica used these servants before? They were so much more helpful than the regular Order members.

The servants were less in number than the Order members, though. That was a bit of a problem. But Lord Cipher had contacted the Order members in their dreams last night and instructed them to go to the Mystery Museum at noon, where they would meet a small group of Northwest servants. Pacifica didn't know how many of the Order members would listen, but any who heeded their lord's call would be helpful in the conflict to come.

She was confident that the conflict wouldn't last long. They had Caleb, to begin with: He would get them the dagger quickly and easily. As for Lincoln, another group of servants had left earlier to get in position for their rescue mission. Pacifica was sure that she and the servants would be successful, both in rescuing Lincoln and getting the dagger.

Then, once she had the dagger, Pacifica would take it back to the Museum and stab Mabel with it. With her newfound magic, Pacifica was sure she could succeed at that, too.

The magic danced around her arms, waiting to be put into use. Bill had introduced Pacifica to this new type of magic the day after the portal opened. Hexal magic, he called it. Only the Pleasure family could use this magic, and Pacifica's grandfather, Percy, had been a master at it. Bill had directed Pacifica to books that were remnants of Percy's time at the Order: books filled with patterns and symbols for spells that Percy had created and refined. Hexal magic was an art, and Percy had been a master artist.

Pacifica found a new respect for her deceased grandfather as she studied hexal magic. The magic was simultaneously fragile and sturdy: It needed to be employed against another person in an act of revenge or manipulation; otherwise, it was hard to control. But with a clear target and the right brushstrokes, the magic was sure and reliable. Pacifica had studied Percy's notes and journals from her other Pleasure ancestors; and, with their guidance, she had formed her own spell. Just before she headed out with the servants, she had inked the new pattern onto her arm. The spell took hold with the combination of the ink, the pattern of the strokes, and the Pleasure blood in Pacifica's veins.

It felt good to be powerful again.

She watched the trees rush by, and she wondered how long it would take them to get to the minotaur village. One drawback of Pacifica's particular spell was that it wouldn't last long. She had combined many spells into one — enhanced strength, enhanced speed, immunity to other forms of magic, and intangibility — and that made it hard to hold onto all of them at once. Furthermore, the spell was created to use against Mabel, but very indirectly. It was the dagger that would actually harm Mabel; the hexal magic would simply help Pacifica get to her. This indirect use of the hexal magic made it a bit harder to control.

So Pacifica would just have to be fast. But with the resources she had? She'd complete her objective soon.

Soon, Mabel would be gone forever.

"You're really going to take this to the end, aren't you?" Mabel's voice came to Pacifica, traveling beneath the wind with an eerie echo. "You're just setting yourself up to fall even further once you find out that you can't hurt me."

For the past few days, Spirit Mabel had repeatedly made comments like this. When she hadn't been torturing Pacifica in the dead of night with awful nightmares and terrible screams — something she did often — she'd been making underhanded comments designed to make Pacifica doubt herself.