Confessions of the Magpie Wizard Book 3: Dissolution (Chapters 24 & 25) (Patreon)

This picture of Rose by the wonderful and talented Der Zweite! https://twitter.com/DerZweite92?s=20

Doing another early update. I don't think anyone will complain too bitterly, though. 

Chapter 24

Nagoya, Japan

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2050

I stifled a yawn. I hadn’t gotten much sleep after my confab with Maggie the night prior. She hadn’t appreciated my evasiveness about the source of my intel, besides telling her that a demonkin has his ways. It had taken far too long for her to accept I would stand firm. At least she had believed the report was genuine. The matter was out of my hands, at least for the time being.

I was forced out of my reminiscing by the haggard breathing next to me. “Are you alright, Rose?” We were back at the sports field. As we always did before a field day, all of the students went for a warmup jog around the track. For once, dear Ms. Cooper hadn’t won the race, or even placed in the top ten.

“I’m-” What she had meant to say was cut off by a long yawn, which set me off too. She leaned against a metal bench near the finish line. Her legs trembled like a newborn fawn after what was, for her, a rather brief run.

“Did you sleep at all?” asked Kiyo, giving the blonde Brit a poke in the stomach. “You look like me when I get a new game.”

“No, and that was on purpose,” she managed.

“That can’t be healthy,” said Mariko. She tried to put a hand against Rose’s head, but she ducked around it. “You look awful! What got into you?”

Rose stood and managed to look cocky, despite everything. “My weather magic still activates when I cast spells. Magpie figured out that I have absurdly huge magical reserves. I want to see if I can bring them down if I tire myself out first. If I’m running on empty, I might be able to control things.”

“That isn’t how magic works!” I took a step closer, as much as to catch her if she collapsed as to strengthen my point. “Your magical energy has nothing to do with your physical stamina!”

“I’m glad that somebody was paying attention in class,” said Mr. Maki. He had drifted over when he noticed the commotion. “Ms. Cooper, what in the world were you thinking?”

“I had to try something,” she said. “I can’t burn off enough magic with spells to make a difference. At least, not without causing a fire or a storm. Besides, I’ll be-” She yawned again, slumping into her seat.

The hulking teacher sighed and rubbed his temples. “Ms. Cooper, you’re in no condition for affinity training today. Meet me here on Saturday and we’ll make up the time. Ms. Yamada, take her back to her room, please.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Come along, Rose.”

The British wizard lurched to her feet, ready to protest further. Thank the Dark Lord I was on hand to catch her. I’d spent enough nights carousing back in Pandemonium to recognize when somebody was on her last legs.

“So much for that idea,” she said.

“Amateur,” said Kiyo with a derisive snort as Mariko and Rose disappeared beneath the bleachers. “I only make the no-sleep lifestyle look easy. It’s not for the weak.”

Mr. Maki only grunted at that. Our fellow classmates had gathered around to see what all the ruckus was about. That was a bad move on their part, since it gave Mr. Maki a vent for his annoyance. “What are you all doing, standing around? You should be stretching. It seems to me that if you have time to dawdle, you have time for another three laps! Get going!”

A chorus of groans erupted, but nobody bothered arguing the point. He looked oddly pleased with himself as we went on our way.

When we finished, Kiyo looked down at herself, oddly confused. “Huh, weird. I’m not, like, breathing too hard after a second run.”

“I think all of that work with Rose finally paid off,” said Hiro. He was doing post-run stretches off to the side. I’ve never seen the point in them, but then, there are a lot of human rituals I don’t participate in.

“I guess you’re right. It feels kinda wrong, though. I actually… enjoyed that. Is that what an endorphin feels like?” She must have seen the sly grin on my face. “Rose doesn’t hear a word of that! She’s still torturing me every morning, and that’s the story I’m sticking to!”

“Oh, very well,” I said. “Ruin my fun. Speaking of which, let’s get going before Mr. Maki gets irritated again.”

Kiyo’s shoulders slumped. “Ugh, I was enjoying my Magpie time.”

I blew her a kiss, remembering I needed to keep her morale up. Mine too, to be frank. “I’ll count the moments.”

Yukiko walked up and gently patted Kiyo on the back. “Do you want to be on a team with me this week?”

“Team?” I asked. “They have you on teams? I feel like we’re still paddling around in the shallows, and you’re off crossing the English Channel.”

“We are in a higher echelon of affinity training,” said Yukiko, obvious pride in her voice. The smug grin vanished from her face as she collected herself. “Though I hear that you all are making wonderful progress.”

“This is weird,” replied Kiyo. “You’re being too nice lately.”

Yukiko’s eyes hardened, looking like the humorless taskmaster I’d met on my first day at the school. “Yes, Kiyo, I am being nicer lately. It’s intentional. You make it very difficult to want to keep trying.”

Kiyo pursed her lips. “I still have nightmares about the mountain. Especially without Magpie there when I…”

“Mixed company,” I hissed.

Yukiko took the taller girl’s hand between both of hers. Kiyo seemed taken aback by the gesture. “I know. I’m ashamed of my conduct back then, and I don’t know if I can move past it if you won’t.” She shot me a disapproving look. “I forgave you and Soren. Can’t you at least pretend to return the favor?”

Kiyo looked down at her trapped hand. “I… I don’t…”

Hiro had gone off to refill his water bottle, so I don’t know how much of it he overheard. He still saw the need to butt in, though. “My mom said something to me once. Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping that the other guy dies. It isn’t good for anyone. C’mon, let’s get back to the way it used to be.”

What drivel. I preferred Girdan the Fair’s saying, that resentment was coal to power the engine of accomplishment. If I read Kiyo’s face properly, she followed my school of thought. No wonder we got on so well.

Kiyo frowned and fidgeted nervously. I knew my Angel, and she would say whatever she needed to get the focus off of her. She pasted on a thin smile. “Alright. Let’s make a team. I’ll get over it.”

Yukiko released her, and I noticed that Kiyo brushed her hand off on her pants once the Sato heiress had turned away. Still, baby steps.

It seemed we had dawdled too long for Mr. Maki’s liking. He and the other teachers had gathered near the center of the field. “This isn’t a social function, you slackers! Get moving! Orera mou okureteru!”

That got my attention. I couldn’t think of the last time I’d heard unfiltered Japanese, thanks to the school’s translation fabricata.

Hiro jogged over and jerked his thumb towards our practice area at the forest’s edge. “Ja, ikou ne.”

“Come again?”

He cocked his head at me. “Doushita?” I seemed to be the most confused of the foreign students, but we all stopped look expectantly at Mr. Maki.

Maggie always employed a wireless microphone to be heard. “Hold on, class. It seems like the translator fabricata is down.” She rattled off some accented, but still enthusiastic and syrupy, Japanese, earning a more fluent response from Mr. Lahlou. “Oh dear, it seems that Mr. Lahlou forgot it was his turn to charge the battery. Mr. Marlowe, would you mind coming with me to fix it? This won’t take long.”

“Of course, ma’am.” I waved goodbye to my classmates and promised that I wouldn’t be long. I had been told that Hiro was rather useless with the language, but I think he got the intent. He gave me a cheerful nod before going on his way.

Maggie and I were soon making our way through the storage rooms beneath the stadium’s bleachers. I found myself reflexively glancing up.

“Haru’s little friends aren’t here to attack you this time,” she said, a sad tone in her voice.

“Can you blame me? The experience left quite the impression.” There’s nothing quite like spotting a student making out with his teacher in a storage room to etch itself in the memory.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said with a wink.

“Yes, you may as well,” I murmured.

We came to a room that looked like something out of a nineteenth century science fiction novel. I’d never seen the like. Imagine an archaic supercomputer from an old B-Movie made of wood, bone and bronze, with rune-covered wires running between the consoles that ran around the room. I noted that there were small video screens on every panel, almost all of which were completely blank.

She gave me a satisfied grin. “Do you like it?”

“Is this what translates all of the speech in the school?”

“Not by itself, no,” she replied. “There’s one for the main tower that’s connected to a network of projectors, and this broadcasts to cover the grounds and the forest. I’m glad you like it. It is my design, after all.”

“Really? Most impressive.” Not that we devils needed the like, since we all spoke either High or Low Demonic, but I could grudgingly admit it was a nice feat of engineering.

Maggie flicked my nose. “You’re either brownnosing or gullible. Stop it. This was Moulham’s baby.”

“Moulham?”

“Mr. Lahlou,” she said. “He’s an absolute wizard with fabricata, if you’ll excuse the pun.” She strolled over to the wall on our left and popped open a cabinet. She leaned in and rummaged about before letting out a triumphant grunt.

After a moment’s struggle, she pulled out a fabricata larger than her head. It looked like a wine barrel covered in almost illegibly tiny runes. A pale green strip of glass ran up the side, and I recognized it from my phone’s screen as a battery indicator. “There we go. This poor baby’s as dead as a doornail.” She held it out to me expectantly.

I accepted the load and was surprised by the weight. I grabbed a section on the top that looked like a handhold and willed magic into it, but it resisted the attempt. “Does it require a particular spell?”

“Yes, actually.” She held up a finger to her lips. “Keep it between us that I showed it to you, okay? It’s proprietary. Our school has the only one of these in the world.”

“Yes, because that’s the secret I’m going to let slip,” I replied.

“Smartass,” she said with a sniff. She clasped her hands together and intoned, “Charge.”

“A rather prosaic name,” I said. I followed suit and grabbed the handle on the top of the fabricata, and soon the green light on the side began to light up, bit by bit. I found that as long as I stayed focused on the flow of magic through my hands, I didn’t have to keep repeating the spell.

Maggie leaned back and sat on one of the consoles. “Relax, Marlowe. That’s going to take you a good ten minutes.”

“Oh sure, you brought Obe back here for a good time,” I said. “I’m just hard labor.”

“It could be fun. You’re the one who keeps turning me down,” she replied. The mention of Haru seemed to knock the wind out of her sails, though. She wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Did I tell you the latest on him?”

“No, I can’t say you did.”

“He’s recovering nicely,” she said.

“Glad to hear,” I murmured, not meaning a word of it. Not after he’d nearly killed Kiyo, much less me.

“That isn’t good news.” She played with her red hair. She normally kept it tied in a bun, but would let it down for field days. “Dr. Martin has been stalling as much as he can, but it’s only a matter of time before League Intelligence gets impatient and starts interrogating him for real.”

I thought back to the supposed Mr. Smith I’d met after the attack. He’d been imposing enough during a friendly interrogation, much less a hostile questioning. “Have you been back since?”

She nodded. “I like playing the nurse more than the doctor.” She chuckled at her joke, but the smile died shortly after. “I’ve been up there three times. It means a lot to my little Haru, but I can’t get away from my duties too often.” Her eyes turned hard as they studied me. “It’s a blessing, in a way. It’s hard seeing him after what you did to him.”

“My, aren’t you fickle? You strongarmed me into your little club and keep coming on to me. You even told me that nothing matters except the cause, and now act like you care about your old puppet.”

She rocked back and forth in her seat for a moment before standing. She gestured at the battery, and I could feel her magic pool in her hand. My Mimic had progressed enough that I could see the danger coming, but not enough that I could do anything about it. How positively useful.

Her affinity activated with the flick of a finger. I’d seen her ability to shape glass in action once before, when I’d caught her en flagrante delicto with Haru, and it was no slower that time. The battery indicator flowed like water and formed a spike that came just short of my throat.

“Let me make this clear. I wish it was you in that bed and Haru here with me. If I can’t have that, I might equalize things.”

I almost objected, but when I swallowed, I felt the sharpened glass against my Adam’s apple.

She gave me a self-satisfied little nod. Her point was made, quite literally. With another gesture, the glass flowed back into its original shape. “But, one takes the world as it is, not as you wish it could be.” She smirked sardonically. “Who told you to stop casting?”

“My mind wandered for some reason,” I grumbled. I went back to work, noting that the meter was around half filled. I decided it wasn’t healthy to talk about Haru. Really, with the sour look on her face, there wasn’t a healthy topic I could think of. Which was fine, since she seemed to be in an introspective mood.

Chapter 25

Nagoya, Japan

Friday, August 5th, 2050

These confessions contain a number of moments that seem prurient or besides the point. In include them intentionally. They all combine to paint a picture of my life as I progressed towards joining the side of so-called justice. I assure you, I am editing myself. There is much I have left out due to irrelevance or repetition. To this point, I have not regretted relating any of these incidents. The fifth of August stands out in my memory. Nothing went the way I might have liked, and I felt rather shabby about it all. However, it is a necessary brush stroke in the painting.

The day started innocently enough. The last hour of each Friday was normally devoted to a study hall. However, the Headmaster had dropped in unexpectedly for one of his periodical guest lectures. He had done so twice during my time at the school. His arrival or the topics discussed never seemed to follow any pattern, and I often suspected that he would spring it on the staff at the last moment. Mr. Maki certainly looked miffed as he stood to the side, watching us for signs of mischief. I think he appreciated the chance to slack off a little at the end of the work week as much as we students did.

I couldn’t help but notice that the topic of the lecture was the transmission of energy to a target. It was an elementary version of what Kiyo and I were helping Tachibana with using the Peace Bond. I absolutely believe that this impromptu visit was more to help him think through the problem than to educate the class.

Not that it was a bad lesson. It was surprisingly complicated to make the magical energy go from point A to point B in an ethereal form without being stopped by all of the solid objects in between.

“Magical Resonance,” he said, “is based on enchanting two objects to a particular magical frequency. We often refer to them as the transmitter and the receiver, but depending on the spell, both fabricata can change between the two roles. Once they are so enchanted, nothing between the two points can be affected, unless it just so happens to have the same resonance. It’s why the Peace Bond is such an impressive fabricata. Each one of the receivers is custom made, and the transmitter had to broadcast on a hundred frequencies without interference.”

“So it was, sir,” said Mr. Maki. Did I detect a little extra emphasis on was?

“Of course, we will not be making something so complex our remaining time today.” He grinned cherubically. “I think you would enjoy something lighter. So, let me show you the shortest raw spell you will ever learn.” He tapped a button on a small remote, bringing up a chart of ten runes on the wall-sized screen behind him. “Who can tell me what that means? If you aren’t sure, talk it over with a classmate.”

We whispered among ourselves, and the confusion was absolutely palpable.

“That’s meaningless gibberish,” whispered Mariko from the seat next to me.

“Then tell him that,” I said back.

She shook her head. “It would be disrespectful.”

“Where’s the Mariko Yamada who was always sparring with Mr. Maki? Domestic life has taken your edge off.”

She looked at me disapprovingly, but I saw that smile she was fighting back. She raised her hand, and the Headmaster acknowledged her. “Sir, with all due respect, I do not think that spell will do anything.”

“Very good! Let me show you all the nothing it will do. First, put your hands in Position Three. Then, chant Tu Ra Ba An Ki Po We Ba Yi Mi.” The runes danced around his hand, only to vanish without apparent effect.

The side chatter intensified. I didn’t join in. I focused on Mr. Maki’s face. The Headmaster would want to hide his trick, but the other teacher wouldn’t feel obliged to play along. The Divine Blade was grinning like a madman. So, I didn’t waste my time on wondering. Instead, I analyzed.

The lesson was magical resonance, and he had spoken of transmitters and receivers. I decided to take a chance. “Mariko, cast that at the same time I do.”

“Hm?” She cocked her head at me.

“I have a feeling. On three.” When we did, there was a bright flash of red between our two hands and a not entirely unpleasant numbing sensation.

“Oh my!” Mariko gripped her numbed fingers, rubbing the feeling back into them.

“You seem to have gotten ahead of me, Mr. Marlowe!” There was pride in his eyes, and his voice lacked any hint of reproach. “Since he’s intuited the meaning of the spell, let’s ask Ms. Yamada. Would you like to guess what just happened there?”

Mariko folded her hands in her lap beneath the table and stuck out her tongue slightly, as was her habit when she concentrated. “It’s as though we cast two halves of a simple spell.”

“Precisely! That’s Magical Resonance. The spell has no name. I came up with it once when I was first starting out, and the fixed version eventually became Fireball. I never bothered improving it to a True Spell variant, since it isn’t terribly useful. Watch me cast it alone.” He put his hands in the proper poses, and when he cast it, has hands flashed with red lights, just as ours had, and he let out a pained grunt. I could see it better when I wasn’t busy casting the spell, but nothing passed between his now numb fingers. “Who can tell me what goes wrong with it? I see your hand, Ms. Sato. Go ahead.”

Yukiko looked delighted to have finally been called on. “The Ba An should be a Na An. The way it’s written, the spells feeds back on itself.”

“Very good, as expected. It isn’t a complete failure, though. This set of runes has the distinction of being the shortest spell that creates a noticeable effect, which makes it perfect for demonstrating Magical Resonance. Mr. Kowalski, would care to join me in reciting the spell as well?”

The blond boy once again seemed startled to have been noticed (an odd defect for somebody more than six feet tall), but he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Wait a moment,” said the Headmaster. “Asahi, please step between us.”

“Won’t he get hit?” asked Kowalski, nervously. “I-I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody.”

“I think I can deal with a little numbness,” said Mr. Maki.

We all collectively rolled our eyes. Leave it to Rafal Kowalski to listen attentively and not have anything sink in.

Kowalski and the headmaster chanted in unison, and the Polish boy let out a startled yelp as his hand was wreathed in red energy. “That stings!”

“Yes, I think that will be the last time I cast that today,” replied the Headmaster, massaging his own hand. “Did you feel anything, Asahi?”

“I think that ache in my shoulder was already there,” he quipped.

“So you can see what I was discussing before. Resonant spells can affect each other at any distance we’ve tested it at. Headmaster Einarsson at the Reykjavik academy and I have cast this spell from opposite ends of the earth, and it worked just as quickly and effectively.”

Leo raised his hand. “Can I ask when we would use this in a fight?”

“My, aren’t we bloodthirsty?” I said from my seat behind Leo. “You’re always looking to weaponize everything!”

“We’re here to learn how to fight,” he retorted. “I don’t like wasting time on something we won’t use.” He realized who was listening in. “N-no offense meant, Headmaster,” he added hastily.

Headmaster Tachibana put up a hand to stop Mr. Maki from objecting to the disrespectful comment. “I understand your perspective, Mr. Hernandez, but magic is more than a weapon, and we want you to be as well rounded as possible. Magical Resonance is typically used in fabricata design, such as the Peace Bond, as well as in the translation magic we use here at the school. How many of you students have used the earpieces off campus?” Kowalski, a few of the other foreign and I raised our hands. “That is simply another benefit of Magical Resonance. The resonant fabricata offload the work back to the school’s main translation equipment.”

I wished I had paid more attention to demonic fabricata. I wasn’t sure if we had harnessed Magical Resonance to the same degree. Clearly we must have, I told myself. Fera’s long distance signaling to Australia must have been built on the same principle. Still, I made a note to myself that I’d have to grab a few technical manuals on my way out. The boys in Research and Development would have loved the lecture.

The headmaster walked over to his handbag and pulled out a sealed container and set it on Mr. Maki’s desk without explanation. “Everyone, come up to the front of the room and line up. Let’s see how quickly you all can cast that spell, going from person to person. We will run through it until we can get from end to end without a mistake. Mr. Kowalski, Mr. Marlowe, Ms. Yamada, you can go to the end of the line, since you have already demonstrated the spell.”

We dutifully marched up. Kiyo drifted my way, naturally, and I stood between her and Mariko, who was at the very end of the chain.

“Are you sure this is safe?” asked Kiyo. “It sounded kinda painful before.”

“I assure you, the spell can’t cause lasting harm,” Tachibana replied. “It feels like laying on your arm until it goes a little numb and then standing up, only all at once.”

“You’ll be fine, my dear,” I said.

She nodded. I’m sure my words meant more to her than Tachibana’s.

“Since I know this is not the most pleasant spell to practice, I brought a little bit of a reward.” Tachibana returned to the table and popped open the forgotten container. “Dr. Park has told me to cut down on the sugar in my diet and, wouldn’t you know it, the very next day a former student sent me some home baked chocolate chip cookies. I have enough for all of you.” He put a finger up to his lips and smirked at the line of students. “Let’s keep this one to ourselves. We would not want the other classes to think I play favorites.”

That got everyone’s attention. Chocolate was a rare commodity in the post-Horde earth. If you could lay hands on it, you were either on active military duty, or you had money to throw around. The going rate was something like five thousand yen for a single bar. It also was an easy bribe for the students when our enthusiasm was flagging.

It was like a switch had been flipped. Where before, the other wizard cadets had slouched their way to the front of the room, they positively bustled with activity. Headmaster Tachibana gave us a few minutes to practice the hand gestures and commit the runes to memory. I saw a few flashes of light as my more zealous classmates practiced. Rose and Yukiko must have exchanged the spell ten times while we waited. They weren’t each other’s favorite person, but a shared goal is the best way to mend fences.

“It’s a shame you don’t like chocolate,” I commented to Mariko.

Kowalski’s eyes widened. “Wait, you don’t? How does that work?”

“Mariko’s a little odd,” said Kiyo without a hint of irony.

Mariko could only giggle at that. “I just find the taste bitter. You can have mine, Rafal. One for you, and one for Buddy.”

The large boy’s eyes widened, and his shadowy magical id popped out. Where it normally looked like a jagged beast of rage and nightmares, the rounded creature that sat on Kowalksi’s shoulder was almost cute. Almost.

“Oh my, I see that somebody’s excited,” said Mariko. Showing more bravery than I had, she reached out and patted Buddy’s head.

“No, we both know you can’t eat it,” said Kowalski to an unheard question. Buddy looked at him with angry eyes, his form turning more angular. “Don’t blame me! You just smoosh it up and it drops on the floor. I’ll go slower for you, though.”

Buddy looked dejected for a moment before disappearing back into Kowalski’s shadow.

“I didn’t think I could feel sorry for an imaginary friend,” said Kiyo.

“He isn’t… He’s kinda…” Kowalski trailed off. “Buddy’s complicated. Thanks, Mariko, I appreciate it.”

Mariko waved him off. “No worries, Rafal. I don’t like people wasting things on me.”

The Headmaster announced that practice time was over and we all went to work. I swear, I’d never seen Class 3-C put so much heart into anything before. It took three times to near the end of the line. One time, one of the Russian expatriates flubbed the rune, causing the spell to sputter out. Yukiko’s fingers were in Position Four instead of Three on their second time around, likely a sign of too much practice. I couldn’t imagine how stiff her fingers were just then.

Kowalski passed the spell to Kiyo without incident, to his almost surprise. The man needed more confidence. Kiyo passed it to me, letting out a pained yelp.

That left Mariko and I to finish the race. I found myself aware of the flow of magic around her right hand, and something felt off about it. I couldn’t put it in words easily, but it seemed almost jagged, where everyone else’s was smooth.

We pressed on, and I didn’t mention anything. If she wasn’t concerned, I didn’t see any reason to be. “Ready?”

She nodded.

We began chanting in unison. “Tu Ra Ba An Ki Po We Ba Yi Mi.”

Her hand twitched towards the last syllables, but we didn’t notice in time to do anything. Hand gestures perform an important role in how a spell turns out, and as our energies resonated, what ought to have been a simple tingle released a yellow-tinged magical backlash that travelled up our forearms before discharging.

I stepped back and reflexively grabbed my smoking arm.

“Magpie!” Kiyo was at my side in a moment.

“I’m fine,” I said. “My poor uniform can’t say the same, though.” The cuff of my black jacket looked like I had taken a set of scissors to it, creating oddly uniform tassels. “Mariko, are you…”

I trailed off as I caught sight of something red peeking between the strips of fabric. Her gaze followed mine, and she seemed to be in shock.

“She’s hurt!” I stepped forward, not quite sure what I was doing. My human healing magic wouldn’t be up to the task of healing more than a minor cut, which was hopefully all it was.

“No, I’m fine!” She hid her arm behind her. “D-don’t worry about it.”

All eyes were on us as she took a step away from me. Hiro, Yukiko and Rose all descended on us.

“What happened?” asked Rose.

“What did you do to her, Soren?” asked Yukiko accusatorily. She tried to circle around Mariko, but the taller girl rebuffed her.

“Nothing, he did nothing.” Mariko edged closer to the door, clearly looking to make a break for it. “Th-this is not Soren’s fault at all. I messed up.”

Hiro stood there silently, eyes downcast. Headmaster Tachibana and Mr. Maki looked equally grim. There was something going on that I wasn’t privy to.

“Don’t worry,” stammered Mariko. Nobody needs to worry about me. Nothing is wrong. Nothing. I j-just need to go fix my shirt. M-may I be excused, Mr. Maki?” Without waiting for a reply, she darted out the door.

There was a long, tension filled moment of silence. Those who seemed to know something wouldn’t speak, and those who knew nothing didn’t know what to say, myself included.

“Do we have to do the spell again?” asked Kowalski.

************

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