Reunion. The Power of My Song

“Well?” Cristina asked once they reached the building's entrance. “Where are we supposed to go? We don’t know where they went.”

Circe thought. She looked around, seeing butterflies stuck to some doors and windows. Surely Maya and other members of the Rigel clan had been there. Cristina's family wasn't the only family there, in the building there were other residents that didn’t want to leave.

“I don't know” Circe replied. “Let's go. We can go to the school. Maybe they are there.”

Before starting to walk, Circe sprayed herself and Cristina with the liquid again so they could peacefully plan what to do, avoid being discovered, planned what to do.

Five minutes after they started walking, they heard a car horn. It was from Alex's grandparents' car. Circe's idea had worked. Alex's grandmother got out of the car; she looked scared, worried, and upset about something.

“Cristina!” she shouted while walking toward her, hugging her. “How are you? Why aren't you with your parents?”

“Grandma Briner” Cristina whispered, also with surprised. “I… it's just that…”

“We are looking for Alex and two other persons" Circe interrupted, seeing that her friend couldn't even speak.

Grandma Briner shook her head in silence, and her face now denoted a certain resentment. Cristina observed those who were in the car: Alex's grandfather was at the wheel, and there was someone behind who was barely moving. Could it be…?

“My grandson told us everything” Grandma Briner began to told. “Alex was beaten by Caleb. He threw all his grudges on him. That person hates my grandson just because he's Cristina's boyfriend. He told him he should disappear. After that, he got into a fight with that unpleasant woman. Hilda, I think her name is."

Circe understood what was happening. They were in danger. Finally, Alex got out of the car, which startled Cristina and Circe. He looked bad but stable. Cristina went to see him, and they hugged. Grandma Briner commented that they should go to the hospital, that it was urgent. Cristina had to go with them. They wouldn't let her be alone, without protection.

“If Caleb was capable of leaving my grandson like this, I don't want to know what happens if you run into someone stronger.”

Circe felt it first. The magical frequency of two people. One of them attacked first, luckily, she was able to deflect the attack, pushing Alex and Cristina aside. They were surrounded. Circe felt the magical frequency of at least seven people from the Splendor clan.

“What's happening?” Cristina asked.

She was also feeling the dangerous frequencies of the enemy star, but lacking her experience as a witch, she didn't understand what she was feeling—only that it was an invisible and threatening presence. Alex felt fear, and seeing Circe's reaction, his grandfather shouted that they had to get into the car. They weren't going to Dolores's house.

“Cristina, get in the car!” Alex's grandfather ordered. A fireball landed near the car, forcing the man to jump out of the vehicle in terror. “What the…?”

Circe looked at her father's potions. She didn't have any long-lasting protection to help the Briner family. She had two, but they had almost the same time limit as the one she used on herself and Cristina moments before leaving her house.

A new attack was coming. Circe took one of the vials and threw it to stop the fire. The projectile froze almost immediately; the witch was able to manipulate it as if it were a ball and launched it toward a safe area. Circe was fighting alone. Her potions weren't going to be enough to defend the group.

“Cristina, help me!” Circe shouted as she saw more projectiles coming.

Her friend was just as terrified as Alex and his grandparents, all were paralyzed. Circe felt a new presence, different from the others. They weren't alone. Circe saw a pair of white light arrows go straight toward two of the enemies. They fell to the ground immediately. They had no visible wounds, but Cristina and Alex saw how they touched their right shoulders and screamed in pain.

The person who launched the arrows appeared. Cristina remembered him: it was that man from the Hadar Apothecary. Along with him appeared two other people, seemingly the same age. It wasn't just the three of them, but two others who, without thinking too much, attacked the blessed of Splendor.

Alex and his grandparents watched in fear. It was Alex's grandfather who decided to start escaping, and along with his family and Cristina, they began to walk away from the battle that was starting to have consequences. The fire caused by the battle began to grow and expand.

The wind made the fire begin to mve foward. One of the blessed of Splendor attacked them. Grandma Briner screamed in terror; she was about to be consumed by the fire. Alex was trembling, his grandfather cursed, and his grandmother cried.

"Sing, blessed of Eos," Cristina heard again. Sing? Why the insistence on singing? She saw that same power she felt that time she was forced to attack, to defend herself. That man helped her manifest her power. And what if maybe…?

She remembered her school classes and the private lessons with Maya. She liked it. She wanted to sing, she wanted to be heard. At first, it was a whisper, a barely audible voice. It was one of her favorite songs, which she listened too many times. That melody was one of the CD collection that once Hilda give to her.

It was from that singer, Danya of Alnilam. Her songs made her dream, go to fictional worlds where fairies, princesses, and magic existed. For her was like… magic, it inspired her. As she continued to sing, with more energy and volume, she stretched out her left hand and could see her tattoo, the symbol of Eos. In her mind, she drew a shield and replicated it with her hand—a shield that could defend her boyfriend and his grandparents.

Although scared, Alex and his grandparents began to walk away from the fire. Cristina's symbol changed. The arrow that was in the middle tilted toward the solar part, making the illusion that was being created and sustained by her singing materialize.

Alex touched it with curiosity. It was real, soft to the touch with a light, pleasant heat—perhaps absorbing the heat of the fire. As they walked, some of the fire and the attack of the enemy tried to destroy he shield Cristina made. For a moment, she stopped singing, the shield got weak. Grandma Briner began to sing. It was a song from Danya. That was a surprise. Cristina didn't know that she was also a listener of that singer.

Cristina knew the song. It wasn't part of her favourite tracks, but she understood the message. With fear, and trembling, Cristina continue singing, along with Grandma Briner. The shield got stronger, thanks of the song of the witch, Alex family had been protected.

The group left the battlefield and hid in an abandoned store. The shield faded, and for a few minutes, they remained silent. Magic existed; it was real and mysterious.

“Girl, what is supposed to be happening?” asked Alex's grandfather once he recovered from the scare of the flight. did happened moments ago in the street?

“Not even I know entirely” Cristina commented as she looked out at the street, hoping no one had discovered them. “What I do know is that a magical war has just begun and that I have been forced to participate.”

“Are you… a witch?” Grandma Briner asked with some fear. Cristina nodded.

“I think so” Cristina replied, trying to smile. “I discovered just today, after what happened at school.”

Cristina could see how, little by little, the fire had been extinguished. Apparently, Circe and the Hadar witches had won. She knew what was did happen. She sighed, understanding that it was them or Alex's family. She understood what they did. They still needed to find Hilda and Caleb.

“We must go, now.” Circe commented after ensuring Alex and his grandparents were well. “We have been summoned to the Dry Crater to seal a magical fissure.”

“A… fissure?” Cristina asked, confused.

“A fault in the geography of Espliego” Pedro replied calmly. “The Rigel clan needs us to heal it before it's too late.”

“What will happen if it doesn’t heal?” Cristina commented with some fear.

“Chaos will invade Espliego” Pedro explained. “The city will be uninhabitable. The magic that sustains life in this area will be corrupted. Besides that, it will cause political havoc with clans from other cities.”

Circe took her friend's hand, inviting her to leave the place. She hesitated. For a moment, Cristina have, again some doubts. She felt Pedro's heavy, trembling hand; she turned to look at him.

“We will create a shield to prevent you from being attacked” he told her confidently.

“No worries, my bottle is still half full” Circe commented as she took the bottle she had.

That bottle which, according to the witch, could make people invisible for ten minutes can be used. Circe handed to Grandpa Briner the bottle, gave them instructions on what to do, and told them that only then would they be safe.

“Wait” Alex said, taking his girlfriend's hand. “You'll be okay, right?”

“We'll be fine” Circe replied as she pulled her friend toward the store exit. Cristina nodded. Alex and his grandparents did not insist.