“Probably best to see Kellie and Katie,” Claudia shrugged. Mary Elise and Karen nodded, it made the most sense to find them. They had the most experience dealing with visitors from other timelines. “Okay follow me then,” she said.
The the three girls began to walk Claudia couldn’t help but notice the ring on Mary Elise’s finger. Considering the girl had threatened to use the ring, Claudia was curious as to what kind of power the teen actually had. “You mind if I ask a question,” she asked. Mary Elise turned nodding as Claudia gazed at her ring. “What exactly is that thing?”
Mary Elise held up her ring nonchalantly as she gazed at the college girl. “It’s a Ring of Transformation,” she stated. “I recently acquired it. Does the Mary Elise in your reality have one?”
Claudia shook her head as she smiled at Mary Elise. “No cant say she does,” she grinned. “None of us really got any magic until recently too.” Mary Elise watched as Claudia held out her pendant. “This pendant allows us to cast spells and gives me access to my magic. It actually has more power than any rin we’ve come across.”
“Really,” Mary Elise said, smirking. “It’s that strong.”
“Absolutely,” Claudia stated. “At least that’s what Merlin has told us. It’s the reason Katie passed off the Ring of Age to Gloria and why we’re protected from the spells from the ring.”
“So that pendant is strong enough to protect you from any spells from any ring?”
Claudia nodded as Mary Elise rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Would you mind if we tested that theory?”
Claudia gave the girl a curious look, the girl seemed over eager to test the ring against her. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “I mean chances are that even if you cast your spell successfully I would change back rather quickly and that’s only if it was successful.”
“So you have nothing to lose then,” Mary Elise countered. “If I succeeded then You would change back. I’ve just been anxious to see just how powerful I really am.”
“Power isn’t everything Mary,” Claudia said softly. “Over the years I’ve found that it’s your friendships that are more important. If your blinded by power than it will consume you. Power is fleeting but if you have true friends then you won’t need it.”
Mary Elise furrowed her brow at the college girl, she had been powerless for so long that to her power was everything. Yes she was beginning to branch out and connect with other people but the only person she could say she trusted in the world was Karen. She needed to know if she could use her ring on someone that obviously had a significant amount of magical power. Sighing she looked pleadingly at Claudia. “Please,” she moaned. “I...I need to know if I can do this.”
Claudia groaned, she really didn’t want to do this. She was more interested in finding the others and getting to know them. Claudia hated being left out of the loop on things and stubbornly wanted to be part of everything. Smirking she could understand Mary to some extent. The Mary here was very much like she was at that age. Cocky, fiery, and wanting to see if she truly was the best. Yes she wanted to be the best now but she had learned humility over the years. Katie, Mika and the others had done that for her, usually when she was in over her head. Touching her pendant she smiled impishly at Mary.
“Alright Mary,” she smirked. “Give it a try, and don’t worry about the consequences. Your spell won’t last for very long before I change back.”
Mary Elise smiled triumphantly as she raised her hand. She had just the transformation in mind for Claudia, now she wanted to see if she could pull it off. Claudia watched asMary Elise raised her ring, which began to glow.
Claudia felt the magic of the ring wash over her. She had purposely lowered the defenses of the pendant with specific instructions to change her back 30 seconds after the transformation was complete. Although she wasn’t as good as Katie and Gloria at communicating with her magic item she was able to undrstand that the pendant would follow her directions. As Mary’s magic washed over her she felt her limbs feeling heavier. Glancing down at herself she noticed she was having difficulty moving her arms and legs.
“Whoa weird,” she whispered. Claudia tried to pick her feet off the ground but found they now seemed to weigh a ton. As she gazed down she could see the color of her jeans begin to change from blue to grey. Surprised by this fact she reached her stiff hands downward to find they were now solid, cold stone.
“Wha,” She gawked. Raising her hand slowly she found it quite difficult to move now. Slowly she opened and closed her hand as she gazed at her engagement band. Like her legs Claudia could see the flesh color slowly begging to fade away as it became grey stone. Amazed she watched as the stone slowly spread down her hand and across her arm. In only moments she found her entire arm was stone, fixed in place in front of her. Looking down she could see the Stone was spreading up her legs as well, it now had reached her waist and was quickly heading up.
Ma..ry..,” she said slowly. Claudia was shocked to find her jaw was now freezing as well. She was having a difficult time communicating with the two teens. “Ma..r..y I’m....tu..rn..ing...t..o...st...on.....”
Claudia’s face froze as she tried to tell Mary to stop. She wasn’t expecting this and it frightened her. As the stone spread across her face, her eyes locked with Mary. The last thought crossing Claudia’s thoughts before she became a statue was that she hoped Mary wouldn’t try anything until she turned back.
Mary Elise grinned as she watched Claudia transform into a statue, she had done it. Mary Elise felt a certain amount of pride in the fact she had been able to transform a very powerful magic user into stone. “At this rate I’ll have more power than the witch that killed my father,” she thought with maniacal glee. Tuning she could see the look of horror on Karen’s face. “Mary what the hell,” she exclaimed.
“It’s okay Karen,” she said calmly. “Don’t you see, my power is limitless. Truely I can do anything.” Karen gazed nervously at Mary. She could only hope her friend wouldn’t push things too far.