After the battle with the Kitsune, Kellie found things returning to normal (or as normal as things could be for her.) The last couple of weeks were quiet,yet interesting. On the plus side Kellies olive branch seemed to be working, Mia and Zack couldn’t be happier. The two 10 year olds were close and apparently very happy. Rexie and Ayami both said they were pleased that things were working out so well. Kellie in turn found she could gain some information by watching the two from afar. It appeared both kids enjoyed hanging out at Gloria’s house, meaning Kellie had ample time to observe the two and gain any inside information on what Lilith and Jack were up to.
On the down side though Kellie found that their was little she could do to stop Lilith. The demon witch had taken extra precautions since Jacks attempted kidnapping. Kellie and Merlin could both feel that Jack and the others power was increasing. While the two groups maintained an icy all be it peaceful relationship, Kellie knew she needed to become stronger. If the two sides were going to coexist than they would need to be equals, much like any Cold War if one side looked demonstratively weaker, the other side would make a move against them. For this reason Kellie now found herself in her home with Merlin, Katie, and Mary Elise.
“So how come you invited us over but not the others,” Katie asked as she looked between Kellie and Mary Elise. Kellie sighed, looking at her friends. “Figured we needed to talk,” she said. “But first things first, you guys notice Jack and the others up to anything?”
“Not really,” Mary Elise said. “I mean I do know Ayami did go on a date recently with one of the basketball players, which kind of threw everyone off. Didn’t help that the guy got sick afterwards and our team lost.”
“Pretty sure Ayami fed on him,” Kelllie stated. “Not like anyone would believe that. It did though make it harder for her to date anyone at our school. I mean everyone blamed her for him getting sick and the team losing. Doubt she’ll have a chance to date anyone at school again anytime soon.”
“Yeah Ayami isn’t well liked,” Katie said. “Guess she kind of naturally pisses off all the girls, must be a succubus thing. Rexie too isn’t exactly winning any popularity contests either. She’s been in detention every day this week. Everyone knows she’s trouble.”
“Yeah those two kind of stick out,” Kellie smirked. “But Jack on the other hand is quickly becoming one of the most popular guys in school.”
“And he’s taking Sebastian with him,” Mary said darkly. “Everyone finds those two so charming and attractive. Drives me nuts that everyone lies those two, especially Sebastian. I mean he WAS like a brother to me.”
“Yeah and now he’s dating a cheerleader,” Katie chuckled, causing Mary Elise to glower at her.
“Okay, Okay,” Kellie smiled. “Listen we can break Mary’s stones about Sebastian later. We need to talk seriously for a minute.”
“So what’s on your mind,” the two teens asked.
“Here’s the thing,” Kellie said. “I know you two can sense it. Jack and the others are growing stronger. I know you can feel it. Unfortunately that means we have to grow stronger too. The problem is though we need more people on our side,”
“But we do have people on our side,” Katie said. “I mean we have your daughter and her friends. You know Claudia and Mika are always willing to help us and their super powerful.”
“True,” Kellie said quietly. “But the problem is we can’t always rely on them. Let’s be real, if it wasn’t for their help me, Jack and Mia would be gone. No one else would of been able to help us. I would of been back in diapers, or useing a liter box, or whatever kits do as babies. More of us need to have magic.”
Mary Elise and Katie paused, Kellie was right. They couldn’t continue to rely on the other timeline and their doppelgängers to bail them out of trouble, they needed to be able to protect themselves. “So who do you have in mind,” Mary Elise asked.
“Well their are six people we can say we trust that don’t have magic yet,” Kellie stated. “Trying to train everyone at once would be too much. We should choose two people to start with so that they can help in training the others. I was thinking we could start with Lisa and Karen. I mean Lisa is your twin Katie and Karen is Mary’s best friend. It just made sense, but I’m willing to here what everyone else has to say.”
“What about Claudia and Mika,” Mary Elise said. “I mean we’ve seen how powerful they are in the other timeline. If we started training them then we could have two really powerful wizards on our side.”
“Sounds good in theory,” Katie said thoughtfully. “But remember our Claudia is totally different from the one in the other timeline. Who’s to say they would be equally powerful. We might want to think about Kumi and Samantha. Samantha is probably the strongest of all of us and Kumi is as close to the other Claudia and Mika that we have in this timeline.”
“All good ideas,” Kellie stated. “And that’s why we need to make a choice today. Jack and Lilith are growing stronger everyday. Right now we have kind of an uneasy peace treaty but what happens if they think they could easily take us down? If they grow strong enough they could try. I know that I’m advocating for a magical arms race that could prove disasterous but as don’t see any other choice.”
Mary Elise and Katie nodded. Kellie had a point, they needed some of the other girls to have access to magic. Just having the three of them wasn’t enough. Lilith and Jack could be problematic and the Kitsune were still out there. The magical enemies for the girls was increasing by the day and they needed more firepower. The only question now was who would it be.