“Or we could give him more time,” Ava argued. “Even on Earth, spirits experience time differently. A ghost’s consciousness isn’t defined by time the way mine and yours are. I’m sure Thaddeus is putting forth his best effort.”
“Best effort or not, how does Takahashi expect me to send Thaddeus back to the Ancestral Lands if I don’t know where he is?” Marcus asked. “We need to do this.”
“You promised Takahashi you wouldn’t,” Ava protested. I caught her thoughts slipping through our bond— she was hoping to buy Thaddeus enough time to get to the Ancestral Lands by himself. She worried what kind of pressure Marcus’ summonings would put on him.
“I mean… I didn’treallysay that,” Marcus said.
Ava was becoming increasingly frustrated. “You’re going to do this with or without us, aren’t you?”
“Someone has to,” Marcus insisted.
Ava turned her chair back around. “I’m coming with you. Someone has to make sure you don’t fuck it up.”
“If all I am to you is a fuck-up, then you don’t have to join me,” Marcus spat.
“That’s not what I said,” Ava replied coldly.
Kallie quickly cut in. “Can we not do this here?”
My friends got really quiet. I didn’t hear anyone else in the hall, but that didn’t mean no one was in nearby classrooms.
“Let’s go to the Witch Tower,” Marcus suggested. “It’s usually pretty quiet there.”
We hurried to the Witch Tower, and I used my Air power to levitate Ava’s chair up the stairs. No one was there when we arrived. We gathered around a study table, and Marcus quickly got to work arranging the items for the séance.
“I’ve got my summoning herbs…” Marcus mumbled. “Ava, can I have a light?”
Ava grumbled. She wasn’t happy about it, but she lit Marcus’ herb bundle with her Fire magic.
“Thaddeus?” Marcus called. “Thaddeus, how you doing, buddy? Are you there? We just want to check on you.”
Nothing happened.
“Thaddeus Blake, I don’t want to force you out,” Marcus stated harshly. “It’s Marcus. I need to know you’re all right.”
Another moment of silence passed, and Marcus shifted uncomfortably.
“Maybe he’s already moved on,” Ava suggested.
“No, I can feel something,” Marcus said. “He just needs a bit of a nudge.”
Marcus began muttering words I didn’t recognize under his breath. The table began to shake, and the chair beneath me wobbled. Oberi barked, and Rishi hissed.
The sound of a hawk’s cry came from overhead, and it dove for me. I covered my ears and ducked, but the hawk spirit passed straight through me. For a second, I could see the visual outline of Thaddeus’ Familiar. Then his spirit shifted into a man, and he vanished from my mind.
A sharp, pained breath came from behind me, and a chill spread over my spine.
Marcus gasped. “Thaddeus! You look… ah… you don’t look well.”
What’s he talking about?I asked Oberi.
Thaddeus’ spirit appears sick, he explained.His form has an ill sheen, and he has dark bags under his eyes. His energy is… chilling.
Yeah, I could feel that for sure.
“Marcus?” Thaddeus’ voice filled the room, but something was off about it. It sounded distant and ethereal. It didn’t quite seem like he was standing in front of us, but rather, was stuck between two different places. “What’s going on?”
“This is what I was talking about,” Ava said. “Marcus, he’s confused! We need to send him back to the Ancestral Lands!”
