Wild Magic 55

I tried to just meditate, but so far my mind refused to slow down. I looked over at Elisanette, who was sitting in her lotus position with her eyes closed.

“Relax you need to, young padawan,” she said in a “Yoda” voice. “Quiet your mind, you must.”

“Oh no! Grandma got to you, too?” If they want eternal wisdom, check out my Chuck Norris, or Clint Eastwood Collection, for goodness sake.

Elisabette smiled and an image of Master Yoda appeared. His light saber ignited, and that Yoda voice spoke up. “Lucky you feel...punk?”

I laughed and the image vanished . “Feel better?”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but no. I’m...I’m scared, Teach. I can’t get over the idea that I have to fight a demon.”

“Who said you do?” She asked me.

I looked at her, confused. Hadn’t she been there for the immolation of that flunky?

“You and I have an awesome power, but it has a weakness. You must have a solid faith in that power. Remember, our ability is affected by our belief and imagination.”

“Yes, I know. I’m missing the point, O mighty teacher.” I said, bowing low.

“I like the respect, we should keep that,” she said with a smile, and then continued. “Knowing this, if you, as a less powerful witch were to attempt to defeat one with more power, what must you do?”

Light was beginning to dawn. “Decrease her faith to make her lose power...”

“Perhaps through fear and illusion?”

“The flunky didn’t die, it was all an illusion!” I said. “She was the enemy!”

“Bingo.” Elisabette said, smiling. “Our enemy is an illusionist.”

“So we are battling another flunky, not the main enemy?”

“A good illusionist is a powerful enemy, especially if she is also capable of using drugs and poison to reinforce her illusions.”

“So she could have been behind Thomas’ power-which explains how a male had magic!”

“That and a powerful paralysis drug to stop the other coven leaders. She was probably hidden among them when you arrived, making Thomas believe he had magic. It seems our illusionist is not only a fraud, but also a coward.”

“But what about the manipulation?” I asked.

“I’m guessing here, but what if that is her true talent, manipulation? The illusions could be a form of manipulation of our minds, couldn’t they?”

“She’d have to be very good at it.” I said. “Why don’t the amulets work then?”

“I would bet that the protection is weak because the mind wants to believe the illusion. Just like in stage magic, if you know how the trick is done, you can see through the illusions, but we tend to believe what our eyes tell us, even if it is illogical.”

“Even Gwen’s possession could have been drugs and manipulation, couldn’t it?”

“Or the work of an ally-She does not want to face us directly.” Elisabette told me.

“So how do we defeat her?” I asked.

“By using your other senses to get around her illusions.”

“Using the other senses all the time? There’s a headache in the making.” Aspirin, anyone?

“No, you use those senses like using a car’s mirrors. Pay attention, but keep checking for anything odd. Keep aware that she could strike at any time, so she has a bit of an advantage there, but once she strikes, you have the power. At this time, she doesn’t know that we have her figured out. She might do something stupid, allowing us to isolate her and shut her down.”

“I just hope that whatever she tries isn’t dangerous.” I said with concern.

“That could be a problem, too, especially if we over-worry about things.”

“One question, Teach. Until she moves, how much worry is too much?

“Good Question.”

<--oo-->

Tim and I had a small argument. He wanted to have half of the football team as his attendants, because he can’t disappoint his friends.

I said that they’re football players-they’re strong, they can deal. I think we should keep it down to your Best Man and four, and he finally agreed. Tim says that since everyone is an individual, and sees things their own way, that disagreements and differences of opinion are inevitable.

The important thing is how you handle an argument. Being graceful and respecting the opinion of the other person is mature and reasonable. Screaming and making threats is
juvenile, childish behavior, but unfortunately normal.

Sometimes, no matter how much you try not to, especially with someone you love, you end up in a screaming match. These are very dangerous, because you can lose your self control and say things, hurtful and disgusting things that you would never normally say. The kind of things that are meant to be hurtful, and are very hard to forgive when the argument is over.

Tim and I firmly believe that we will have fights like this. We have to maintain control, and I plan to ask all of my parents for suggestions. They’ve had successful marriages; I want to know what they did.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. ‘You’re a powerful mind-witch, just change his mind!’ right? That or ‘Just merge your minds, like you did with Grandma’. Those are both possible, but it just seems wrong, especially the first one, so no, those won’t happen.

And no, I probably won’t use the frog spell.

I want my marriage to be happy, but I’m realistic. It won’t be a typical marriage, but Tim is a strong, confident person, and able to be his own man. I like that about him. He’s my Knight.

We had several discussions and visited many vendors for things like invitations, cakes, tuxedos, halls and music for the reception...it starts to get overwhelming. Tim surprised me one morning with a book of home plans.

“I want to have our house built by the time we get married, but I thought we should talk about it first. These are houses my Dad’s company has built, and I think we’ll find something we like here.”

This is not what I expected. I thought we’d probably live on campus, or in an apartment very close to it. I forget that my fiancé has considerable funds! It took a minute, but I finally caught up (after a couple of cups of coffee). My thought was to find our property first, and then come up with a house that fits. So we spent the day in the Jeep, looking at properties.

We are very fortunate, in that we have several choices of environments to live in. I like the forested sort of places we both grew up in, and Tim wants to be near water. Our town is near a part of the Grand River, and we both like to fish, so that is sort of what we’d like. I don’t want to be too close to the water, because there are floods and high water every spring. If I live close to the water, it should be on a boat in Florida!

We found several lots we both liked, but one really stood out. It was north of Marne, just a few miles from our parents’ houses, and it overlooks a small lake. We thought a modern log building would work perfectly. Tim called and placed a bid on the property, and then we headed home. It was a Saturday, so we didn’t really expect a response until Monday, but before we got home, our bid was accepted!

This is a very big step for me, and one I hadn’t expected this soon. I like it, and I love the house plan we picked out, but I’m a little overwhelmed right now. Tim is gung-ho, and he says construction could start by Friday. Oh my!

I’m still picking invitations, and he’s building a house! I really need to talk to Mom and Grandma, so I can ground myself again. The house is so wonderful that I feel...wild and unconcerned, I guess, but this is reality. There are holidays and homework and so many other things on my mind.

I love Tim, but I think he’s going to spoil me. Aww, darn.