“On track for being fae-like, I see,” Charlie said.
“Hemlock is going to kill you when she realizes you’ve ruined her wall,” I said, staring up at the massive painting.
“It’s illusion paint. It’ll disappear,” Kallie said. “We just wanted to try something.”
Kallie wiggled her fingers, and Marcus stepped back. I observed in amazement as thegrimspritestepped out of the wall, becoming flesh and blood. A musty smell hit the air as the creature began stomping around, its massive weight creating small tremors. The loud, snuffling noises its snout made as it sniffed for berries invaded the room, and Rishi hissed, fur standing on end as it hopped around thegrimsprite.
“That’s super cool,” I said as I watched the creature roam.
“Yeah, and it’ll listen to us, which is important, because illusions usually take on a life of their own, but this one is completely obedient to our commands,” Kallie said. “Watch.Grimsprite, smash the table.”
Thegrimspriteloafed over, and with a massive fist, crushed the round table in the middle of the room. One hit was enough to completely smash it to bits.
“See, there’s a difference when me and Marcus create an illusion using simultension, rather than when I just do it by myself, because it’s stronger,” Kallie informed me as she repaired the round table with her magic. “It’ll last until we break the spell, and is basically impenetrable to other types of magic, instead of fading away with time.Grimsprite, return to the wall.”
Thegrimspritehurried back to the wall, where it melded together with the surface and became a painting once more. I was in awe of the power they could create. With this ability, they could summon whatever Marcus created at any time, and use them over and over again.
“The thing is, it has to be to scale,” Marcus said. “Whatever I paint is going to be actual size, and I can’t half-ass it, either. The more realistic the painting is, the better the illusion functions, so it’s not exactly great in a hurry.”
“Yeah, watch,” Kallie said, gesturing to Marcus.
Marcus sprayed a stick figure on the wall. Kallie cast her magic, and the stick figure stumbled to life, peeling itself off the wall before taking a couple of clumsy steps and falling face-first on the ground, dissolving in a poof of red paint.
“It’s still useful,” I said. “We can come up with ways to use it.”
“It’s interesting, but I think my necromancy magic is where I should be focusing my energy,” Marcus replied. “If I could make all those ghosts obey me last night, the potential to use that skill in battle if we get pinned in a corner is endless.”
“Maybe we should ask Takahashi. He might have some insight,” Charlie said.
“He and Hemlock aren’t coming. They’re wrapped up in an investigation,” Kallie explained.
“Is the Warden trying to pin something on them?” Charlie worried.
“It’s not that. They might’ve found someone else… like us,” Kallie said.
“Another demigod here at the prison? Who?” I asked.
“We don’t know. They didn’t say,” Marcus said. “But I hope they’re right, because it would be great if they could convince another demigod to help us out.”
“As long as we can trust them,” I growled under my breath. I really hoped this guy was a new arrival, because everyone else outside of our little group of friends here was either an asshole, dangerous, or both. We couldn’t have some loose cannon coming in and putting the team at risk.
“We’ve kept a pretty low profile,” Charlie said. “The Warden knows what we are, but we haven’t handed him any reason he can give to the Union as an excuse to do what he wants with us. He can’t send us to Cellblock 9 unless we fuck up again, and we haven’t gotten caught breaking any rules this semester, so he can’t do anything to us yet.”
“Marcus will give him a reason, if he keeps failing,” Kallie shot at him.
“You’re failing?” I asked. “What’s the deal? You’re one of the top kids in our grade.”
Not that it took too much to be there, but Marcus was still pretty smart. He got mostly A’s.
“Have you been slacking off again?” Charlie asked. “I’ll kick your ass if you’re being lazy.”
Definitely possible. He’d been known to forget about homework more than once after getting absorbed into a painting.
“I really am trying, but I’m slipping in my Miriamic Magic class,” Marcus said warily. “We’ve been working on herbs all semester, and I’m really shitty with plants. I’ve been asked to take care of ameticulous miraculaplant, and it’s not doing good.”
“Give it to me for a sec. I can help it grow,” Charlie offered.
“Uh, no.” Marcus gave a nervous laugh. “You really don’t want to.”
