Simon stuck his tongue out at Connor and ducked as Corwin left-hooked him on the head.
"Hey, don't touch the hair!" He protested.
"If you don't wanna die with your privates hanging out, you'd better start talking. Now!" Corwin glared at him. "What exactly did he say?"
"You guys think I'm joking? I swear, that's what he said!" Simon's eyes grew large as saucers.
"As of midnight last night...or is it early this morning…?" He leaned forward with a maniacal grin, barely able to contain his delight. "You guys have been officially dropped from all your other duties."
"Oh, puleeze," Corwin snorted. "Save the drama for the drama queens."
Simon slammed his palms onto the table and lean forward, his teeth clenched in a ferocious snarl. "Listen up, and listen up well, all of you." He paused and took a deep breath.
"Your only assignment at this time, and into the indeterminate future is to be my bodyguard and to chauffeur me around on your hoverboards. Do you understand?"
I froze.
Simon was not joking.
Being the youngest and the scrawniest of all of us, there was no reason for him to make up something that preposterous. There was enough truth in his assertion for me to take him quite seriously.
"Er...Simon," I gave a hesitant smile in an attempt to break up the sudden spike in tension between Simon and Corwin.
"I don't think I would make a good bodyguard for you."
That did the trick. The twins looked at me with a strange questioning glance.
Simon rolled his eyes and gave me a pained look. "Not you, Nana. You're too scrawny and your magik sucks. You're only suppose to help me open up that Demons book."
I nodded as if I understood, "Ok...so if I help you open it up, what are you supposed to do?"
"Me?" He stared at me, "Well, I- er- that is, I'm suppose to make sure you get whatever you need magikally, physically, intellectually—emotionally…to decipher the book." he smiled with a fake, exaggerated, infatuated look on his face.
"Idiot!" Corwin said with disgust. "So really, it's not about you at all. It's actually about Nana."
"What about my messenger and delivery work for the school?" I glanced at Simon.
"Your work has been completely suspended. You are no longer working for the Thaumaturge Discipline. Professor Morton is no longer your boss. You now work directly under the Dean himself and he is your immediate superior."
Simon bit off a piece of toast and made a face. "You have only one job right now." He slathered some butter on the remaining portion of toast. "Open the book."
He threw down the half-eaten toast and cackled like a mad man. "The best thing about this whole thing is—I don't have to go to class this summer. Whoo hoo!" He let out a hoot.
"Old Blackstone let you off summer school?" Connor grinned. "I'm impressed."
"Yep!" Simon said as he slurped on his milk. "The Dean said I had to use all my genius brain power to help poor hopeless Nana."
"Humph," Corwin grunted. "If she's as hopeless as you say, why bother including her at all? Why don't you just open it yourself, smarty pants?"
"Ummm, I can't." Simon replied, and then he mumbled something under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Connor asked, tilting his head in bewilderment. "Did I hear you right?"
I stared at Connor in amazement. My hearing wasn't that bad, but I was sitting right next to Simon and I still couldn't make out his words.
"What did he say?" I asked Connor.
"He said he can't open it because he's not your sister." Connor responded with a sniff.
Corwin interjected. "That makes no sense at all."
Simon clucked his tongue. "It's complicated. The book is tied to Nana's blood line, but that's not the only stipulation. Apparently, only the females in her lineage are able to handle the book."
"Does that include Nana's mother?" Corwin scratched his head.
"Actually no. Nana's mother can't touch the book either because Lady Chloe Belladonna is on Nana's paternal side, not her maternal side."
"Paternal side? Wouldn't her last name be Imara then?" Connor asked.
"You'd think, except that it's not. Belladonna is her married name. I only know that Nana's father is the last living son of his generation and Nana has five brothers, none of whom have children. She also has zero sisters so it makes her the sole legitimate heir of this book."
"You and Uncle Blackstone worked all this out last night?" Connor laughed, but I could see a glint of respect in his eyes for the young mage.
"Yep! Me and the old dwarf—we spent all night trying to figure it out. See how tired my eyes are?" Simon pushed both sets of eyelids apart with his food-stained fingers, leaving toast crumbs on his cheeks and forehead, exposing bloodshot blue eyes.
He was quick to wipe away the mess with a napkin though he missed a smudge over his eyebrow.
"The old man had to go really slow because he was probing the magikal composition of the spell and trying not to set off any self-destruct signals." Simon kept chewing on his food and talking at the same time.
"Every time he came to a strange condition, he would tell me about it and after a couple of odd twists, I would figured it out." He grinned like a banshee.
"Once I figured out the conditions, it was easy for him to map out the rest of the pattern of the spell."
"You're a genius," I said.
"So I've been told."
"How much time do we have to figure out how to get the book open?" I asked.
"As soon as we finish breakfast, we are supposed to go to 142 Alder Alley and see if we can figure out the connection between the book and the classroom," Simon replied. "At least, that's Blackstone's first suggestion."
Connor shrugged. "That's as good a suggestion as any, I guess."
Corwin gulped down the last of his orange juice and stood up. "Well, let's get started. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to our normal routines."
As we finished up and made our way out of the dinning hall, I was struck by just how lopsided this whole situation had become.
Three of the strongest mages I had ever met had just been stripped of all their work just so they could assist me, the lowliest of the lowly mages, with a job that was, for all practical matters, something that should be handed over to a high level mage from the very start.
I thought that it was a waste of their magikal abilities, but it was not my call.
It was about 9 am by the time we got to the Demons classroom.
From the outside, it looked undisturbed and just like any other door of any other building.
It was only as we got closer that we were able to see the air around the door frame becoming visibly disturbed, and it had nothing to do with thermic reactions.
Although it was summer, the day had barely just begun. The air was not hot enough to bake that much heat into the door. This was something else entirely.
The doorway stood enigmatic and isolated, sticking out like a sore thumb. It was recessed into the weather-faded single-story building, forgotten and neglected by time and tide. If we had not been paying attention to the numbers on the doors, we would have missed this one entirely
My eyes were immediately drawn to the weathered door handle. Its old black metal was crusted and greyed with age. Still visible was an impressive amount of ornate and intricate curlicues of a rococo persuasion.
Waves of radiant energy emanated upward from the door causing it to shimmer and weave in the early morning sunlight. The strange optical illusions made me a bit nauseous.
As we approached the doorway, I could sense something pulling at me. Without realizing it, I moved toward the door.
"Nana," Corwin warned in a hushed tone. "What's going on?"
"I—I'm not sure..." I took a step closer. I needed to see what the difference was between this moment and the last time I had opened the door.
Corwin reached out and pulled me back up against his chest.
"What do you see?" he asked, full of concern.
"It's ok. I'm just going to check it out." I stepped away from him. Something was not right.
I approached it in slow, measured steps, not sure what I would find.
I reached out for the door handle and recoiled as an arch of static electricity jumped out and zapped my fingers.
Since I wasn't hurt, I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.
Nothing untoward jumped out at me so I poked my head in and scanned the interior.
At first glance, everything seemed normal; or at least, nothing seemed strange.
"I guess I was just imagining things--" I turned back to the guys and froze, mid-sentence.
Corwin and Connor were amazed and concerned at the same time and their faces clearly showed it.
"You..." Corwin sputtered, but seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Wowzies! That was cool!" Simon danced up and down with glee. "How'd you do that?"
"Do what?" I looked at the three of them in shocked surprise.
"What? You didn't see that?" Connor's eyes danced with excitement. "You sent some electricity right into the doorway and popped that door open like it was nothing!" He laughed and poked Simon on the shoulder.
"I thought Simon was joking when he said you were the one who opened the door, but now I see how you did it."
"There was some static in the air, I guess," I muttered. "It shocked me too...just jumped right out at me."
I looked about. "The air must be drier than we thought."
"Nana." Connor shook his head. "The electrical charge came from you not the air. It jumped from your finger toward the door."
Corwin exhaled, continuing his brother's words without hesitation. "We went back and checked out the classroom last night after I dropped you off. The door was closed and sealed. Nothing and no one could open it."
I looked between him and Connor, searching for any hint of a practical joke between them. Finding none, I smiled hesitantly.
"Might it have been accidentally triggered by some wildlife? Maybe the spell wasn't placed properly? Let me try it again." I reached out and shut the door.
"No, let me try!" Simon bounced up and down with enthusiasm.
He ran to the door and reached out for the handle, wincing in anticipation of an electric shock. When nothing happened he grabbed the handle and yanked on it several times.
It was locked tight.
"Mashangjiehsuo!"
He uttered the Unlock Command, then tried the door again.
No cigar.
"Well, I'm stumped." He scratched his head. With a mournful air, turned back to me. "Looks like it's your door."
I nodded. With my palm facing forward, I reached for the door handle.
This time, I was prepared for the arc of electricity jumping from my hand to the metal door handle.
Even before my palm made contact with the handle, the door swung inward of its own accord as if it was magnetically repelled by my presence.
"Wow." Simon gasped. "She didn't even need to touch it."
"That's quite a spell on that door," Corwin raised an eyebrow.
"Hmmm, so much for being a handicapped mage, eh?" Connor grinned. His voice was tinged with respect and pride.
It was all I could do to stifle a giggle.
I hadn't really done anything as complex as creating a spell. I couldn't levitate to save my life, and I sure couldn't wind-surf worth a flap, but I had just been complimented by three strong mages about my so-called magikal abilities.
It was utterly unreal, but so very satisfying.
Without waiting for them, I stepped into the room.