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"Wait, he said it was a magic shop we were to go to, right?" Erica asked.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, Mana did say we should try to contact whatever other magical types there might be around, and suggested occult stores as a place to start. If it isn't the illusion type of magic store, then we might kill two birds with one stone." Erica said.

That's a good point. This may be an excellent opportunity for us. Vash agreed.

"Well, someone's going to get killed if I don't help, so I guess I'd better get going." Sarah said, getting to her feet and starting towards the door.

"Wait a minute!" Erica exclaimed. "You're not going alone!"

Mike nodded, "Agreed. There's no way I'm letting you go alone."

Sarah started to protest, but Jill spoke up first, "They are right, Sarah, we're talking about a murderer here! Besides, Mana said we should stick together."

"Well, if you're sure." Sarah said reluctantly.

"We are. Let's take my car." Mike said. He led the way over to his car and they all piled in, with Vash invisible as usual. A short drive later and they were pulling up in front of the magic store.

"This is it?" Tiffany asked.

"That's the address he gave us." Jill said as she climbed out of the car. The others followed her into the store.

The store was empty except for an older woman standing at the register. "Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.

"Uh, hi, I'm, uh..." Sarah mumbled, uncertain what to say.

Erica squeezed her hand and stepped forward, "Hi, Agent Garner said we should talk to someone named Charlotte?"

"That's me, but I was only expecting one woman, not four." the woman said uncertainly.

"We're just moral support. It's Sarah here that you want to talk to, apparently." Erica said. We'll keep the fact we have abilities of our own a secret, for now, okay? she thought to Sarah.

Okay, I was worried about that. Sarah replied with relief.

I know. Erica replied with a smile.

"I don't have any customers anyway, why don't I lock up and we'll explain the situation to you." Charlotte said. She walked over and flipped the 'Open' sign around and locked the door, then led them back through the store to a kitchen with a fairly large table in the middle. "If you'll wait here, I'll get the girls."

They were all seated by the time Charlotte returned with three young women. Sarah and Tiffany shot to their feet when they saw who one of them was. "Tina? What are you doing here?!" Tiffany exclaimed.

"Tiffany? And Sarah? I live here. What are you two doing here?!" Tina asked in surprise.

"You know these two, Tina?" Charlotte asked curiously.

"Yeah, I work with them." Tina said.

"I guess this explains your comment about magic the other day, huh?" Tiffany said.

Charlotte looked curiously at Tina, but she was focusing on Sarah. "Sarah, are you the one that FBI guy was talking about?" she asked with an odd expression on her face.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am. But he didn't even know why you needed to talk to me. What's going on?" Sarah asked.

"Why don't we all take a seat and I'll explain." Charlotte suggested. Everyone sat back down. "I don't know how much you know, but there is a loose community here of people who know real magic of one type or another. A seer friend of mine had a vision. She saw Willow here," and Charlotte pointed to one of the other girls, "being killed by a man named Nathaniel."

"What does that have to do with Sarah?" Mike asked.

"I'm getting to that." Charlotte replied. "This was a forked vision, meaning there were two possible outcomes. On the one hand, Willow died. On the other, she lived. In order to bring about the second outcome, we needed to get the help of the person being watched by Agent Garner. We didn't know who he was until he talked to a friend of the seer yesterday, though."

"But why was the FBI guy watching you, Sarah?" Tina asked.

What should I say? Sarah thought to the others fearfully.

These are the kind of people we need to contact, and they are being honest with us. I think you should tell them that you have powers. Just leave out the events that drew his attention to you and the full extent of your powers, for now. Vash suggested.

That's probably a good idea. Mike thought, with Jill broadcasting his thoughts to the others. No need to tell them everything about us. It's enough to know that you have powers that might be helpful in this situation.

Okay... Sarah thought uncertainly. "Um, he kind of found out that...I have, uh, magical powers?" she finally said.

"Cool! So you're a practitioner, too?!" Tina exclaimed.

"Huh? Practitioner? What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"I don't think she's quite the same as us, Tina. If she were, she wouldn't be any better able to handle the situation than we are. She must have some kind of specialized ability that can help us." Charlotte said.

"What exactly do you need from Sarah?" Erica asked.

Charlotte shrugged, "We don't really know. Nathaniel is a rogue witch, or warlock if you like. He is paranoid and convinced that his coven has been conspiring to keep information from him. Willow is a member of the same coven, as is Rose." she pointed to the girl sitting next to Willow. "We know that the attack will most likely take place on Monday or Tuesday. And we know that Willow will be alone at the time. Beyond that we're as much in the dark as you."

"That's not entirely true." Rose pointed out. "We also know that in the first fork, Nathaniel is burned to a crisp. We're presuming by Tina; she's the only one of us with the ability to do that magically."

"So you're a pyrokinetic?" Jill asked.

"Huh?" Tina asked, confused.

"A pyrokinetic would be someone who can control flames with their mind. And no, she isn't. She's just a bit more adept with magic, especially magic cast on the fly, than the rest of us." Charlotte said, looking oddly at Rose.

"Why is this Nathaniel so convinced that his coven is holding out on him?" Tiffany asked.

"It's an unfortunate problem I've encountered before." Charlotte explained, "Male practitioners often become unstable. Paranoia is common among them, and can easily lead to worse things. In Nathaniel's case, he's convinced that we're all withholding information on the crafting of a type of magical focus called a talisman. He managed to create a flawed version on accident, but Tina broke it."

"I still don't understand what you expect Sarah to do." Jill said.

"Save Willow. Somehow." Tina said hopefully.

"I will if I can, but I don't know what I can do." Sarah said.

"Yeah, if Willow is alone when this happens, then it doesn't make any sense." Mike said.

"I was thinking that, if we knew exactly what your powers are, we might figure out how they fit into the vision." Charlotte said.

Should I really tell them? Sarah asked.

No way! At least, not all of it. But what parts will we tell them about? Erica wondered.

Tell them about your magical blast, but play it down to what it was when you first tried it or less. Jill suggested.

Okay. Should I tell them about anything else? Sarah said.

No. At least, not yet. Let's see where this goes first. Mike said.

Alright. Sarah thought. "Um, I have this magical blast thing that I do." she said.

"Magical blast? You mean, some kind of attack, then?" Charlotte asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I guess." Sarah agreed.

"Well, that does fit, somewhat. If you were with Willow when she was attacked you could blast Nathaniel. But she's alone in the vision, so that still doesn't quite fit. There has to be more to this." Charlotte said.

"Did you use this blast on John?" Tina asked worriedly.

"...no." Sarah said quietly, clutching Erica's hand under the table.

Erica switched hands so she could put her arm around her. "Her blast is unlikely to kill someone, if that's what you're thinking." she said to Tina.

Tiffany winced at that, but Tina nodded. "Okay. I just wondered because the police don't seem to have gotten anywhere finding out who killed him." Tina said. That statement required an explanation for Rose, Willow and Charlotte.

While Tina explained Erica held Sarah and thought, Are you okay?

Yeah, I guess. Sarah sent.

I've had a thought, Sarah. Vash sent. You've transformed yourself and others into an opposite gender equivalent of themselves. But you also changed your father far more. Perhaps you could accomplish other shape shifting?

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To Be Continued…

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