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"That's a complicated question." Charlotte said. "For the most part, magic is rather limited. Until recently even the simplest of spells took a great deal of effort. Even now we are extremely limited in what we can do. Mostly we use magic for minor divinations, what you might call blessings which basically grant good luck for a short time, and minor enchantments. Combat magics, like Sarah use, are mostly lost to us. However," she looked at Tina at this point, "we are slowly regaining what we lost. Tina has managed to cast a combat spell, using the glyphs I believe she told Sarah about."

Mike looked at Sarah in surprise, "Really? Can you use them?"

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know, she just told me they exist. She didn't show them to me or cast any spells."

Charlotte frowned as she watched this exchange, "Why do you seem to assume that Sarah would be able to learn glyphs? Tina is the first to even use glyphs in centuries, if not millenia."

"I have a knack for copying magical effects." Sarah replied, shocking her friends.

Why reveal that?! Jill exclaimed.

I have too many magical abilities. It would come up eventually, and Vash thinks I should learn how they do magic. Sarah replied.

Tina suddenly snapped her fingers, drawing everyone's attention to her. Realizing she was now the center of attention she blushed and said, "You guys have been having telepathic conversations all along, haven't you?"

"Yeah, we tend to do that a lot anymore." Mike admitted.

"Isn't that difficult to keep up with for you?" Rose asked, looking at Jill.

Before she could reply Charlotte said, "Ah, now it makes sense! Shapeshifting isn't Sarah's power at all, her power mimicry is. She copied that power from Mike, and Jill's telepathy. Between the two of them it would be easy to keep a telepathic conversation going."

"But doesn't Mike just change into animals?" Rose said.

"Sure, but it makes sense that Sarah would use it differently. She wanted to be a girl after all, so naturally she'd learn to swap genders first." Tina said.

Well, the cat is truly out of the bag now, isn't it? Jill thought.

I guess it was inevitable this would happen. Sarah thought morosely as she hid her face from everyone. Jill, Mike and Tiffany all glared at Tina.

"What?" Tina asked.

Charlotte shook her head, "Tina, you really shouldn't have said that. You basically just outed Sarah as a transsexual. In the wrong circles that could have gotten her hurt, badly. That's not the kind of secret you tell anyone without the person's permission."

"Oh... sorry Sarah." Tina said, staring at the floor.

Sarah sighed, "It's okay Tina, you didn't mean any harm. At least it happened here, instead of in a big group like that meeting tomorrow."

"A good point. This is another instance of something that Clarice would likely have a problem with. Others might, as well. I think we need to all agree to keep this to ourselves." Charlotte said, looking pointedly at Tina.

Tina glanced up and noticed the look, returning her gaze to the floor, "I won't say anything about it ever again, I promise!"

"So, you used to be a guy?" Rose said, confused.

"She was always a girl, no matter what she looked like." Jill said defensively.

Rose shrugged, "I don't understand, but I won't say anything."

Charlotte nodded and looked at Willow questioningly. Willow scowled, "Don't look at me like that! I'd never out anybody!"

Charlotte held her hands up placatingly, "That's good, I just wanted to make sure." Willow grumbled but nodded.

"About these glyphs," Jill said to distract everyone from a subject she knew Sarah was not happy to dwell on, "what exactly are they?"

"That's hard to say, exactly." Charlotte said. "They are symbols that represent various magical effects, basically. Why they have power is unclear. Perhaps they are an integral part of magic. Or perhaps some ancient sorcerers worked together to connect these effects with the glyphs. No one knows. In fact, to my knowledge we are the only ones to even know of the existence of glyphs. Certainly I have never heard the slightest mention of them from anyone else."

"So it's some kind of magical language?" Jill asked.

"Not exactly." Charlotte said.

"Actually, that's kind of close." Tina said. Charlotte frowned at her but she continued anyway, "Only it's more like a programming language. Each glyph is like a bit of code. They don't do much on their own, but if you put them together they make up a program, like a spell. We're still working out how they go together, though."

"I guess you can't teach Sarah if you don't know yet yourself, then." Mike said.

"No, but she's welcome to help me figure them out. Her powers might be helpful." Tina said thoughtfully.

"Tina, what did I say about teaching anyone glyphs before you've worked them out for yourself?" Charlotte scolded.

"I wouldn't be teaching her, we'd be learning together. Progress has been really slow, getting some help should speed things up a bit. I promise to be careful." Tina said.

Charlotte frowned but nodded reluctantly, "Alright, but be sure you are!"

"Can I help, too?" Willow asked hopefully.

Charlotte sighed and shook her head, "I suppose so. Perhaps this will help you find your own way of doing magic."

Mike shook his head ruefully, "It's kind of weird. After all this time getting used to our powers, we find out there are others out there with magical abilities. But it doesn't sound like there's a whole lot you can do with them. At least not yet."

Tina shrugged, "Yeah, it's kind of annoying sometimes. There are lots of things we can do, but mostly really subtle effects. But that's changing. Especially with glyphs. Once we get a handle on them there's no telling what we'll be able to do."

"Would you be willing to teach me this ritual magic you talked about, too?" Sarah asked.

"I would rather she not be distracted from the glyphs anymore than she already has been." Charlotte said. "But I could help you with the ritual magic. I'm not sure why you're interested, though. You're own powers are already well beyond what I can do."

Sarah shrugged, "Maybe, but they're also limited. I can do certain things pretty well, but that's it. If I learned your way of doing magic I would have a lot more options."

It's getting late. I'll need to go to bed soon so I can be up in time for school. Any chance of you coming over for a visit? You've had a rough day. Erica sent.

I'd love to! Sarah replied.

Good! Tell them you're tired, it's true anyway. Erica said.

Sarah was about to protest that, but realized she was right. Guys, Erica wants me to go so we can get together before she has to go to bed. she said instead, broadcasting to her friends.

Mike yawned, "Maybe we should be going. It's getting late."

Charlotte nodded, "Certainly. It has been a busy day for all of you. Especially Sarah. I hope we can all get together again soon. I would like to get to know you all better."

"Sure, that would be nice. How about on the weekend?" Jill suggested.

Charlotte nodded, "My shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so Sunday would probably be best."

"Alright, we'll be back on Sunday then. Except for Tiffany and Sarah. I guess they'll be here tomorrow night." Mike said.

"Yes, the meeting will likely start around seven." Charlotte said.

As they all stood and Willow ran over and hugged Sarah, "Thanks for saving me Sarah!"

"Uh, sure, but you weren't in any danger." Sarah said.

"I would have been, if not for you. I'm looking forward to working with you on the glyphs, that should be cool!" she said.

"Uh, sure." Sarah said. After a round of goodbyes they left.

That girl has more energy than most children I've seen. Mike thought as he unlocked his car.

Yeah, but did you notice she's not so hyper as she was before? Jill replied.

Tina says that's how she acts when she's stressed, so this is more normal for her. Sarah sent.

Weird. Jill thought.

They were quiet during the drive back, until Sarah turned to Tiffany and said, "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Huh, what do you mean?" she asked.

"Broken ribs?" Sarah reminded her.

"Oh, yeah, that. It's no problem, you were just upset. I guess you've gotten Erica's increased strength like we thought." Tiffany said.

"We'll have to work on that. You'll need to learn to control it just as Erica does." Mike said.

Sarah shrugged. Jill turned in her seat to look at her, "Are you okay Sarah?"

"Sure, why?" Sarah asked.

"You kind of freaked out when Nathaniel attacked you." Jill pointed out.

Sarah shrugged again but didn't say anything else. Jill exchanged worried looks with Mike but didn't push it, knowing she would be visiting Erica later.

As soon as they got back Sarah headed for her apartment with Tiffany trailing behind her. Mike and Jill said goodnight to her rapidly retreating back, sharing worried looks with Tiffany.

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To Be Continued…