Chapter 3: Wizards of The Spiral

"Are you Sabrina Spellman?" the wizard in green asked, "my great-great-grandfather said you were coming."

"And here I am," said Sabrina, "you're Andrew, Richard's grandson."

"Indeed I am," said the wizard. He then bowed respectfully, "Andrew Greenspear, Master Theurgist, at your service. You have the letter for headmaster Ambrose?"

"Right here," said Sabrina as she took said letter from her pocket.

"Then there's no time to waste," said Andrew Greenspear, "I'll take you directly to the headmaster."

"I think there's a problem with that," said a nervous Valerie.

"Why?" Andrew Greenspear asked.

"Because of the large, blue snowman with a big, sharp knife right there!" said Valerie.

Sabrina, Harvey, Jenny, Salem and Andrew Greenspear then saw that there was a large, blue snowman, with a large, sharp knife, slithering towards them with the knife raised.

"Kill!" shouted the snowman, "Kill! KILL!"

"No!" shouted a terrified Salem, "I'm too young to be skinned!"

"If it's a fight you want, snowman!" said Harvey as he stood in front of Sabrina, "you'll get it! I'll rip you apart!"

"And I'll tear chunks out of you so fast," said Jenny, "your head will spin!"

"I'm just gonna close my eyes and pretend I'm back in Alaska!" said Valerie.

Sabrina was about to say something, but Andrew Greenspear walked right up to the homicidal snowman and bopped it on the head with his staff, not too hard, but hard enough to get the creature's attention.

"That's not how we treat guests, Maximus!" said Andrew Greenspear, "these good people are here to help and the last thing they need is to be scared by my pet."

"That's your pet?" a shocked Harvey asked.

"Yeah," said Andrew Greenspear, "Sir Maximus isn't usually this grumpy. Well, he is usually grumpy, but not enough to want to kill anyone."

Sabrina then saw that the large snowman was shrinking down to the size of a small dog.

"Ha!" said Salem as he jumped down from Sabrina's arms and glared at the small snowman, "how's the big, tough maniac now, huh?"

The snowman, Sir Maximus, responded by waiving his knife in Salem's face.

"Who still has a big, sharp knife!" said Salem as he frantically ran back to Sabrina and frightfully leapt into her arms again, "Mommy!"

"Shouldn't you be worried that you've got a snowman with a knife for a pet?" Jenny asked.

"He had the knife when he hatched," said Andrew Greenspear, "all Snowmen, be they of Ice, Fire or Storm, all of them come with a knife."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," said Valerie.

"I'll bet," said Andrew, "a lot of us Wizards had no idea what was happening to us when we first got to The Spiral."

"Weren't you born here?" Sabrina asked.

"It's complicated," said Andrew, "I'll try to explain as best I can, but there's a lot to be done and not much time to do it in. First things' first; taking you outlanders to see Headmaster Ambrose. Follow me if you will."

With that he walked up the stairway at the far end of the wooden chamber to a doorway that led outside.

"He seems…okay to me," said Jenny as she, Sabrina and the others followed Andrew out of the room.

"Richard did say we could trust him," said Valerie, "but still…"

"All we can do is keep our eyes and ears open," said Sabrina, "and hope that nothing too crazy happens."

"Crazier than being a witch?" Harvey asked, "or a mortal with borrowed super powers."

"Yeah," said Sabrina, "I think we've used up our crazy allowence for the week."

"I hear that the crazy bank is accepting loans this week," said Salem.

The four friends plus talking cat exited the chamber and found themselves in a large courtyard with the walls being made of bluish gray stone. All around them were dozens of boys and girls, most of them in their mid to late teens, with some here and there much younger, while a few were in their early twenties.

All of them were dressed in a flurry of colors and styles. A lot of them had pets of various kinds, but they all had one common factor; they all had either a staff or a wand.

Sabrina and the others saw several buildings in the courtyard, all surrounding a huge tree that, apparently, they had just walked out of. Each building was colored differently and had a different elemental theme to it, as well as a smaller tree next to each building. On the left was a purple building that had a thunderstorm theme, followed by a blue building that had snow falling on it, followed by a red building with a fire theme.

On the right was a green, nature building, followed by a yellow building, and then there was an empty space that looked like a huge chunk of the ground was ripped out and taken somewhere else.

"This is Ravenwood School of Magical Arts," said Andrew, "on your left you'll find the Schools for Storm, Ice and Fire, while on the right are the schools for Life, Myth, and that huge empty space used to be where the Death School was, more on Death School later. And Balance is primarily taught in Krokotopia, but we'll get to that later.

"The tree we just walked out is Bartleby; The World Tree, through which all the world of The Spiral, and a lot of other places, can be accessed."

"Wow," said an awed Sabrina, "this is…intense."

"I was amazed also when I first got here," said Andrew, "we all were when we first got here." He then walked forward towards the gateway of the stone wall, "those two towers beside the gateway lead to the dorms; boys on the left, girls on the right. But the dorms are only for new studens. Most Wizards have either their own house or a castle, while other domiciles are available for those with way too much money on their hands."

"You have your own house?" Valerie asked.

"I had to get one," said Andrew, "I was collecting so much stuff that my dorm room was too crowded for me to live in."

"I know the feeling," said Sabrina, "where I'm from, witches live for so long, they collect all sorts of stuff," she looked at Harvey, Jenny and Valerie, "remind me sometime to tell you about when Aunt Zelda inherited a small kingdom, and I mean a small one."

"And she gave it up," said Salem, "when she could have been a great dictator."

"With you guiding her, Salem Saberhagen," said Andrew, "my great-grandfather warned me of your exploits on your Earth. I can assure you that we Wizards have very little tolerance for dictators or anyone who abuses power."

"What do you mean?" Salem asked, "wait, as if I have to ask."

"Evil isn't exactly welcome here in The Spiral," said Andrew, "if someone causes trouble, we stop it. Sometimes it takes longer than others, but we get the job done."

"Just how many wizards are there?" Sabrina asked.

"A lot," said Andrew, "nobody really knows how many, or maybe no one has ever made an accurate census. If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that at any given moment, there's millions of Wizards throughout The Spiral. Some live on the various worlds, others have homes elsewhere in the other realm. But a lot of us, myself included, we've got homes here in The Spiral, and on the multiple Earths."

"What does that mean?" Harvey asked.

"Multiple Earths?" Valerie asked, "that doesn't make any sense, I mean, planet Earth is planet Earth."

"I think he means parallel realities," said Jenny.

"Precisely," said Andrew.

"I don't get it," said Harvey, "wait…you mean like The Mirror Universe in Star Trek?"

"Not as extreme," said Andrew, "true, there are universes that are polar opposites of each other; one good, one evil."

"I know the feeling," said Sabrina.

"Well where most of us wizards come from," said Andrew, "are worlds that, for the most part, are without active magic. Wizards are born on these multiple Earths all the time and would never realize that they could do magic. Only by coming to The Spiral, in one way or another, can we learn about and master our powers. Most wizards who complete their education at Ravenwood, and have a whole slew of adventures throughout The Spiral, return to their home worlds to practice their arts and try to bring a little magic to worlds without magic, and for the most part succeed."

"What's your home world like?" Sabrina asked.

"Not much different from your world, I guess," said Andrew, "nothing special about my world anyway."

"But it's still different from ours?" Jenny asked, "is Brittney Spears popular on your world?"

"Oh, I'm gonna try and get concert tickets for her next show in September," said Harvey.

"Oh, save me a ticket!" said an eager Sabrina.

"Now I'm really looking forward to living in Alaska," said a really depressed Valerie.

"If we can move on," said Andrew, "I'd love to talk about how our worlds are different and the same, but if this is as serious as my great-grandfather said, then there's not much time. Besides, it's rude to keep the headmaster waiting." He then showed Sabrina and the others to the archway, which lead to a dimly lit tunnel.

They soon emerged from the tunnel to a brightly area that resembled a quad of a university. Stone buildings were all around, while a small stream divided the area with several stone bridges across it. The source of the stream was a large waterfall that was producing a huge rainbow. All across the area were dozens of wizards wearing a wild variety of colors and different styled outfits. Some of the Wizards zoomed about on broomsticks, while a few rode horses, and here and there there were wizards riding on griffins and other mythical creatures. And there were also wizards who had large wings.

"This is The Commons," said Andrew, "from here you can access the rest of Wizard City," he indicated one street off to the right, which had several large, brightly colored tents, "that's The Fairgrounds, were wizards can earn a little cash and recharge their Mana between Quests. Beyond that is Golem Court, where wizards can train and test their mettle in Golem Tower."

He then pointed to a large stone building off to the far left, "That's the Library. All Wizards need to do research for their curriculums, and also purchase Treasure Cards, which are single use spell cards. Once you cast them they're gone and you have to buy more. They're not that expensive, just a pain to keep buying and remembering to load them into one's deck."

He indicated a doorway to the right of the library, "that leads to the Pet Pavilion. There, Wizards can train their pets in a variety of activates to make them stronger, both in battle and in competitions."

"Your pets can fight each other?" Valerie asked, "that's inhumane!"

"We don't have pet fights," said Andrew, "rather, our pets help us in duels against monsters and other wizards. Some pets, my on for example, can cast spells that allow them to attack. Other pets cast healing spells, while others cast spells that can increase the attack and defensive power of a wizard, or reduce the attack or defense of an enemy. We also have pet races, just for fun and prizes, but that's for later."

"Maybe Salem can enter one of those races," said Harvey.

"Not on your life!" said Salem, "I'm not a show dog or a race horse. However, if the right reward is there for the winner, I suppose I could be persuaded."

"You'll have to be trained up first," said Andrew, "there's games where the pets improve their strength of mind and body, as well as their speed and agility. The Pet Pavilion also has shops for pet snacks, which are essential for the health and improvement of pets, and also a shop where one can buy new pets, and also a place to hatch pets. I'll explain that later.

"Moving on," he pointed to an archway leading straight ahead, "That leads to the Marketplace, where wizards get their supplies and beyond that is Olde Town, where the rest of Wizard City leads. But first thing's first," he lead Sabrina and the others forward a bit to a large stone house that was more like a small castle, "this is the residence of Merle Ambrose, Headmaster of Ravenwood."

"He's got to be the headmaster to have such a fancy place," said Jenny as Andrew lead the way in.

"I've seen fancier," said Salem.

They went inside, arriving in a large office where the walls were packed with bookcases that were packed with books. Odd magical instruments lay here and there, especially on the large oak desk in the middle, while a large blue crystal ball sat on a pedestal near the desk. And behind the desk was an elderly wizard, with a long white beard and moustache, wearing blue robes and hat with white stars and a monocle in front of one eye.

"Ah, young Andrew," said the wizard as he stood up and walked over, "I see that you've brought in guests from afar. Am I to assume that The Chosen One is among them."

"I hope so, headmaster," said Andrew. He looked at Sabrina and the others, "This is the Headmaster, Merle Ambrose."

At that Sabrina took out the letter that Richard gave her, "I'm the Chosen One, sir. I'm Sabrina Spellman, and Andrew's great-grandfather said to give you this."

"Indeed," said Headmaster Ambrose as he took the letter and read it, "Ah, yes…it seems that we are in a predicament."

"Then it's true, headmaster?" Andrew asked, "has the time of Diabolic's return come? Is this truly the time of darkness that was foretold long ago?"

"I fear that the cycle of Diabolic has indeed come once again," said Ambrose, "and this maybe the one where Diabolic will be free to spread his evil unchecked," he looked at Sabrina, "assuming our young witchly friend doesn't stop the maniac first."

"I've got every intention of wining, sir," said Sabrina.

"And we're going to help," said Harvey, while Valerie and Jenny nodded in agreement.

"Then there's no reason why we shouldn't get started," said Headmaster Ambrose, "but there is knowledge that you, Sabrina, and your friends are in need of if you are to successfully make your way through The Spiral."

"We're all ears," said Salem.

"First of all," said Headmaster Ambrose, "let me tell you a bit about the different forms of magic in The Spiral. The six main schools at Ravenwood are divided into two different classes; Spirit and Elemental. First of the Spirit schools is the School of Life.

"Life is spirit, the force of awareness and existence. It is about constant growth and movement. Practitioners of Life Magic, known as Theurgists, are positive, enthusiastic people who seek to appreciate the simple pleasures. At times, however, they can be too flighty or frivolous when circumstances demand otherwise."

"I'm kind of the exception," said Andrew, "for the most part I'm usually serious and straight to the point. But I'm told that at times I'm anything but serious. Sometimes I can't stop spouting puns. But I'm always there for my friends and I always take a duel seriously."

"As I was saying," said Headmaster Ambrose, "Theurgists use Songs to breathe life and spirit into a vessel. Unlike other magic, which relies on summoning, coercing or beseeching, Life Magic harnesses the power of the Song of Creation to create something new. Scholars believe that Theurgy channels the tapestry of music from which the Spiral was created, and that in echoing portions of the great symphony, a Wizard can bring forth and create Life where none previously existed.

"As the motto of the Life School says; 'As we have been Created, so must we Create.''

"We've all had our Frankenstein moments," said Andrew, "anyway, like my great-grandfather probably told you, at Life School, we learn to heal ourselves and other wizards. We heal ourselves more efficiently than others, but it works on everyone. Also, our magic is the most accurate, and we can heal an entire group with just one spell."

"What do you mean about accuracy?" Sabrina asked.

"Well," said Andrew, "magic doesn't work all the time. Sometimes a spell 'fizzles' and we have to try again later. Life magic for the most part has a 90% accuracy, while Schools like Death and Balance are 85% accurate. Myth and Ice are 80% accurate, Fire is 75% and Storm is the worst, only 70%."

"Why use magic that can fail so easily?" Harvey asked.

"Mostly the wizard in question has no choice," said Headmaster Ambrose, "magic chooses the wizard It all depends on who the wizard is in mind and heart."

"But all wizards can learn from the different schools," said Andrew, "anyone can learn the core curriculum of the schools, while each school has spells that only its respective wizards can learn. And of course, there's Treasure Cards, which anyone can use, despite their experience level.

"As Wizards progress in their powers, they gain experience that allows them to use stronger and stronger spells. It all depends on one's level, which is divided into several stages:

Novice

Apprentice

Initiate

Journeyman

Adapt

Magus

Master

Grandmaster

Legendary

"I happen to be a Grandmaster Theurgist."

"You told us that already," said Salem, "Tell us something you don't know."

"Alright," said Andrew as he crossed his arms, "if you want to know, I happen to be a fan of not only 80's pop and heavy metal, but also some funk and hip hop, but if you really want to know a secret that I'm not ashamed of, I'm a huge fan of Hannah Montana."

"Who?" Sabrina asked.

At that Andrew did a double take, "excuse me? You don't know who Hannah Montana is?"

"Should we?" Valerie asked.

"Of course you should!" said Andrew in an outraged tone, "wait, what about Miley Cyrus? Surely you've heard of her."

"Uh…no," said Jenny, "the name doesn't ring a bell."

"Me neither," said Sabrina as she zapped in a bell and tried to ring it, but no sound came from it.

"The name is kinda familiar," said Harvey, "any relation to Billy Ray Cyrus?"

"She's his daughter for crying out loud!" said an exasperated Andrew, "they both are in a hit sitcom on Disney Channel! I mean, what boulder have you been living under?"

"I honestly don't know," said Sabrina.

"Umm," said Andrew in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "okay, we'll get back to this later."

"If I may continue," said Headmaster Ambrose, "now, the second of the Spirit schools is The School of Myth. Myth is imagination. The power of the mind, and everything it can create, drives Myth Magic. It is illusion and dreams made real. If the Wizard can conceive it, it can be brought forth and even brought to life. But imagination can go beyond the control of the wizard and run wild. Wizards of the Myth School, known as Conjurers, use Naming to summon beasts of legend by memorizing and calling out their True Name."

"Oh yeah, True Names," said Sabrina, "my aunts mentioned those. Thay said that Diabolic's True Name was banished when he was originally banished from the witches council."

"A fate that surely drove Diabolic further into the darkness," said Headmaster Ambrose, "but that is a debate for later. To continue, The Myth School will train its student wizards to summon minions. Myth Wizards can summon a variety of minions, each with a little different function. They have their own moderate damage spells with moderate accuracy, but a lot of their more functional spells deal with buffing, healing, and protecting their minions. They also have the ability of taking down defenses on other Wizards and enemies, so if someone is stacking a bunch of defensive spells, a Myth wizard can get rid of them.

"As the motto of the Myth School says; 'To control the Future, one must look to the Past.'"

"Third of the Spirit schools is one that has recently had a lot of controversy, considering that its Headmaster nearly ripped The Spiral Apart in an irrational quest to resurrect the dead."

"Well there's a stupid idea," said Jenny, "all you'll get by trying to bring back the dead are either zombies or vampires."

"Try telling that to Malistare Drake," said Andrew, "he wanted to resurrect the one person that he loved, his wife. He didn't care that to try to resurrect the dead would lead to dire consequences for the universe, he just wanted his wife back."

"Fortunately he was stopped before too many innocents were lost," said Headmaster Ambrose, "and Malistare was sent to the afterlife, where he was reunited with his wife."

"Now there's an ironic story with a happy ending," said Salem.

"If I may continue," said Merle Ambrose, "The School of Death. The Death School will train its student wizards to steal and support themselves. Death Wizards belong to an advanced school, simply because most of their spells take multiple step combinations to use effectively.

"Their spells, while not the strongest, do in most cases have the ability to absorb health from the enemy, which serves as a way for them to heal themselves. They have many preparatory spells that allow them to build up high-damage spells. Death is about ending and closure. All things pass eventually, and time cannot be held back forever. Wizards devoted to Death Magic, known as Necromancers, understand this fact about everything around them and strive to face it without fear. They try to make the most of their time.

"As the motto of the Death School says; 'Timor mortis conturbat me." (The Fear of Death Confounds Me)'

"Just so you'll know," said Andrew, "Death magic, while cool in its own right, can be addicting and can lead to the path of evil."

"Right," said Sabrina, "good advice, we'll be staying away from Death magic."

"Now for the three elemental schools," said Headmaster Ambrose, "first is The School of Storm. Storm Magic is all about creativity. It represents that flash of insight, or the spark of inspiration that makes you yell, 'Eureka!' It is about the pleasure of catching lightning in a bottle. Wizards that embrace the School of Storm, known as Diviners, are driven by the thrill of investigation and discovery, the joys of invention and ingenuity, the power of creating and building. The drawback to such pursuits is the tendency to get lost in the maze of thoughts and being paralyzed to make a decision. Diviners use Verses to charm, enthrall or hypnotize creatures to help them. Storm Magic has roots in the power of the majestic Storm Lords, the race of Titans that ruled the seas in the Days Before.

The Storm School will train its student wizards to do a lot of damage. Storm Wizards have the ability to unleash high amounts of damage from an early level, which is good, but they place too much emphasis on power, and therefore suffer in terms of accuracy. They also have the least amount of base health points of any of the schools. When enemies cast damage buffs on themselves or damage reducers on a friendly player, storm wizards can remove those spells.

"As the motto of the Storm School Says: 'That which can be imagined, can be achieved.'

"Moving on, there's the School of Ice. Ice Magic is all about persistence, slow but steady progression and advancement, like the great glaciers forever sliding across the landscape. Those who embrace the power of Ice, known as Thaumaturges, exhibit great patience and strength, but as a result they sometimes become rigid and inflexible. Thaumaturges use Chants to bargain or plead with Ice creatures to serve them. Ice Magic has its origins in the great Ice Giants, a race of Titans that built massive castles in the sky in the Days Before.

"The Ice School will train its student wizards to take high amounts of damage and survive. Ice Wizards have the highest natural health points and defenses which enable them to take large amounts of damage without dying. It is very hard to defeat them. A lot of their functional spells have to do with increasing their defenses and absorbing damage. They also have the ability to taunt enemies, which forces the enemy to focus attacks on them. This can come in handy when battling in a group.

"As the motto of the Ice School says: 'With Persistence, Victory is assured.'

"Then there is the School of Fire. Fire is passion, the bright, burning flame of raw emotion sweeping over everything. Those who follow the School of Fire, known as Pyromancers, are tempestuous, quick to anger, and consumed by whatever drives them at that moment. They tend to walk a fine line, having great passion and enthusiasm for one's loves in life is good, but watch out! Passion can burn you up and consume you, leaving nothing but a charred husk of your former self. Pyromancers use Incantations to dominate and convince Fire creatures to do their Magic traces its origins back to the fierce Fire Dragons, the race of Titans that ruled the land in the Days Before.

"The Fire School will train its student wizards to do damage over time. Fire Wizards pile on spells that will continually do damage to the enemy. Initially these spells will not do much damage, but they eventually stack for possible large amounts of damage in short amounts of time. Fire wizards also learn the ability to stun, which disables the enemy from acting for one turn. They can heal themselves enough to get by, but nothing substantial.

"As the motto of the Fire School says: 'If the Mind is like a candle, the Heart is like the sun.'

"And then there is the seventh school," said Ambrose, "a school who's primary location is elsewhere, but is now being taught in Ravenwood. The School of Balance. Balance is harmony and finding equality in all things. It draws on elements from each of the other schools, incorporating bits and pieces of those other energies to fill in the spaces between the Schools. Wizards who focus on Balance Magic, known as Sorcerers, are broad-minded. In their minds, all things deserve consideration, and there may be many answers to a single question. The drawback to this point of view, is a tendency to seem impassive or indecisive and never willing to embrace a side or position. Sorcerers use Transmutation to blend the forces of the other schools for their spells.

"Sorcery does not draw upon internal aspects of the caster, nor does it rely on external forces. Instead, it is the creation of something new by combining elements in unique and powerful ways.

"The Balance School will train its student wizards to be effective in group play. Balance Wizards are most effective in group play because they have the ability to buff other players as well as themselves. Although effective in group-play, they can still sufficiently play alone. They have a little bit of everything, which allows them to surpass most monster resistances, heal themselves a little bit, and buff players.

"As the motto of the Balance School says; 'Eye of Newt, and Toe of Frog, Wool of Bat, and Tongue of Dog.'"

"That doesn't make any sense at all," said Harvey.

"I think you need to think outside the box in order to understand," said Jenny.

"As you will lean for yourselves when you arrive at the Balance School in Krokotopia," said Headmaster Ambrose, "due to the final spell cast by Andrew's great-uncle Charlie, we now know where the five talismans needed to defeat Diabolic are.

"The first one is here in Wizard City, and the vault it is sealed away in is located right outside in The Commons. But in order to get to it, the vault has to be unsealed by seven keys."

"And we have to find the keys," said Sabrina, "right?"

"Correct," said Headmaster Ambrose, "when the vault was magically created by Charlie's spell, the keys that sealed it were scattered across Wizard City. When the location of the vault was revealed, so was the locations of the keys. Each key is located in a hidden dungeon in the many areas of Wizard City; Unicorn Way, Triton alley, Cyclops Lane, Firecat Alley, Colossus Boulevard…"

"Of course there's one there," said Andrew in an exasperated. "The perfect place to hide a key is in a street full of Gobblers."

"Gobblers?" Sabrina asked, "what are they?"

"They kinda look like trolls," said Andrew, "not as ugly, but much more disgusting. And they'll eat just about anything."

At that Salem gulped, "do they eat cats?"

"Anything they get their grimy paws on," said Andrew.

"And yet another reason why I shouldn't have come," pouted Salem.

"If I may continue," said Headmaster Ambrose, "the sixth key is in Golem Court…"

"Only one place in that area where a hidden chamber could be," said Andrew, "Golem Tower. And I can guess the last hiding place, cause it's the only place left; Sunken City."

"Precisely," said Ambrose, "and each key is guarded by a powerful monster that will have to be defeated before giving up the key."

"Naturally we'll have to fight monsters to get to the keys," said Valerie, "and we're just getting used to our powers."

"Then I suggest that you accept the help of some outstanding Wizards who know the areas you'll have to go," said Ambrose, "first of all is young Andrew here, who comes highly recommended from his great-grandfather."

"Grandpa Richard has a lot of confidence in me," said Andrew, "but I'm not that special. Sure, I've been all over The Spiral. I've seen and done many things and met a lot of Wizards. I think I can ask a few who can help. But…"

"But of course, you'll have to clear your other obligations," said Ambrose, "young Andrew, leave everything to me."

"Thank you, Headmaster," said Andrew, "I'll do my very best to help The Chosen One and her friends, to the living end."

"I don't expect you to sacrifice yourself for this Quest, young Wizard," said Ambrose, "just do all that you can do, no more, no less, and no more or less from anyone else who will go with you."

"Yeah," said Andrew, "I'll ask if anyone is available. But first I need to clear my schedule." He then closed his eyes in concentration.

"What's he doing?" Jenny asked.

"He's using telepathy," said Valerie, "I think I can hear him talking with his mind. I could be wrong but he's sending out a big message to a lot of people."

"Young Andrew has made a reputation of himself of being able to help his friends whenever they ask for it," said Ambrose, "even when it interrupts his own needs and obligations. He's telling his friends that I am sending him on a high risk Quest and not to bother him with requests for help for the foreseeable future."

Andrew then opened his eyes, "my friends won't be happy that I can't come help when they shout for it, but they'll be okay with it. Now I need to ask if anyone is willing to come on this Quest," he close his eyes again, "If we're going to do this, we're going to need a full party, cause these Boss Monsters, they'll be in Dungeons, and the best way to beat a Dungeon is with four Wizards. Hopefully my friends will come and help us."

"And if they don't come?" Jenny asked, "What then?"

"Then I'll ask someone else on my friend list," said Andrew, "I've been around The Spiral a lot and made friends with a lot of Wizards, most of them I've helped out in a major situation on more than one occasion. If I have to I'll call in some favors, god knows I've got plenty owed to me."

"I'm sure many of your friends will be willing to help you, young Andrew," said Ambrose.

Just then there was a flash of green sparks and there was a girl wizard with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore black and white robes and had a small Satyr pet.

"Van!" said a smiling Andrew, "glad you could make it," he looked at Sabrina and the others, "this is my fellow Theurgist, Vanessa Bearblood."

"How do you do," said Vanessa Bearblood as she shook hands with Sabrina and the others, "Andrew says that this Quest is going to be a big one."

"Biggest one yet," said Andrew, "but let's wait to see if anyone else is coming."

Just then there were two more flashes of sparks; one blue the other purple. Emerging from the blue sparks was another girl wizard, who had brown hair down to her shoulders. She wore light blue robes and had a purple hat and a large cat dressed like it belonged to the mob.

From the purple sparks emerged a boy wizard wearing red robes and a orange hat and had a small purple scaly creature for a pet, a creature that looked aquatic somewhat.

"Kayla! Chris!" said Andrew, he then looked at Sabrina and the others, "This is Kayla Dreamleaf and Chris Firegem."

"You said you were in need of strong wizards, Andrew" said Chris Firegem as he and Kayla Dreamleaf shook hands with Sabrina and the others.

"You couldn't have asked for better friends," said Kayla Dreamleaf, "Especially since two of his friends are friends themselves."

"The four of us have been friends for a long time," said Vanessa Bearblood, "and make a pretty good team."

"We've been through thick and thin, the four of us," said Andrew, "and now it's going to get thicker than ever," he looked at his friends with serious eyes, "Guys…Diabolic is back."

"What?" exclaimed Chris Firegem, "it's been a hundred years already?"

"I don't believe it," said a shocked Kayla Dreamleaf.

"Oh I believe it," said Vanessa Bearblood, "but who's The Chosen One?"

"You're looking at her," said Sabrina, "my friends and I are here to find the talismans and use them to defeat Diabolic."

"Forgive me if I sound rude," said Chris Firegem as he looked at Sabrina, Harvey, Valerie, Jenny and Salem, "but how can you stop Diabolic? He's supposed to be the worst of the worst of villains, and you guys…" he looked directly at Sabrina, "I'm guessing you're a witch, but your friends…aren't they…"

"Yes, we're mortals," said Harvey. He then walked over to Ambrose's desk and picked it up with one hand, "who work out with weights."

"And are highly gifted," said Jenny. She then ran over to Kayla and Vanessa and switched their hands and ran back to Sabrina, all in the blink of an eye.

"And proud of it," said Valerie as she raised the desk out of Harvey's hand with her mind. She made it rotate in midair before settling it back down on the floor.

"Awesome!" said Kayla, "are you guys super heroes?"

"Nah," said Harvey, "we're just borrowing these powers. It would be cool if we could keep them after we're done."

"Can we, Sabrina?" Jenny asked, "Can't you ask your aunts to make another potion that'll let us keep these powers?"

"I honestly don't know," said Sabrina. She then looked at Salem, "is there a potion to make their powers permanent?"

"Not to my knowledge," said Salem, "but on the other hand it would be a bad idea. Mortals with super powers tend to cause more trouble than they solve."

"Your cat talks!" said a widely smiling Kayla, "how cute!"

"I'm not cute," said Salem, "I'm a great warlock who's down on his luck."

"Wait a second," said Chris, "I know you; you're Salem Saberhagen. You tried to take over your world and got caught."

"And sentenced to a hundred years as a cat," said Vanessa.

"But he's still cute," said Kayla, "not as cute as my kitty cat, but still cute," she bent down to scratch her mobster cat behind the ears, "isn't that right, baby?"

The mobster cat responded by purring loudly.

"Show off," muttered Salem.

"Well," said Andrew, "if we're all set, me might as well get started. The first key for the first talisman is in Unicorn Way."

"I think I know where it might be," said Vanessa Bearblood, "the other day I was helping some new wizards get the hang of their spells, and there was a new house at the end of Unicorn Way that wasn't there before. No one could open the door and for the most part very few people actually noticed it."

"Richard said that the talismans would make themselves known when the time was right," said Sabrina, "maybe the keys to unseal the talisman revealed itself at the same time."

"Can you show us where that house is, Van?" Andrew asked.

"Just try and stop me from finding it again," said an eagerly smiling Vanessa.

"Before you leave to find the key," said Headmaster Ambrose, "There is one more matter I wish to discuss with you all. Young Andrew, I advise you and your fellow wizards to keep this Quest to as few people as possible. If word got out that Diabolic was on the move, it could cause a panic across The Spiral that would only lead to chaos and destruction.

"I do not expect you to remain silent to all your friends indefinitely. It is only a matter of time before Diabolic makes himself known. It is also a matter of time before he sends his minions after young Sabrina and her friends."

"Oh, right," said Sabrina, "I forgot, he's kinda mad at me."

"So he's gonna send an army of monsters and evil magic users after us?" Jenny asked.

"I really don't want to meet them," said Valerie.

"Neither do I," said Harvey, "but if they try to hurt Sabrina, they'll have to go through me first."

"And me," said Jenny.

"And me, I guess," said Valerie.

"And us too," said Chris Firegem.

"Even though we've just met," said Vanessa Bearblood, "we're friends."

"And friends always help friends," said Kayla Dreamleaf.

"Then there is nothing more to say," said Headmaster Ambrose, "except good luck."

"Thank you, Headmaster," said Andrew, while Sabrina and the others nodded in agreement. With that the young heroes left the office and emerged backed in The Commons.

"So anyway," said Kayla Dreamleaf to Chris Firegem and Vanessa Bearblood as they all made their way to a large stone tunnel at the far end of The Commons, "have you been to Grizzleheim lately?"

"Have I ever," said an eager Vanessa Bearblood, "Nick Jonas is still there, composing."

"I know," said an eagerly grinning Kayla, "he's so cute."

"Who's Nick Jonas?" Valerie asked.

"Excuse me?" a shocked Kayla asked, "you don't know who Nick Jonas is?"

"He's Nick Jonas for crying out loud!" said Vanessa, "of The Jonas Brothers!"

"Who?" Harvey asked.

"Are you telling me that you don't know who The Jonas Brothers are?" Chris Firegem asked, "They're The Jonas Brothers for god's sakes! They had their own show on Disney Channel. It's crazy that you don't know this."

"You think that's crazy?" Andrew asked, "They don't know anything about Miley Cyrus, let alone Hannah Montana."

"No freaking way," said a shocked Vanessa.

"Could we not talk about what we know and what we don't know for a while?" Sabrina asked, "okay, I get it, my friends and I are from a world that's different from yours. We'll talk about it later, but right now we need to find those keys."

"She's right," said Andrew, "we can debate to our heart's content when we don't have to worry about saving the universe. Come on, Unicorn Way awaits!"

"So what can we expect?" Sabrina asked as they headed for the tunnel to Unicorn Way.

"A cakewalk," said Vanessa.

"Unicorn Way is probably the easiest area in Wizard City," said Vanessa, "just Ghosts, Skeleal Pirates and evil Fairies to deal with for the most part."

"Ghosts?" Harvey asked.

"Pirates?" Valerie asked.

"Fairies?" Jenny asked.

"Just because the creatures walking the street are easy to deal with," said Andrew, "Doesn't mean you should let your guard down. One certain thing about living in The Spiral; anything can happen."

Just as they were about to go through the doorway there was a flash of black sparks. There stood a wizard wearing red and black armor wand wore a dragon-like helmet. Next to him was a small banshee. The wizard gripped his black wand angrily, which matched his irate expression perfectly.

"Duncan?" Andrew asked in a confused tone, "what…"

The irate wizard, Duncan, aimed his wand at Andrew's face, "Prepare for the afterlife, Andrew Greenspear! I'm gonna destroy you!"

"Like I said," said Andrew, "Anything can happen."

To Be continued…