A Birth day

Aria boarded the boats with Yu while Ruby and Jessie boarded another heading out towards the grave yard while she, her father and Yu went towards the plantation. Reaching it Yu stepped out and looked around his long sword in his hand transfiguring to a whip as he walked as Ruby held her wand both looking around feeling a static in the air around them " look around but be careful something feels off" Ruby said and several men walked to her left but as they did suddenly they disappeared making her freeze in her steps,

Aria and Radagast landed at the plantation and looked around , the ramshackle building stood empty in front of her half covered in vines , Jessie held out his hand for her to take so she could get off the boat. Standing looking at it she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and gave a light shiver. Radagast paused and tipped his head as if listening around him hearing the crackling Ruby had felt. Taking a piece of paper he wrote a word on it "Tricks" and sent it to Robert .

Robert and Kate were on the first airboat that arrived at the cemetery island, and the message from Radagast got to Robert as he stepped onto the shore. He read it and put it in his pocket.

"Barnett says he feels they have tricks ready," he told Kate.

"We know that," Kate said. "We warned them as best we could."

"I'm depending on any information you can give me, Dear," he said.

"The energy signals are all scrambled here. Elementals don't pick sides. They're neutral," she told him. "So we've got their 'I-Don't-Give-A-Damn attitude, our human opponent's excitement and over confidence that we're right where they want us to be, and a lot of anxiety from the team--I think."

"All predictable," Robert said. "What about Angus?"

"Strangely, nothing."

"Not helpful," Robert said. She took his hand. 

"Don't add your anxiety to it, my dear. That will just be one more voice in my head."

"I was hoping you could at least tell me he was alive."

"Well, yes. He's alive--for now. But that's all I know."

"Kate, generally, when that's all you can give me, the person you're trying to find is unconscious."

"He could be, for all I know," she said. 

"I need to know if he's on this island or not."

"I am not a muggle GPS, Robert," she scowled. "When I know, I'll tell you."

Marcus was ahead of Kate and Robert, and he watched a couple of Lee's fighters walking forward in the darkness and then literally just disappear.

"Hold!" Marcus shouted. "Nobody move! Lumos! Robert, we just lost two. They just vanished in front of my eyes, and it wasn't their doing, I promise you!"

"I'm on my way," Robert said. 

"Be careful. Something's taken two of our men already," Marcus said. "Not a warming, not a sound."

"This is suddenly far more dangerous than we anticipated," Kate said quietly. Suddenly Robert heard a couple screams off to his right.

"Two people just disappeared!" someone shouted.

"That's four," Robert said softly. "They're screwing with us already."

Ruby heard Marcus and sighed shaking her head " damn voodoo woman " she said scowling as the turned as two more disappeared " we're vanishing like fire flies" she said as she watched Yu take a step forward and poof gone.

Yu stepped forward and felt a pull his whole body shivered and he opened his eyes to find himself stood at the plantation next to Jessie " huh, " this made Jessie jump and cling to him " elemental magic" he said softly but they at the force of Jessies hug fell back both men suddenly disappearing again .

Aria raised an eye brow and looked to Radagast " you see that?" she asked and he nodded his head and she sighed " this is going to be very frustrating from here on out" she said slowly taking a small step towards the plantation instead finding her self falling above Marcus " watch out below" she said hitting him and laying on top of him. " i'm going to kill that woman slowly and painfully" she said pushing up using Marcus chest to leverage herself .

Marcus was standing one moment and had his face full of sand the next. It took him a moment of spitting leaves and sticks and sand before he could right himself. He looked and saw Aria there.

"Wait. Weren't you going to the plantation?" Marcus asked her. "You do realize that you're about 40 miles from there, right?"

"This isn't voodoo," Robert said, walking up on Aria and Marcus. "This is far darker than anything most of the members of this team have ever dealt with."

"We're running out of time," Marcus said checking his watch. "We've got 35 minutes. I have to find him." Marcus turned to forge ahead, and Robert clutched his arm. 

"Running through the fire might not be your best strategy here," Robert said, and at that moment, his muggle cell phone rang. He plucked the phone out of his pocket, and answered it. "Seriously?" he frowned. He looked at Aria. 

"As long as you're here, Aria," Robert said. "I presume you could find your way ask your dad if he can get a boat to pick up Ana and Sergio down on the riverbank and bring them back? Ana said they hacked their way through a thicket here, and found themselves standing in front of Cafe du Monde in the French quarter."

"They were just here!" Marcus frowned. They weren't thirty steps from us not just two minutes ago."

"I know. And now they're sixty miles away, standing right on the bank of the Mississippi," Robert said. "Aria, can your dad get a boat to them and get them back here?"

Aria sighed and stood up brushing off the mud and leaves as she heard Marcus " yes I was bit my group is disappearing " she said watching a man behind Robert disappear " as is yours" she said softly looking to Robert she sighed and nodded transfiguring to a dove she flew up above the trees and called out only to disappear and fall down in her human form once more right in a puddle of water at Marcus feet. "Pou l'amour de bon Dieu" she cursed and found one of her feathers casting a finding spell she took a small piece of Marcus hair and bound it around the feather sending it away to Radagast. " sent" she said as he floated towards the plantation.

Ruby stepped carefully and even she didn't miss the portals or what ever it was as she found her self walking into a break wall " shit2 she cursed then heard familiar voices , looking down she saw light kneeling down she breathed out " shesh " she said sliding out of the floo back at the duplex " this person really doesn't want us to ind him" she said and wrote a note to Robert telling him she was back at the duplex.

Jessie saw Ruby disappear and moved cautiously towards the building each step painfully slow but he soon reached the house and pushed open the front door that was just hanging on by one hinge and even that was about to give out. As he opened the door he fell forward landing on something soft turning his head he found it was Yu " wow hey" he said " wasn't I just in the plantation house?" he asked as Yu chuckled and nodded.

"Robert! Duck!" Kate screeched, and she dove, trying to shove him out of the way, and as she did something hard cracked down on her shoulder. Both of them hit the sand, and Marcus spun around, seeing something hard hit Kate on the shoulder as she pushed Robert, and they both fell on the shore. Marcus reached down to see what had hit her, and it was one of the oddest things he'd ever seen in his life.

It was the exact size and shape and weight of an ordinary red clay brick. But this one was the exact color of the paper on Angus's desk. It even had the Donohue crest on one corner, distorted as it was by taking the shape of a brick.

"Well, I'll be...nope. On second thought, not gonna say it," Marcus said out loud as Robert helped Kate to her feet. He turned the brick around on all four sides and both ends. "Oh. Its a note from Ruby. She ended up back at the duplex. And I bet you when she sent it, it was an ordinary piece of paper. It gets here, and its a freaking brick. You okay, Kate?"   

Robert checked Kate's shoulder and cast a healing spell on it and then took the brick from Marcus, looking at it. "Cheeky elemental," Robert muttered. 

"We're running out of time. We have to outfox this thing," Marcus said, feeling frustrated. 

"Robert!" someone shouted from up high. "A little help?" 

"Up there. Look," Marcus said. He looked to see Evan up in the air, dangling headfirst by his ankle, from some sort of invisible rope or something. He appeared to be tethered to absolutely nothing.

"How'd you get up there?"

"Damned if I know," Evan said, "But from where I'm at, Down looks to be very, very down. I'd rather not fall headfirst. 


"Alright, together, then," Robert said to Kate and Aria and Marcus. "Arresto Momentum!" Robert cast the spell but Evan wasn't free to come down. 

"Evan, take your boot off!" Marcus shouted. 

"Do what???" Evan seemed horrified. 

"We've got you. Kick your boot off," Marcus shouted. Evan used his other foot to kick off his boot, and he started to fall, shrieking. But their arresto momentum caught him, and Robert used his magic to lower Evan to the ground. Just as Evan reached the ground, Evan's boot fell from the sky, managed to do a little tap dance on Aria's head before landing on the sand and running off by itself. 

"Are we hallucinating? Just say yes, Robert. Because no, makes it make no sense at all," Marcus said.

"No. Not a mass hallucination. I have another term I'd like to use here but I won't." Robert said

Aria heard Kate call out and moved Robert out of the way as Marcus moved Kate only to land on sand. Looking around she shook her head but when she heard Even she looked where the sound was coming from "merde" she swore then looked to Robert " sorry but there's a few names I'd call this place and Marcus if this were a dream these three wouldn't be here and we'd have cocktails and fans." she smirked as she tried to gage where they were. Seeing the brick she looked to Robert " should we try and send one back" she asked just as something behind her crackled and Radagast was thrown threw but he composed himself.

"ah , this is where I ended up" he said brushing sand from his cloak "been threw several different openings" he told Robert " " each one took me to a place I knew , then here" he told him bowing slightly to Kate again with a wicked smile on his lips.

Then a shrill shriek of pure pain and agony ripped through the air at a deafeningly loud level, loud enough that it made Kate and Robert and Marcus all put their hands over their ears. They all knew hte sound. It was unquestioningly Angus's voice.

"Don't listen!" Kate shouted to them all. "Ignore it. Don't let it throw you."  Marcus drew one of the large bubbles out of his pocket and gestured to all of them to do the same. He motioned to them to levitate the bubbles high into the air.  Anticipating what Marcus was going to do, Robert wrapped Kate protectively into his chest and covered her outside ear with one hand, motioned to Aria and Radagast to cover their ears, and then wrapped his other arm around Kate's head to shield her from the noise. Marcus then cast a couple spells, one to draw the bubbles close together and then he fired a bombarda to make an extra loud explosion. The combined large bubbles made a sound that sounded like a bomb going off. 

And then, there was nothing but silence.

"I think we've had enough amusement for one night," Robert said, angry now. "I want Angus back, and I want him back now. Give me one moment to think."

"The trouble is getting past some elemental spirit that's older than time," Marcus said. Robert looked up at him, with a new revelation in his mind. 

"That's it. That's it right there, Marcus. That's how we get ourselves assembled," Robert said. "its so simple." He reached up and sounded his alarm, the same alarm that had always brought the team to wherever Robert was. This was new magic that the elemental could not anticipate. If the team members simply responded to their medallions like they always had, they would land together, one large team, right here, right on the shore of the island. And then they could regroup.

Ruby looked around the area but it was the vibration of her medallion that caught her attention touching it she closed her eyes and ported to where she had been called opening her eyes she saw Kate and Robert " oh than goodness" she said as Yu holding Jessie against him arrived along with all the men who disappeared including Jack who held two young men then dropped them to the ground.

Aria at hearing the cry out looked to Marcus but didn't move her hands balled but stayed at her side looking to her father as Marcus sent the explosion making it silent once more. when Robert made the medallions vibrate she moved to stand with Marcus watching every one suddenly appear around them . " nice move" she said smiling at Robert." so now what?" she asked her hands still balled to hide that they shook slightly from the loud cream she'd heard.

Jack Yu and Jessie all walked over to Robert Jessie staying close to Yu where as Jack stood arms crossed waiting his stands calm and ready for action. he glanced at Jessie and rolled his eyes at him. " hey you'#d be shaking too after what we saw" he said but Jack just looked to Yu .

" need training more" he said and Yu chuckled and smiled to Jessie " maybe a little more" Yu said then looked to Robert as they waited for any stragglers.

"Why do you always do that?" Marcus looked at Aria, frowning. "Give everyone five seconds to catch their breath before you ask for the next step. Sometimes really do have to be one step at a time because there really is no script for messes like this one."

Feeling motherly, Kate reached over and laid her hand on Marcus's arm.

"We'll find him," she said. She suddenly realized she was feeling dizzy, and she clutched to Marcus' arm with one hand and clutched to Robert with the other.

"Kate?" Robert asked. She didn't respond for a moment, and then she became aware of Caprice. Caprice was trying to contact her. 

"Caprice is here," she told Robert. "She believes she can help, but only if I let her jump me."

"What does that mean?" Marcus asked.

"Caprice wants permission to take over Kate's body for a short time," Robert said. "Kate doesn't do it very often because it isn't the safest practice. Do you feel safe to try it?"

"If I don't, we're going to run out of time," Kate said. "We have to try everything at our disposal."

"Agreed," Robert said. Kate closed her eyes, and several seconds passed. Then her eyes opened. She looked at Robert, and in that moment, Robert knew. He knew as well as he knew his own name that this was not his Kate. 

"Hello, Caprice," Robert said. "Tell us how to find your grandson."

"Your team needs to make as much noise and chaos as they know how to make. Make noise, destroy anything they feel like destroying, do whatever they can to draw attention to themselves, but they have to stick together," she told him. 

Robert looked at Radagast, Aria, and then at Michael. 

"Michael, if there's anyone on this earth who can bring an elemental to its proverbial knees with mayhem, it's you," Robert said.

"Thank you," Michael said.

"Take these two," he gestured to Aria and Radagast, " create three teams, apparate the teams to three different points on this sandpile, and give it holy hell." He looked at Aria and Radagast. "Can you two do that? Go now, and create the biggest mess you can think of" He looked back at Marcus. "You ready to do whatever you can to get to him?"

"I've been ready, Marcus said.

"Jack, go with him, in case he needs muscle to get him in or to get him out," Robert said. "This is going to go fast." He looked at Caprice, and she looked at Jack and Marcus. Marcus, she knew. She didn't know Jack. 

"He's good, Caprice," Marcus said. "Angus couldn't ask for better mates." She nodded.  

"Then come with me, step exactly where I step and nowhere else. There is a hole in this elemental's spellwork but it isn't very big. You'll have to be precisely in my path, but I can see what you can't. If you want to get to him, follow me." 

She began walking with very deliberate steps up the beach towards the trees and the thickets and the woody overgrowth. Marcus followed after her, using his wand on a dim lumos setting to be able to see Kate's shoe prints in the sand.