Walter looked up as they approached, his eyes squinting behind his large spectacles. "Blaze and Kayden? What are you doing here?"

"Lexi had a panic attack," Blaze explained. "But she's feeling better now. What about you?"

Walter gestured at the man next to him. "I'm doing a bit of volunteering today with Mr. Beckett."

Mr. Beckett grinned broadly and shut his small notebook, but not before Kayden had seen all the small runes scribbled inside. "Very nice to meet you two," he said, holding out his hand. He had a firm grip, Kayden thought, that wasn't too soft or too hard.

"Mr. Beckett," Blaze said, and Kayden could see he was nervous; he was wringing his hands together. "I just wanted to say that I am a huge fan of your work. I'm thinking about getting into the illusion-crafting field, and your work has always inspired me."

"Wow," Mr. Beckett said, "that is quite the compliment. Thank you, Blaze."

Blaze's face turned red, and Kayden had to stifle a grin.

"What sort of volunteering are you doing?" she asked.

Mr. Beckett leaned his head toward Walter. "It was Mr. Voyle's idea. There are several children who've been hospitalized because of the shift. He figured it would be nice if we could go around and cheer them up. So I brought some illusions," he waved his notebook, "and Walter brought his book... as well as a few of his latest inventions."

"The Congregation lets me use Room 109 at Le Lieu to tinker with stuff!" Walter said proudly. "And I've been hard at work." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver ball the size of a small plum. "Take it!" he said when Kayden simply stared at it.

Kayden took the sphere. It was cool to the touch, and surprisingly light, but had no other features. No seams or buttons or screws. It was a plain metal ball. "What... does it do?" she asked cautiously.

"It's a countdown clock!" Walter said. "To turn it on, you just need to say Aknah! No magic required!"

Sure enough, Kayden felt the sphere begin to vibrate gently in her palm, and then, as if lit up by some hidden LEDs, a symbol flared briefly in a gold light: an aknah, she assumed. The symbol was only there for a second; a moment later, it had vanished from the surface of the sphere, replaced by a glowing "6."

"Six days until the casting!" Walter announced with a wink. "What do you think?"

"It's very... sleek," Kayden fumbled. She held the sphere out to Walter, offering it back to him, but the inventor shook his head.

"Keep it!" he said. "It's a good way to keep track of the time!"

As is my cell phone, Kayden thought, but she nodded and slipped the sphere into her pocket all the same.

"We should probably head inside now," Joseph said, reopening his notebook and flipping to an empty stretch of paper. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a glowing lace napkin folded in fourths. Kayden recognized it as an illusion rune circle; Blaze carried one in his pocket too and worked on it whenever they had some downtime. When Joseph pressed the web to the page, it flattened itself out into the paper, looking more like a drawing than a 3D object.

Joseph cupped his hands around the notebook and murmured a string of syllables; the runes began to glow, the light hidden from the others in the waiting room by his hands. After a moment, he shut the notebook. "I summoned it in the bathroom," he said, "so as not to arouse suspicion."

Kayden heard the door to the waiting room bathroom open just a moment later. She turned her head, curious to see this illusion master's creation, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of the creature, her chest tightened and her pulse quickened. The illusion was a young man with olive skin, curling black hair, and a charming smile that was all too familiar.

Vincent.

Kayden grabbed Blaze's arm and a moment later there was a piece of chalk in his hand. Walter stood up in alarm as well, thrusting his hand into his pocket.

"What's going on?" Joseph asked, his brown eyes darting between them all in confusion. "You're going to cause a scene."

"Vincent," Kayden stammered out.

Joseph looked at the illusion sauntering towards them. "You know him?"

"He attacked us two weeks ago," Blaze said, pressing the chalk on the wooden arm of the chair, as if poised to write a rune. "On Naven's orders." Blaze looked down at Beckett, his eyes sharpening in realization. "Did you create Vincent?"

"I did. And if I'd known he'd cause such a reaction, I wouldn't have summoned him." Joseph re-opened his notebook and flipped to the glowing rune. He murmured a few more words, and Vincent stopped walking towards them. The illusion frowned, as if disappointed, and then turned around. Kayden had never felt so relieved as when he disappeared inside the bathroom.

Joseph frowned, smacking the notebook against his hand. "I don't understand. I make a lot of illusions for the Congregation, and last week, Naven told me that Vincent had been destroyed by a particle-disassembling spell while trying to detain some escaped convicts. I just put him back together earlier this week." Joseph looked up at everyone. "Did you guys do something?"

"It's a long story," Kayden said. She realized that she was still holding onto Blaze's arm and she finally let go. "Blaze cast a spell that accidentally bound us together. We went to Naven to see if he could help us, but instead he locked us up in a janitor's closet. When we escaped, he sent Vincent and Marie after us."

Joseph's eyes widened. Kayden had never seen someone whose pupils could get so large. "So... those articles are true."

Kayden exchanged a confused glance with Blaze. "What articles?" she asked.

"There's been a series of articles published in a potestas newspaper for the past week alleging that Naven illegally held two non-ers and two potestas hostage in a hotel closet. And that when they escaped, he sent two illusions after them."

"That's exactly what happened," Blaze said, looking concerned. "But we haven't told anyone about it. How did it leak out?"

Joseph shrugged. "The articles were written by someone named E. Flowers. Perhaps another member of the Congregation told them about the incident, like Lira Fallon or Wheeler? It's great campaign fodder, and since the election is only a few months away, it's causing quite a stir."

"Perhaps," Kayden said, though the name "E. Flowers" tugged at something in the back of her mind that she couldn't exactly place.

"Anyway," Joseph said, flipping through the pages of his notebook, "let me summon someone else for today."

"You don't have to switch for us," Kayden lied, knowing that she would not feel comfortable in a small hospital room with Vincent. Thankfully, Joseph shook his head.

"Nah. I got an illusion perfect for the job." He turned to another page in his notebook, one that already had an illusion diagram sketched into it, and he murmured the incantation. A second later, the door to the bathroom opened again. Only this time, a beautiful woman emerged. She was tall and slender, with striking ebony skin and long legs. "This is Tia," he introduced as the woman sat down next to him. "She is quite the dancer."

Tia's cheeks flushed dark red and she lowered her gaze. "You flatter me, Mr. Beckett."

Kayden could not believe how real the illusion looked. From a foot away, she could see the curve of the woman's collarbones, the birthmarks that dotted her arms, and the individual threads of her blouse. Blaze seemed to be soaking her in as well, his eyes sweeping over the illusion's entire body. If Kayden didn't know any better, she would have thought he was checking her out.

"Do you want to come along with us?" Walter asked, slipping his invention into his pocket as he stood. "Volunteering is good for the soul."

            Blaze turned to Kayden and she saw the look in his eyes, as if asking for permission. She wondered whether it was because he wanted to see the children, or whether it was because he wanted to spend more time with his idol.

Kayden didn't need much convincing. I want to see the effects of this shift firsthand, she thought. I want to see what everyone else is actually dealing with. "Sure," she said. "We'll come along."

            After checking to see how Lexi was doing—she was still waiting for the doctor to run the EKG—the five of them donned volunteer stickers. Tia even wore one, though Kayden could not figure out how it could stick to a being entirely made of magic. They then spent the next hour slipping in and out of rooms on the third floor, visiting several young patients each confined to their beds. There was a five-year-old girl with deep burns all over her body, and a pale-faced seven-year-old whose face was permanently twisted in pain. There was a girl about thirteen with tight cornrows and a nasal cannula trailing to a tank of oxygen, and a freckled ten-year-old boy missing both of his hands.

            Kayden tried to smile at the children when she entered the rooms, but her throat always felt too tight. There was something about staring at small round faces that made her stomach churn. For the most part, she stood at the side of the room with Blaze as Mr. Voyle and Mr. Beckett worked. Voyle would attempt to ease some of the children's pain was soothing spells from his new book before giving them a countdown clock as a gift. And then Mr. Beckett would whisper a few syllables into his notebook and music would begin to play in the room, upbeat and cheery. Tia would then begin to dance, shimmying around the beds, moving with a finesse that could only be conjured.

            Kayden hardly watched the performance; her eyes were on the parents, their eyes lined by dark circles and creases. They would hold their child's hand, or clap to the beat, or sing as Tia danced, looking, just for a moment, slightly less weary.

And then Kayden would watch the children. Children who, for the briefest of minutes, forgot their pain. Children who would suddenly smile.

When they left the hospital with Lexi later that afternoon, Kayden did her best to make sure that no one could see her crying.

- - -

Quick fun fact about the image on top of this chapter: It's actually an optical illusion! If you stare at it in a certain way, the way the girl is spinning will reverse! It's kind of like the blue/black and white/gold dress situation, where some of your friends will see her spinning clockwise, and others will see her spinning the other way (and sometimes you can get it to reverse!) So you may want to go play around with that now that you know. :p Thanks for reading, as per usual, and please vote if you enjoyed! :)