Chapter 21
Round Three
"And that's why we need to think up a game plan," Lily said to the others. "Can you help me?"
After meeting back up together, Lily and the gang gathered at the Sapphire Society's secret chamber where she explained what happened between her and the bronze tiger.
"Sure, we will," said Viv.
"I still owe you the last couple of times you helped me," said Eddie. "Count me in."
"Of course I want to help you as well," said Oliver. "But Lily, I hope this means you've learned your lesson this time and that you understand how close you were to really messing up. You charging straight ahead for the sake of others can be a virtue. But you could end up paying a heavy price if you're not careful. And not just you. We could have lost something important to us, if not for the Stone Man."
Lily cast her eyes to the floor in guilt and meekly mumbled, "Sorry."
Oliver pointed out, "I'm not the only one you should be saying sorry to."
And he was right. Lily turned to the twins and said, "I'm really sorry about what nearly happened. Because of me, you might've lost something you loved to do."
"Hey, it's okay," said Eddie. "Like I said, even if I ended up losing my art talent, I know that you'll just get it back."
"Same here," said Viv. "But I stand by my claim that we need to be more careful from now on."
"You're right," said Lily. "Playing it by ear's just not going to cut it now and just depending on the bracelet's power isn't going to be enough. The Schemer's clearly upped his game a whole bunch of levels. In that case, I'm going to have to do the same. I need to get stronger, faster and more powerful overall."
"You're mistaken, Lily," Oliver cut in. "WE have to up our game. Together."
The twins both nodded.
"That's right," said Viv. "We want to help you, but not just from the sidelines."
"Don't forget us!" said Hassan. He and the other library helpers walked into the room having just finished their work upstairs. "We're part of the Sapphire Society too, you know."
"Not to mention," Melody added, "there's no way we're passing up the chance to really master the magic arts."
"Great!" exclaimed Eddie. "Because I think I know a way we can do all that. Take a look at this page in my mom's journal."
Everyone gathered around Eddie as he opened the book to a certain page.
After taking a brief moment to read, Oliver quipped, "A bit straightforward. But as they say, simple is best."
"Great!" said Lily, giving everyone a look. "Then let's get started!"
**********
A week later, the time had come once again for Lily to face the bronze tiger. Like the last two times, starting from the music building, she and her friends strolled down the road at night when everyone else in school would be having supper. This time, however, the whole Sapphire Society-slash-library helper gang decided to see her off.
They walked in silence, tense with anticipation. Any scarce students still wandering the grounds at this hour simply ignored them, assuming they were just a club that just got done for the day. Nothing was out of the ordinary. That was until halfway down when Lily blinked out of existence.
"HOLY . . . !" cried George. "She's gone! Lily's disappeared."
"Then it's started," said Oliver. Having seen it happen two times already, he and the twins barely blinked.
"Let's hope all that training pays off," said Melody.
"It will," Viv said with conviction. "It will."
**********
There was something different about the Blue World this time, Lily thought as she looked around. But she couldn't quite put her finger on what.
Had she paid closer attention, she would have realized that everything in this world was a lighter shade blue than the last time she had visited. But she was more focused on her rematch with the tiger to notice.
Speaking of the tiger, the huge beast of bronze metal was already there waiting for her, lying just a few feet ahead in the middle of the road while lazily flipping its tail back and forth.
"About time you showed up," it said. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show. A few more minutes and I would have gone straight to your friends to steal what mattered most to them."
Lily scowled at the tiger with disdain and she asked the metal beast, "Oh yeah? And how many have you actually stolen from already?"
The statue replied, "I would think all the recent cancellations and absentees would have given you some idea of that."
Too many, Lily thought bitterly. But it ends now, she promised herself. For real this time.
"Well, I see no reason to delay this any longer," said the tiger. It stood up, stretched its whole body and then straightened up to look Lily square in the eyes. Its tail stretched out on front of it, bearing a large coin at the end. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Lily swallowed and grimly nodded. Doubts of success and fear of failure swirled in her head, but she pushed them all aside, or at least tried to, and bent down at ready. Blue light shined from the bracelet and enveloped her from head to toe.
The tiger raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as it flipped its tail up, flinging the coin in the air for the third time across three games of two-way tag. Lily's eyes rolled up and then down, following the coin as it fell to the ground. As soon as it hit pavement, the game began and Lily sprang into action.
She focused magic power to her legs and then ran straight at the tiger with all her might. The tiger jumped out of the way, but the young girl had been expecting it. Instead of bothering to chase after the bronze statue, Lily just kept on running. She zoomed down the road as fast as a race car at top speed with light trailing behind her like a flag.
The tiger raised its eyebrow as it watched her disappear behind a building before chasing after her, leaving behind its own trail of yellow light. If any normal person had watched the ground from a nearby rooftop, they would see two balls of light crisscross all over the school at a hundred or so miles per hour.
Lily ran and ran, and ran with all her might. She went left, right, and left again. She circled around the history building and streaked towards the dorms, turned right and then headed to the gym.
Halfway across the grass field, Lily dared to peek over her shoulders and found everything behind her blotted out by the tiger's huge, bronze face, the distance between them quickly shrinking by the second.
"I see you've been training," it said. "Good. You've improved tremendously since the last week. Sadly, however, it is still not enough!"
The tiger slowed while talking, but then pounced with a burst of speed. But Lily knew what it was going to do the moment she saw it hunch. She jumped out of the way before she could get smooshed.
Flashback a couple of days ago at the Sapphire Society's training room, which was right next to the main chamber, Oliver gave a lecture.
"The key to victory is observation," he said to Lily and their fellow Society members sitting cross-legged in front of him while clad for gym. "Keep your eye on your opponent. Even if you can't match your enemy's speed or strength, if you can figure out what your enemy's next move is, you can avoid their attack and use their plans against them, and even . . . "
End flashback.
" . . . lead them into a trap!"
After dodging the tiger's attack, Lily took off running again, aiming to lead the tiger straight to the Castle, the mansion-like building that served as the heart of the school. A few hours prior, she used the bracelet to magically weave together a net using metal from melted down suits of armor that formerly decorated the Sapphire Society's secret hangout. A lot of suits of armor was used up to make the net big and heavy enough. It now hung at the side of the building by two pairs of clamps that Lily had morphed out of the wall. Lily had the net enchanted to be as strong and as heavy as possible, and made invisible so only she could see it.
The whole Sapphire Society came together to come up with this plan to set this trap and lead the tiger to it. But this plan was a gamble and depended on how much the Blue World copied the real one.
To Lily's relief, it was a gamble that paid off.
On the way, the tiger managed to catch up again and tried to tag Lily with its nose. But Lily dodged to the side, danced around the tiger and resumed running. Once she spotted the building, she veered to its left and was elated when she spotted the net trap set next to a third floor window.
It looks like Oliver was right after all, she thought. He was the one who thought that the Blue World would copy the real one exactly from when Lily came in.
She stopped the corner of the building and turned around, watching as the tiger fast barreled towards her and braced herself. As soon as it got close enough, Lily jumped out of the way.
Yes, perfect! She thought. The tiger had skid to a stop right underneath the net.
She pointed her finger at the net and shouted, "Release!"
Light shined from her bracelet's jewels and the clamps holding the net let go. The tiger didn't notice the net until it landed perfectly around it. It let out a startled roar and struggled to yank the net off, only to make things worse for itself and get further and further tangled until the net was practically a cocoon.
"Alright!" Lily cheered. The plan worked out better than she thought. But it was not over yet, she reminded herself. She still needed to actually tag the tiger while she still had the chance.
Quickly, she ran over and reached her had to touch the tiger's snout. She expected to feel warm, solid metal against her palm. But instead, her hand slipped through cold, empty air.
Lily was in one instant confused, and then the next horrified when she realized something and spun around to see the tiger sitting behind her.
"Nice try," it said. "But even if I didn't have the power to see through invisibility, I would have noticed your trap a mile away."
Shoulders sagged, Lily whined, "That's so not fair!"
But then she smiled and sang, "Juuust kidding!"
Startled by Lily's sudden change in attitude, the tiger reeled back and went, "Huh?" But it was too late to retreat.
Flashback again to Oliver's lecture . . . "Another key to victory," he said, "is always have a Plan B."
And here was that Plan B: a nifty little spell found in Mary Ann Duskbell's journal that Lily asked the bracelet to cast before closing her eyes.
Light flashed from the bracelet and bathed the area for only an instant.
After hearing a startled yell, Lily opened her eyes, had the bracelet pour magic power to her hands and feet and charged. Blinded by the light, the tiger didn't see her attack coming. She smacked both her hands against its left side and the added magic power sent the giant, metal beast flying away straight into another building, crashing into the wall before dropping into a collapsed heap on the ground. It was a miracle the impact didn't create a hole in the building. But it left a long, jagged scar on the wall.
Lily stared at the fallen tiger, shoulders moving up and down as she breathed in and out, in and out. The tiger just laid on the ground with its eyes closed and some electricity crackling around its head. And then a laugh broke out of Lily's mouth. It was just a small bit of laughter that soon grew into an almost crazy cackle.
"I won!" she cheered. "I beat the tiger!"
As she gleefully cheered in victory, the tiger stirred and slowly stood back up.
With a triumphant grin, Lily said to the tiger, "Alright! A deal's a deal. Now give back all everything you stole."
The tiger didn't answer. It didn't even look her way and just kept its head slightly bowed.
Puzzled, Lily frowned and called out, "Hey! Yoohoo! Can you hear me?"
Finally, the tiger turned its head and from its eyes, red light spilled out.
Lily's face quickly fell and she muttered to herself, "Oh, that can't be good."
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