Playing fair

"Maddie what exactly are we doing here again?" asked Matt as he looked at Maddie who was just busy stirring something in a huge big pot.

"Making potions" replied Maddie with a smile.

"I know that, but why?" asked Matt.

"Because we can" said Maddie as she smiled and there was a little poof of black smoke that shot up in the air from the pot.

"Maddie, should we really be doing this in the kitchen? I mean it's not safe" said Annie.

"Oh Annie, don't be such a worrywart, it's totally safe to do it in here, besides, I know what I am doing" said Maddie.

"I honestly doubt that Maddie, what are we going to tell Aunt Stella if you blow up her kitchen?" asked Matt.

"Nothing really, just that we were making potions" said Maddie with a smile as she casted a spell on the pot.

"You mean you were making potions, not us" said Matt as he corrected.

"No we are, we are a team right, and besides you both are here, helping me" said Maddie with a smile.

"More like spectating, we don't even know what kind of potion you are making" said Annie.

"Well it's done, so check it out" said Maddie with a smile as she took a glass cup and dipped it in the black substance in the pot.

"Matt, I need you to try this potion for me" said Maddie with a smile.

"Oh no way Maddie, why do I always have to be the test dummy?" asked Matt in annoyance.

"Because you are a half vampire, and it won't affect you too much if something goes wrong" said Maddie with a smile.

"No way Maddie, I don't even know what that thing is don't you dare throw it on me" said Matt.

"Alright, fine, fine Matt, fine, it's a blindness potion" said Maddie as she explained.

"One zap of this and Azazel will be as blind as a bat" said Maddie.

"Wait a minute Maddie, you want to poison Azazel?" asked Annie.

"Yes I do" said Maddie.

"But why?" asked Annie in confusion as she did not get it.

"Look Annie, there is no such thing as playing fair in this" said Maddie.

"Last time Azazel didn't play fair, so we aren't going to play fair as well" said Maddie.

"Magic alone didn't work against Azazel last time, and now that he's stronger, we obviously have to up our game" said Maddie.

"So instead of using magic only, we should make use of traps and potions and everything, we can't let ourselves be caught off guard this time" said Maddie.

"I am going to make some more potions, different kinds, potions of poison, of blindness, or freezing, a whole lot of them" said Maddie.

"So your plan is to bombard him with potions?" asked Matt.

"No harm in trying, I am sure that this will work, it will work" said Maddie.

"Well alright Maddie, if you say so" said Annie.

"Thank you, and I have more ideas as well" said Maddie with a smile.

"Which are?" asked Matt.

"Well I need the best archer I know to coat her arrows in multiple of my potions and shoot at Azazel right in his heart" said Maddie with a smile.

"Wait hold on Maddie, you are planning this way too quickly, what makes you so sure that we will even know when Azazel is coming, or where he's coming from? We have to plan realistically" said Annie.

"And my realistic mind is telling me that honestly, we will be the ones taken off guard when Azazel decides to strike" said Annie.

"I know that Annie, we just need to be prepared" said Maddie as she smiled and someone suddenly entered the kitchen.

"Oh Ollie, you are back" said Matt as he smiled.

"Oh unfortunately he is" said Maddie with a scoff.

"That I am, so what are you guys doing here?" asked Ollie in confusion as he saw a big pot and Maddie was holding a glass cup with a black liquid in it.

"Maddie is making potions to use against Azazel" said Annie.

"Not realistic though, if anything, he will take you off guard, I doubt that you can succeed with a sneak attack" said Ollie.

"Oh yeah, yeah, whatever, just you all wait and see" said Maddie as she did not like that everyone was against her idea, and also, she hated that this blondie was here, he always arrived at the worst times.

"Blondie, don't you have a home to go to instead of annoying me here?" asked Maddie.

"Well no Maddie, I don't, I'm not going home… anymore" said Ollie.

"Why?" asked Matt.

"Well my father and I had a fight… a serious one about everything that's going on" said Ollie.

"Gosh, blondie, so you are homeless because you fought with your father" said Maddie.

"I'm not homeless, I'm not just prepared to stay in the same space with someone who doesn't want to see the truth about Azazel, and about you Annie" said Ollie as he looked at Annie.

"Ollie, you fought with your dad because of me?" asked Annie as she sighed, she didn't like how this was sounding.

"No it's not only because of you Annie, it's because of a bunch of things" said Ollie as he sighed.

"My father, he always does this, we don't see eye to eye on anything, we always argue and he doesn't value my opinions" said Ollie.

"Sounds like someone has daddy issues" said Maddie as she laughed and Annie and Matt frowned at her as she didn't care at all.

"It's not daddy issues Maddie, it's something more serious, I love my father, I really do, but he's just so stubborn, he refuses to see things any other way than his own" said Ollie.

"He's pushy, what he believes is right is what is right, and he refuses to acknowledge that he can be wrong sometimes" said Ollie.

"Sounds like someone I know" said Maddie with a smile.

"Maddie, I'm not joking stop it" said Annie.

"Fine, fine" said Maddie reluctantly.

"I am just sick and tired of it" said Ollie.

"Well blondie, sorry to break it to you, but he's still your father, the King, it's stupid to argue with him just because of Annie, because I know that's what it's mostly about" said Maddie.

"I wanted him to stop being a coward and standing on the middle ground by being on Annie's side, then maybe at least everyone would have an idea of whose side to be on if the King is there" said Ollie.

"But no, instead of making things easier, he wants to make sure to disassociate himself with everything that is going on, I just hate that so much" said Ollie.

"The witchfolk are torn because their King has not taken a stance, if he outrightly supported you all, everyone would get an idea that Azazel is in the wrong, and not you Annie, or you Maddie" said Ollie.

"That sweet of you Ollie, really, but you shouldn't have fought with your father and left" said Annie.

"He might have his reasons for staying out of this" said Matt.

"There is no other reason than being afraid and blamed for damages and suffering, which is bound to happen regardless, but he can change that, he can save the lives of innocent people" said Ollie.

"You might have a good heart blondie, but you are stupid, you still should not have argued with him, you might be friends with Annie and Matt, but that doesn't mean that you should strain your relationship with your father just because of that" said Maddie.

"Tell me Maddie, if you were in my shoes, would you stay conformed to an idea you don't believe in?" asked Ollie as Maddie went silent.

"Answer me Maddie, because we both know the answer to that, you betrayed your father because you knew what he was doing was wrong, and I am willing and ready to do the same" said Ollie.

"Touché blondie, touché, but don't ever call that monster my father again" said Maddie.

"I know what I believe, and I am on your side, all of your sides, and I want Azazel to be taken down and pay for all the pain and suffering that he has caused" said Ollie.

"Well then, who are we to stop you" said Annie as she laughed.

"The question now is, where are you going to stay?" asked Matt.

"Well the chancellor let me stay here, I am sure my mother asked her to do that so she could still keep an eye on me" said Ollie.

"How nice and perfect, you are staying here… yay…" said Maddie in sarcasm.

"I know you are happy to have me here Maddie" said Ollie with a smile as Maddie scoffed and threw the potion in the cup at Ollie as he stopped the liquid moving in the air before it even touched him.

"No fair" said Maddie in anger.

"What's not fair is you trying to throw a potion of blindness at me" said Ollie.

"How did you know that It is a potion of blindness" asked Maddie in surprise.

"I can smell the bat's breath in it" said Ollie.

"Of course you can blondie" said Maddie with a scoff as Ollie waved his hand and the potion was thrown down the drain.

"How do you smell bat's breath?" asked Annie in confusion.

"Believe me Annie, you don't want to know, I remember spending a lot of time in the lab mixing different ingredients, and well I got bat's breath stuck on me, it didn't leave for a week" said Ollie as Annie could not help but laugh.

"Yeah, yeah it's funny" said Ollie as Maddie and Matt laughed as well.