Gamel introduced Mary to his Grandpa Beard, who wore an old brown coat with elbow patches. He had also given Mary a bowl of carrot soup and assured her it would help clear her mind of the past enchantment.

“Where’s Alisa?” Mary asked, feeling guilty that she had put Alisa in danger.

Gamel blushed.

“She’s out getting origami paper,” he confessed.

“What’s the origami paper for?” Mary pressed, leaning closer.

“For origami,” Gamel said, and winked.

At that moment, Alisa burst in. She was trying to stuff multiple stacks of origami paper in her satchel. Looking up, she grinned at Gamel.

“Hey, Mary!” Alisa exclaimed.

She took out a canary yellow piece of paper and folded it into a bird. Then she traced a heart around the bird. With a jolt, the bird came alive, chirping and tweeting and pecking. Gamel tackled the bird, but it chirped indignantly and pecked his ear.

“OW!” he yelped.

Alisa laughed.

“You better get that away,” Grandpa Beard warned. “Or I’ll make bird pie out of it,” Alisa’s eyes widened comically, and Grandpa Beard laughed.

The mood was quickly broken by Gamel.

“What was that back there?” he asked, still looking worried. “Maybe it was him?”

He looked to Alisa for confirmation. Alisa shook her head.

“He was long exiled,” Alisa said, scowling.

“But then who is it?” Mary probed, remembering how easy it was for her to get overpowered.

“I don’t know,” Alisa replied. “But you’ll need training—”

Then the alarms blew.