The Warp and The Weft

Chapter Three: Angelique - Philip

What the fuck was that

Philip rubbed at the bridge of his nose, Rebecca's asshole of a familiar threw Philip out of his sister's head with no warning.

"Fucking annoying, pushy, short bitch energy- ugh-"

Philip's head felt like it was going to split like an overripe peach falling to the ground, hitting every branch on the way down.

Why did she throw me out Philip thought, finally opening his eyes, greeted by spinning black spots in his vision It was a fucking memory, it wasn't like I was trying to eat her soul.

Whatever Rebecca had hidden in the memory, her familiar was protective over. It was so heavily coated in threats he couldn't see the memory clearly, the few threads he unravelled released the feeling of regret and pain.

Maybe it was the memory of Selene cheating on Becca Philip raised his head watching his familiar rubbing at his beak and scratching his head.

"You felt that too, buddy?" Philip asked, he tentatively stood and wobbled for a few seconds before slowly walking over to the enormous griffin.

He scratched Apollo's neck feathers under his beak, his favourite place. The familiars tail swished back and forth and his tawny feather quivered its pleasure.

Familiars and their weavers had a deep connection, they felt each other's pain and even heard thoughts and emotions through the bond they shared. Apollo leaned into Philip's touch and his back feline paw began to tap like a dog.

"Goddess, you're confusing." Philip chuckled.

Unlike most familiars, Apollo arrived extremely early in Philip's life. Before he was even two years old.

Most familiars appear to a Weaver during a forespell ritual, a practice as old as magic itself where one weaver takes another through the process of turning their power loose into the world. This experience uncontrollably releases a weaver's power causing the weaver to unconsciously weave their first spell. Philip's mother caused a tree to grow through the floorboards of her teacher's apartment in 16th century London.

Philip didn't need a forespell, he wove his first spell unaided before the age of two. Apollo appeared within the week, much smaller than he is now and far less threatening. Though Philip never did find his familiar threatening, he slept curled up around Philip for four months in New Mexico. The young man couldn't see the Griffin as anything more than an oversized teddy bear.

Not all familiars were as cuddly and docile as Apollo. Rebecca's familiar, Syrinx, could deliver quite the mental slap as shown on Philip mere minutes ago. Though Syrinx was an Angel compared to Margaret's familiar, Azar. A small, almost insignificant, little red and black salamander with proficiency in setting fires over every surface he touched. He also took his role as Margaret's guardian very seriously, lashing out at anyone who gets too close to his comfort.

Azar is an unusual familiar, fiery and aggressive, like Margaret's magic. Her control and usage of Witch fire were far more developed than Philip's. While she didn't possess the same amount of raw power as Philip, his girlfriend certainly had better proficiency in their shared affinity. Unfortunately, this heightened mastery of Witch fire negatively impacted her ability to call on other elemental powers.

All weavers could borrow the elemental powers they don't have an affinity for to a lesser degree than their magical preference, though are unable to make permanent, stable spells that can be used by other witches using said elements. The only way for a weaver to create a stable spell from a borrowed power is to have the element in the form of a higher magic spell that calls on the elemental power separately from the witch. These powers themselves are also limited to the weaver's proficiency to create higher magic spells.