WORK IN PROGRESS: Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 4 (Magnolia): I Would Understand

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

Being a witch was hard work. I'd been working with Rosemary for hours every day for months, honing my skills, learning spells, and strengthening my two special-to-me skills. The time with Rosemary had been a complete and total mind dump from her brain to mine.

"You don't have to learn it all today," she kept reminding me. "You don't even have to learn it all next week. I'm still learning from my mentor when I have a question. You'll get it, though. I promise you'll get it."

Twitch had wandered over to me and collapsed onto his side with a mighty huff of breath. I ran my hand over him, calming down immediately.

"I just don't feel any more capable than I was when I came here."

Rosemary rolled her eyes at me. "Such drama, Magnolia. Your control is getting better every week. You're too hard on yourself."

"You said I'd be training with you for six months. Only six months! That means I have a little over one month left with you."

"Is it that you don't feel that you've learned enough, or is it that you have to go back and face him?"

"I don't have to face him."

This was a familiar argument. I was of the opinion that everything had been said that night I'd caught Magnus with that redhead. Basically, to summarize: Hey, Magnus, saw you moved your excavator to a different hole. See you.

There wasn't a lot more to say than that. The busyness and business of becoming a witch in control of her powers had helped to dim the pain of what he'd done to some extent. I worked with Rosemary for hours on making my hands do what my head was thinking and that required enough concentration that I had to push Magnus to the backburner.

My two unique-to-me powers were my ability to speak something into existence (as I'd done when I'd locked Magnus and you-close-Lamia in his room) and my ability to create optical illusions with just my hands and my desire to see something (as I'd seen when I flipped off his bike and it seemed to collapse into pieces). I'd been rather disappointed to find I hadn't actually pulverized his bike into scrap metal, but that particular power sure could be a mind fuck for someone. I could think of a few extremely nasty bitches from high school I'd like to use an optical illusion or two on.

Rosemary knew my expressions by now, and she never failed to caution me every single time I got a deliciously nasty smirk on my face at the thought of using a certain power on a certain portion of a certain man's anatomy.

"Our power is not to maim or harm," she'd said so many times I needed to get it on a damn T-shirt.

"Well, then what's the use of having these powers?" I demanded/grumbled every time and she always laughed.

"To do some good. That's the use."

I didn't think I'd ever be as good as Rosemary. I was still too filled with anger at Magnus and I wanted to send an energy ball at him. They didn't hurt too much. At worst, they could singe your eyebrows. Maybe leave a burn mark. Render a man impotent. Kidding! Kidding on the last one. (Well, almost fifty percent kidding and fifty percent serious.) But it was a nice thought.

"Were you perfect when you started, Rosemary? You seem like you were. You seem like you've always known what to do."

With a laugh, Rosemary held her palm flat and showed me a fast scene of a car exploding and her horrified face in the background. One of her unique gifts was to show short scenes from someone's past. All she had to do was focus on the person and a memory would play.

"OK, so maybe not always," I conceded.

"You've been at it less than six months," she said. "Patience. I've been at it forty-three years. Be patient. Fighting yourself, being disappointed in yourself just makes it more difficult."

"I'm still just so angry at him and hurt..."

"Of course. You loved him."

"And it seems ridiculous because we weren't together much longer than I've been with you. How deep could that love be?"

"As deep as the ocean."

I'd never said it, but I was convinced that a gift Rosemary didn't admit to was the gift of cheesy lines.

"You can fall in love with just a glance, in a day, in a week, in the course of a conversation, in a year. There's no time limit on how long it takes and that's because love is its own special magic. If you ever doubt how deep your love for him was, remember that it was Magnus cheating on your that caused your heart to break open and your powers to appear. That, Magnolia, is a powerful love. The most powerful love you've ever known." She paused. "Or ever will know."

"What the hell kind of bullshit is that?" I semi-yelled. "Are you telling me that Magnus was the pinnacle of my love life? That I'll never find someone else? I'm done? Like done-done?"

"That's completely up to you," was her unhelpful answer.

I paced in front of her. Rosemary never seemed to have restless energy, but she watched me like I was a slow-motion tennis match. Back and forth. Back and forth.

"I keep wondering if I should call in a Conciliator for you. To help you focus that energy. In cases like yours, we call them in for that final month. The big push, if you will."

"What the hell is a Conciliator?"

Her face looked soft and faraway for a moment. "Someone who acts as the bridge between who you were and who you are. Their goal is to bring peace to the witch."

"Well, bring her on."

"Him."

"OK, bring him on. I need some freaking peace. I still feel like killing Magnus when I think about what he did, which is any time I'm not busy practicing with you or studying spells or gathering herbs. Even then, the pain is still lurking there in my head, in my chest, in every frigging cell of my body, I swear."

"Let me think about it. You already know that the magical realm is based on give and take for witches. We get tremendous powers but at the cost of our worst heartbreak. A Conciliator can bring peace, but they bring a certain turmoil when they leave. And he will leave, Magnolia. They cannot stay. They can absorb your restlessness and much of your pain, but it's not exactly real. His focus is to help you focus by whatever means necessary. Think of it like taking a pain reliever. When the effects wear off, you could find you still have a headache but it's not as bad as it was or your headache could be completely gone. The point is you didn't have a headache for a while."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not even sure how to describe it other than their purpose in the magical realm is to help you complete your training so you are at full power when you return home."

"Maybe I won't return home."

"You will. The fae are called to a certain geographic locations, little centers of magic scattered throughout the world, and there they find the mothers of witches. You were created there by magic, you were born there through the magic and that has been your home. Your power is always strongest on your home turf. So you could move, but it wouldn't feel right; you could move, but your power wouldn't be as strong. Your connection to home is much deeper than most people's, Magnolia, and that is the reason for it."

I paced some more.

"Witch," she chastised me gently. "Please try to relax. We have work to do."

Only two days later, Rosemary gave in and called forth a Conciliator.

An hour later, blonde, beautiful Tahvo arrived, and much later, I would understand that soft and faraway look that had crossed Rosemary's face.

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA