Mara would be lying if she said that she was well-versed in witchcraft and all of the practices associated with it in any way. Truthfully, she couldn't even say that she understood much about it from a religious aspect or that she could even remember the celebrations and rituals that went along with it. Regardless, she was intrigued. That interest only grew as she grew closer to Spinell and discovered that he himself practised witchcraft and had grown up in a coven. Upon voicing her curiosity and genuine interest in his beliefs, he was happy to share it with her.
He explained several things that Mara had never known. He told her the differences between witches, warlocks, sorcerers, and alchemists, going into detail that he was once a witch and became a warlock upon leaving his own coven to study and live alone. He simplified a few of the complex rituals he practised into something that she grew to understand. Although it took quite a bit of time for her to gather information in the form of both her own research and information directly from Spinell, she soon became fairly knowledgable about witchcraft- or, at least, the witchcraft that Spinell practised and believed in.
One of the first aspects of Spinell's magical word that he introduced Mara to was his familiar and the process of getting one.
"A lot of witches have family familiars or buy or capture their familiar," he in the corner of his house in the trees, scooping something Mara couldn't see from the windowsill and into his arms, "But I always thought that it would be cruel to force an unwilling creature to be my familiar, so some of the witches my age started going into the wild and performing rituals to send out a request to any animals in the area who wanted to be our familiars."
He full turned towards her, revealing what he had in his arms. It was a snake, black in colour with a purple-brown underside and stunning green eyes. Mara reached out, offering her hand to the snake who responded by slithering closer to her and tentatively flickering his tongue out across her skin to learn her scent for a moment before returning to Spinell's arms.
"That's how I found Malachite."
The snake- Malachite- flicked his tongue in a friendly manner.
"He was drawn to me because I have a similar aura to a spider and he was hungry."
Mara snorted, "You have a spider-like aura?"
"Apparently, that's how I got my birth name- and the name I chose myself once I left."
"Makes sense," Mara reached out towards Malachite once more when the friendly snake slid across Spinell's shoulders to be closer to her. Gently, she placed a finger on top of Malachite's head and rubbed there carefully, petting him, "Do most witches choose new names once they leave their covens and become warlocks?"
"I haven't spoken to many warlocks about that, so I'm not sure. I didn't want to stick with the name "Spider", though. That shit's awful. At Spinell is less on the nose."
Mara snorted. She couldn't blame him.
~
Mara sat beside Spinell, watching intently as he performed what he considered to be a "basic" protection spell. He had explained it to Mara as a way to redefine and strengthen the magical barriers he had surrounding his home and that it was something he did somewhat regularly to ensure the safety of himself, Malachite, and their home.
The ritual was not as elaborate as many of the ones Mara herself had read about, both in books she owned herself as well as in Spinell's own Grimoire and she found herself being able to follow along with his actions fairly easily. She even assisted in some of the parts of the ritual, joining in on the incantations.
Mara may not have ever seen herself as being interested in the type of witchcraft that Spinell practised and believed in, but she was happy to learn about it since he was so passionate about it. It made up a big part of his life and Mara was happy to make it part of hers as well. She may not ever become as one with magic as Spinell was, but learning about magic and practising some of it brought her great joy and peace and she had to admit that it was proving to be incredibly useful in several ways. She loved it and she loved Spinell.
"Thank you for sharing this part of your life with me," Mara held the goblet filled with swirling the liquid to her face, gazing within it deeply, studying it.
"Of course," Spinell began clearing away the items they had used as well, "You do the same for me every day," he flashed her his iconic, slightly unhinged grin, "I love having someone to cast with, and I'm glad I could bring you to the dark side."
Mara rolled her eyes and elbowed him playfully at that.
That night, they lay side by side on the roof of Spinell's house, gazing up at the glittering stars overhead, blocked slightly by the branches of the trees that splayed over them. Although the tree branches that darkened the sky could seem foreboding at times, the both of them had grown to understand and accept it fully as what it was- a cover that protected them and kept them safe. The trees were their friends- something Mara had learned long ago from Blue and was finally starting to understand to its full extent.
"Would you ever consider finding a familiar of your own? It would help your magic become more powerful and stable as you cast and they can be wonderful for company. Besides," he gently scratched under Malachite's chin, "Malachite could use a friend."
"I think I would like that very much," they interlaced their free hands as they stared up at the night sky, feeling whole and as one.
~
No one expects the spider and the ladybug to live their lives together, but they are more similar than the world would lead you to believe,
They both aspire to great things,
They are both cold but compassionate,
They are balanced and safe,
And together,
They will take on the world,
Toppling the dragon's empire,
And forging their own.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
