Ghosts of Philadelphia

Five

After spending the weekend at his home in Mechanicsburg–which also included a quick trip to the restaurant he owned and ran alongside his cousin–Rob was back in Philadelphia. He'd sifted through his numerous books about Paganism and boxed up the ones that he thought'd be the most useful so he could take them with him. Getting Bluesta help go through them'd serve him better and no doubt be quicker than trying to do it on his own, considering that there were several.

        Even as they were unpacking a few of them early Moon's Day Morn, he told him to keep his eye out for just about anything. Whether he thought something was stupid or not, if it seemed like it might fill those holes in his theory, he wanted him to speak up about it. There was no telling what may or may not apply to this particular set of cases, even if it came from an Element other than Water.

        Settling into the chair he'd claimed in the previous two weeks, the oldest brunette cracked open a book he'd owned for several Years. Aptly entitled Elemental Witch, it covered various aspects of all four of the physical Elements he'd spoken of before. Everything from the general personality of someone ruled by one of those four Elements down to associated types of magick and Lore was printed within its pages. Granted, it didn't include everything ever associated with those four Elements–after all, it didn't really talk about Dragons and something known amongst practitioners as Draconian magick–but it still held the possibility of turning up something that proved to be useful.

        Rob decided to start with Earth since many considered it the first Element when one didn't include Spirit in the list. He kept an ear out for the next-to-youngest brunette, who'd settled in the corner to attempt meditating again since he'd decided that he wanted to learn about Grounding and Centering as he flipped pages. Once he finally got to the part that was entitled Earth Witch Lore, he actually started reading, his Intent being to move on to the Water Witch Lore afterward. This section started with Crossroads, and he just barely got through it–short though it was–before the door banged open, startling him from his reading.

        "C'mon, guys–we just got an emergency call the Chief's wanting us to join in on!" Bret panted.

        "All right, all right–we're coming, man," the youngest brunette said, bookmarking his page. "Keep your drawers on, 'cuz none of us wanna see your ass."

        "Ya never know, Blues–I might wanna," Rob chuckled, gently rubbing the younger Medium's back.

        "Dude, just–fuck me, shut up while you're still ahead!" the shorter blonde laughed.

        "Hey, we could use some humor and maybe just a hint of Calm right now," he retorted with a grin, which vanished as he turned his attention back to Richie. "Deep breaths, kiddo."

        "I feel like somebody's ripping my brain to shreds," the next-to-youngest brunette veritably whimpered.

        "That's why I said we need a lil bit of Calm," he told him. "Ya got ripped outta your trance a lil too quick, but there's ways of getting your head back on straight–it's just gonna take some Time."

        "Hopefully, it won't be accompanied by too bad of a headache," Richie grumbled, reaching up to massage his temples.

        "Sometimes, but not always," the older brunette admitted. "Behave and play nice, and I'll show ya just how magick my hands can be–and I don't mean that in terms of spell work or in a dirty sense."

        "Oh, sure ya don't, Bobby," Bret chuckled, holding the door open for them.

        "If I'd wanted to make a move on him, I know where he was sleeping this weekend," Rob retorted, pausing to snatch up something as if it were a second Thought.