A Witches Spell

Chapter 4

Hello! The fourth chapter is finally out! Which is great but I wanna talk about something important.

A main plot point in this story is a disease, which guess what... ironically happened to us in real life as we all know. This story was published before Covid so I obviously has zero clue this would happen.

With that being said, I want everybody to stay safe! As sucky as it is, you need to is stay home if possible. If not please wear a mask in public!

I won't talk much more about it because others have said it a million times, plus your not here for a PSA. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please stay safe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boy wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but at some point he did. He was still sitting at his desk, the book underneath his head still open. The little bit of light that peeked through his blinds hurt his eyes, it took a moment to adjust to the light. Standing up he stretched slightly and walked to his small kitchen, making his way to the basket on his counter. Removing the small cloth on top revealed the sweets the blonde had brought him yesterday, still warm like they were just pulled out of the oven.Tamaki knew he should have been using his magic for better uses but the ability to keep food warm was one he loved. Grabbing a sweet roll he took a bite and made his way back to his desk, reviewing all the notes he had taken last night.

'It's not good enough'

A little voice whispered inside Tamaki's head, making him squeeze his eyes shut. He just wasn't as good as his mother. He knew he wasn't. The little voice wouldn't let him forget this fact. Tamaki let out a long sigh and closed the large book of spells and potions. After finishing the sweet roll, he rested his head on the desk wishing to just go back to bed for another hour. He needed to keep working though. His mother's work couldn't be for nothing.

'Tamaki, baby, it'll be ok'

A woman's voice broke the silence of the little house, it was so soft and sweet. Tamaki looked up and over to the kitchen, seeing a woman stirring what seemed to be a pot of soup. Walking to the kitchen Tamaki stood next to the woman, causing her to look over at him.

'It's just a slight fever, you'll feel better in no time I promise'

Tears began to form in the boy's eyes at the sight of the woman's smile, it was so full of love. It made him feel safe.

"M... mom..." Tamaki reached forward and touched his mother's hand, flinching when it simply fazed through hers. This wasn't real. Just a memory. Just his mind playing tricks.

'Yes, baby?'

"I can't... I can't do it..." the tears began to fall, "I'm not- I'm not as strong as you and-" he couldn't even finish his words, he just let out a choked sob and buried his face into his hands. The house was only filled with the sounds of sobs and hiccups, reminding Tamaki how alone he was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours.

Tamaki spent two hours crying, two hours wasted on nothing. Finally getting off the kitchen floor the boy took shakey steps back to his desk, sitting down in the chair. He felt so tired, so weak, but he couldn't waste anymore time. Picking up his pen Tamaki looked at the sheets of paper scattered across the desk, some were covered in small notes while others had large black spots of ink from the boy scribbling out notes. He was working on an antidote, trying to figure out how to stop this awful disease. His mother was so close, she almost had it.

But...

Tamaki shook his head, removing the thought quickly. It'll only make him break down again. He didn't know the name of the wizard who spread this curse, but he remembers his face clearly. The motive was unclear, it made no sense. Why kill an entire town for seemingly no reason? Letting out a sigh of frustration, Tamaki grabbed the mortar and pestle. Looking at one of his notes he threw in two peony flowers, often known for their healing powers, along with marjoram. He used the pestle to crush the three ingredients, reading over the papers while he did so.

Mumbling a regeneration spell onto the mixture Tamaki set the mortar to the side. The regeneration spell wasn't strong, only meant for small cuts, but with the help of the mixture it could become more powerful. He reached for a glass bottle, filled with purple colored water, pouring some into the mixture.

This is the farthest Tamaki has ever gotten. This mixture alone could cure a small cold, but not even close to something like the current issue. He's mixed almost everything possible, at least for what was in his house, and nothing has worked. However, he had something new, yesterday he saw purple mushrooms growing by one of his traps. They're uncommon, only growing every 15 years. Ripping a piece of the mushroom off he put it in the weak potion. Crushing and mixing it together, Tamaki grabbed a diseased potato. The curse has three ways of infecting its victims, food, contact with those already infected, or rare cases are from the air. So he always tested on bad food. Using a pipette to absorb some of the potion Tamaki dropped the liquid onto the potato, watching how it reacted.

Tamaki's stomach dropped at the sight. The potato turned black, shriveling up almost instantly. It killed it. Tamaki wasn't moving forward, he was moving backwards.

"Damnit!!"

He slammed his fist on the desk, causing everything to shake. Including the toxic potion, making it spin towards the edge of the desk and fall down. The glass bottle shattered, spilling the liquid and sending broken glass everywhere. Tamaki flinched at the sound, not bothering to look down at the damage he caused. He grabbed a broom and washcloth, cleaning up the mess. Tears began to burn his eyes again, making cleaning a difficult task complete.

"Stop it" he wiped the tears away, "I said stop it. Don't- don't be weak" there was a shake in his voice, he was holding back a sob. Tamaki dropped the washcloth, knowing he couldn't finish this during his emotional episode.

He was so weak.

He was so exhausted.

He was so

Lonely.

Tamaki felt his body begin to shake, letting the tears fall freely now. He wasn't sure how much time was passing, but he didn't even care. He just wanted to sleep.

The tears stopped eventually, he wasn't sure how long it had been, and Tamaki continued to clean pretending the emotional episode didn't even happen. Throwing the poisoned washcloth away, he cleaned up the glass finally and threw it away as well. He stood in the center of the cottage for a moment, staring down at the floor. Tamaki began to zone out, jumping at the sound of a knock on his door.

"Tamaki? It's me, Mirio!"