Magic in the Bindings

:// 9 //:

Charged with finding written information on the nature of Soulmates, Theo had locked himself in the library. Ariana and Mikel where still in his room upstairs. Together they spent the late hours crafting little charms and other such things the Human didn’t understand.

"So, you call yourself 'Magicals'." Mikel was being forced to repeat everything he's learned until it was committed to memory. "Which are people born with magical essence inside of them. And they're descended from a Goddess?"

"Yes." Ari smiled as she fashioned makeshift charms out of clay and twigs. "Her name was Hecate, and she was very powerful, and very beautiful."

Mikel nodded. Part of him wanted to call her a lunatic and run, but after seeing her move things without even touching them, or just making the workbench he sat before just appear, he couldn't deny it. It was aggravating, but he held his tongue. He had a feeling that if he ever wanted to go home again then he’d have to be patient, and polite. “Especially when she’s threatening people.”

Ari poked him with her elbow. "Keep going."

Mikel wracked his brain for the strange information. "Humans are forbidden from learning or even knowing about Magicals, so if I tell anyone in the Magical community that I'm Human, they'll kill me." The Witch nodded as she hummed a soft tune. Mikel noted that she was the only one who seemed at peace with this whole situation.

"Uh..." Mikel didn't really like this next part. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but Ari was persistent. "And the only reason I know any of this is because Theodore is my Soulmate."

"And what are Soulmates?"

Ah, there it was, the question he hated to answer. Mikel admired Theo, sure, but he didn't love him. "Soulmates are…ahem-mates for life. If they avoid each other for too long, they’ll suffocate and die." This reminded Ari to check the time. It's only been an hour, but she told Theo to come back up early just to be safe.

Mikel twiddled his thumbs beneath the hardwood desk. If this were a fairy-tale, then this would be the part where the princes lived happily ever after. But for a Human who’s lived almost two decades of a magicless life, it was a prison of anxiety.

"…Um, ma'am?" That's what he's been told to call her.

"Yes?" Ari asked.

"What do I tell my family?" He was worried about that the most. He really didn't know if he wanted to drag 'the prince of glares' to meet his baby sister. "And what about my job? How-" He was about to ask another question, but Ariana pressed a finger to his lips.

"Shush, child." She removed her finger slowly. "You can just tell your family that you two are dating, and your job, you’ll have to quit, but everything else will be taken care of."

Mikel gritted his teeth. "Kay." He really enjoyed working as a mechanic. He's going to miss that part of his life.

Ari stared at Mikel for a moment. She had hoped to ease his mind with that last comment, but it seemed like she needed a different approach, so she smirked. "You know, I think I'm going to like you."

He eyed the Witch. “What makes you say that?”

“Well for starters,” She mused. “Now I won’t be the only one around to babysit the brat.”

Mikel grinned, which he rarely did tonight. "You're not so bad yourself, ma'am."

Ari ruffled his hair, which she noticed was incredibly soft. "Come on now, finish it up."

"R-Right." Ari reminded him a bit of his own Mum, but those weren’t the memories he wanted to dig up right now. "If anyone asks, I have to say I'm a newly discovered Wizard."

"And what are Wizards?"

"Wizards are Magicals born from Human families. They can perform some magic but are poor in terms of mating.” Mikel gulped. "I don't have to do that, do I?"

Ariana snorted. "No, of course not. Your Soulmate's a male, silly."

“Right...ma'am?" Mikel gripped the edges of the table as he asked the question that’s been bugging him all night. "Why am I Theodore's Soulmate?"

"Nobody knows really." Ari struggled to get the clay out from under her fingernails. "But they say there's nothing better than finding your Soulmate. It's supposed to be the purist form of magic on the planet."

"Well..." Mikel stared at the groups of twigs she had tied together. "I don't think he likes me very much. Besides-I don't think he's gay."

Ariana regarded the boy beside her. "Are you saying that you are?"

"N-No." Mikel stumbled. That threw him off his guard. "I'm not. Which is another reason why this is really weird."

"Well, weird or not neither of you really have a choice." Ari snickered. "You should've seen his face when I told him his Soulmate was male. He literally looked like he was gonna have a heart-attack or something."

Once again, Mikel smiled at the Witch’s humor. He tried to picture Theo throwing a temper-tantrum (which wasn’t hard), but oddly enough he found himself enjoying the thought. It seemed so…cute, in a way.

He coughed awkwardly, throwing the thought into the gutter part of his brain. “I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."

"Oh hon, it's not like this is your fault." Ari really liked Mikel. She could easily guess that he was the protective type, but he was kind too, and polite, but maybe that was just because she scared him.

Though he also held a certain snark to his humor. Yet when she gazed into those silver eyes, she could sense a deep hurt unlike her own; like the kind of kid that hides a lot of stuff. Though, secretly, she was glad that he had experienced whatever it was. It's obviously shaped him into the charming, obedient young man he is today.

Suddenly, the door flung open, and Theodore stormed inside. "Here." Theo placed three large but thin books on her table. "Three more."

"Thank you, Theodore." Ariana patiently picked up the first volume and flipped through the pages as Theo reached for one of the charms Mikel had made. He had to lean over Mikel's shoulder to reach them, and he could feel his body tense with Mikel's close presence.

His teeth naturally gritted together as soon as he was in the clear; he hated it that overwhelming urge he had to hug hum. Though, at least that brief contact meant his time limit was refreshed.

Mikel felt it too, but he didn't say anything. Mostly because he still wasn't sure if he was comfortable enough to comment on it.

"So, what do these things do again?" Theo rolled the little ball of sticks and clay in his hands. It didn't look like much, but Ariana made it, so it must do something.

"Hmm? Oh, we'll be burning them." She snatched the odd ball out of Theo's hand. "They can produce their own magic, so I plan to burn them to fuel these." Ariana pulled a bottle of odd gray pills from her dress pocket. "They're blank pills. By burning the charms, I can force the magic into a few of the tablets. Then Mikel, in theory, should be able to use them to produce a little magic."

Theodore curiously stared at the blank pills. "So-what? Magical steroids?"

Ariana rolled her eyes. "I suppose in a way, yes." She shooed him off with her free hand. "Now go-fetch me more books to read."

Theo moaned a bit but catered to his Aunt. He didn't like binge so close to Mikel anyway.

He left the room silently.

Mikel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Everything about Theodore triggered his entire body until his senses were standing on edge. It's almost like he couldn't trust anything about the guy.

"Mikel, you're forgetting something." Ari cooed and Mikel groaned.

"And if I ever tell any Humans about this, you'll make my insides my outsides and my outsides my insides." He grimaced at the thought. “Happy?"

She smiled sweetly. "Very."

'/,

Theo furiously flipped through book after book. Finally, he tossed the one he was reading to the side. His eyes scanned the room of cluttered books. “Nerves seem to be getting the best of me.” He thought as he wandered through the mess he made in the past few hours. He pitied whoever had to clean it up tomorrow.

Flopping onto one of the many decorative couches, he decided to take a short break before heading back up. It's been an hour and forty minutes, so he has twenty to spare. That is, if his bond with Mikel was a strong one. He's thought about staying down here past the time limit just to see, but he's decided against it every time. When his father was alive, his parents did everything they could to avoid going over the time limit. And they were only average, so they could spend four hours apart. When he thought about their fear, his courage to try it dulled.

“Oh well, better get going.” He thought, but something stopped him.

Sylvie stood in the door with a grim expression. "Why didn't you tell them? Why didn't you tell them that you found your Soulmate?"

Theo's heart jumped into his throat as his sister blocked his only exit.

'/,

Ari checked the time. Ten minutes left. “Where is he?” She pretended not to notice, but Mikel was getting a bit squirmy. He even had to take a break from charm-making when his hands started to shake.

Finally, Ariana finished her side of the project. "Done!" She exclaimed and waved for Mikel. He slugged over to her, feeling his stomach swaying close to the ground.

While Mikel was rubbing his eyes, Ariana tossed something around his neck. Curiously, Mikel pinched the strange necklace between his fingers as Ari expertly pick-pocketed Melinda's charm off him.

"We won't be needing this anymore." She exclaimed before it burst into flame.

Mikel shielded his eyes from the flame’s intensity. "Jesus, a warning next time?"

"Oh." Ariana giggled. "Sorry."

"So...what is this thing?" His fingers delicately grazed over the symbol. A metal ring was the frame of a lotus’ silhouette. Two crescent moons mirrored each other beside the flower, and an all-seeing eye seemed to stand watch at the very bottom. But the charm itself wasn't very big. Mikel guessed that it was no bigger than a quarter.

"Well originally, it was just some old thing I picked up at a junk-store, but now it’s a charm. But it doesn't just block out your Human soul like Melinda's did. It kinda…makes you a new one. So that when other Magical's sense you, you'll seem normal." She smiled warmly. "Like one of us." Then her tone turned a bit more serious. "Never take it off. Not unless you're here, okay? I have other enchantments scattered in the room, but only in this room, understand?"

"I-I understand..."

She handed him a small pill bottle of blue pills. "Now, in the morning when you wake up, I want you to take one of these. They should last you all day, but you can never forget to take one okay?"

Mikel nodded, but that was all he could manage. His head started to spin, the candles in the room fading to nothing but blurry glimmers, before he collapsed into the floor. "Mikel?" Ariana called, but he didn't answer. She glanced at the clock. Five minutes left.

"O-Oh my." She gasped as she crouched beside him. Mikel felt sick, so sick that he struggled to keep what little he had left from lunch down, but that was nothing compared to the loneliness. Thick, and cold with it’s blessings; the last time he felt like this is when the doctor told him that his parents were dead. So alone...and so scared...

"Mikel-I'll go find him. Don't you worry!" With her skirts in hand, Ariana rushed out the door.