Active Magic (TatlTails and othyrworld)

Oh well now Madi was blushing red. That was a really nice thing to say about the deepest reaches of someone's soul, though she was sure Sequoia was just too excited to think about magic so personally. She was probably just glad she'd succeeded, happy to find the answer and not thinking about what it meant. Or maybe Madi was just overthinking everything because she was starved for social interaction and had cripplingly-low self esteem.

Either way, she had to give Sequoia an answer. So she defaulted to the easiest way she could talk about anything: dissassociating herself from the emotions and turning it into a magic lecture. "It's the magic I gave to the plant, so it can use it's own magical properties in the potion I'm eventually gonna make with it. The same type of magic has to get fed into the potion the whole time you're making it, so it's a bad idea to use someone else's magic and ingredients in your potions. Unless you're literally a master or something, mixing magics usually just ends in explosions and disasters. That's why I wanted to make sure you could feel the difference, so our energies don't clash and get either one of us hurt."
 
"Cool, that makes a lot of sense!" Sequoia cheered, sending her magic out and pulling it in over and over again. It was addicting. It was thrilling. It was relieving. She could actually do this, and it wasn't verbal magic. She wasn't going to be stuck with only verbal magic forever. She could keep learning and growing and it was completely invigorating. "So, I'm guessing different people feel different ways, right? Like an aura or something? What do I feel like? Nevermind, don't answer that last one." Sequoia didn't really need to know how her magic felt. She was steeping in it every day. This magic feeling thing was really cool though. Did it work on everyone or just magic users? "Does that work on people who don't use magic?"
 
"Sorta." Madi replied, now able to just smile at Sequoia's unbridled joy. This was one of the best parts of her job, seeing the light return to people's eyes like this. Giving people hope in themselves. "Everyone, even humans, have their own aura, but a magic signature has a bit more... life to it. More depth and power. And not everyone with a magic signature can access it like this. Sometimes it's just a part of them, and sometimes they can only use it under the right circumstances."

"Mine, for example," Dagger spoke, having finally found a safe enough moment to transform because he had useful information and Sequoia wasn't pissed off. "Is mostly 'just a part of me'. It gives me access to my transformations, but little else. I can't utilize mine the same way a witch could."

"You have a couple spells." Madi corrected him lightly, crinkling her eyebrows at him and tilting her head just a bit. Because it was true, he could do a bit more than just transform.

"I said 'little else'." Dagger replied, before further explaining for Sequoia's sake. "There are a few other skills I have that draw from magic, but accessing magic manually still comes much more naturally to a witch than it ever will to me. And I prefer it that way."
 
Sequoia took in a deep breath when Dager started talking, feeling a little bit of anger wriggling in her stomach. She pushed it down. She shouldn't still be mad when they'd apologized and all that. Still, when she spoke again her tone had lost some of its levity. "Yeah, I can feel that with Flora. Her magic has less... force, I guess, then mine." She shrugged. "Flora has a lot of magic though, she can do some pretty rad stuff." Sequoia considered what it would feel like to not have magic.

It would be really weird. For her, magic had thrummed inside like a second set of veins. It was constantly buzzing through her, leaving her like a rung bell. It might be nice to get rid of it. She shook her head, dismissing that thought before it could gain too much traction. She could dwell on that when she wasn't trying to figure out an entirely new way to use her magic. "Let's keep learning, hand me the non-magical fennel"
 
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Dagger was the one to do that, since he still had it in his hand. He didn't say another word to her because he wasn't an idiot, but his Resting Bitch Face was ever-present. He was not going to say it out loud because he wasn't a whiny little bitch and he knew when something would just make a problem worse, but he was getting kind of annoyed that Sequoia clearly still held so much animosity towards him. It was like she had to actively fight off the urge to be a bitch to him every time he did anything. At least she wasn't giving in to the urge, but seriously he was literally just trying to help her right now and she acted like he'd crashed her birthday party. It was getting on his nerves, though the most rational part of him knew it was probably just something he had to wait out. Still didn't mean it wasn't aggravating in the meantime.
 
Sequoia grinned when she got her hands on the plant. She shot Dagger a quick "Thanks Hon!" before she began trying to put her magic out again. The fresh fennel didn't feel like much, a little dirt and a little air but no real magical signature. It was a huge difference from the way Madi's felt. "Yeah, this feels really blank slate. Like it doesn't have much energy at all." She twirled it in her fingers. "So what now? I can tell the difference between the signatures, so..." Would they move on to putting energy in the plant? OR would she learn about different levels of energy doing different things? Maybe she'd just sit and learn what herbs meant.
 
While Dagger backed off and fought the urge to splutter at being called 'Hon', Madi just held back a giggle and said "Now you make it yours. It's only a little harder than what you've done so far, and the closest thing to casting a spell. But all you really gotta do is feel the plant's energy, feel your own energy, and pour your energy into the plant. At least I think of it as pouring, but you use whatever helps you transfer the energy best. As long as it moves from you into the plant and stays there. I'd also suggest going slow at first, 'cause it's way easier to do too little and add more than to do too much and try to reverse it."
 
"Okay, great. Cool." She closed her eyes and tried to envision her magic seeping into the plant. It felt weird, and she wasn't quite sure how to think about it, but she could definitely feel her magic filling the plant. After a few seconds, she began getting distracted again, so she cut off the flow. She snapped her eyes open and looked at the fennel. It didn't seem very different. She supposed the biggest change would be in the magic feeling, not the physical plant though, so that wasn't a huge surprise. "So, uh, did I do it?"
 
"I think so." Madi replied, stepping up to Sequoia to check on the magic and make sure. After examining the plant for a moment, she nodded and comfirmed "Yeah, a bit! It could handle a lot more power before it'd get unstable, but you definitely got the right idea. The main thing you're gonna need to work on here is your stamina. You're managing to do what I'm teaching you in short bursts, but short bursts aren't gonna get you far with nonverbal magic. It's something to practice over time, but eventually the goal'll be to keep a consistent flow for as long as you need it. Don't stress over that right now, but think about it so you can start practicing."
 
"Okay cool! Uh, I'll totally take that into consideration. A few questions: How much magic could a plant take before it gets unstable? And what happens if it gets unstable? Does it, like, explode? Because that sounds pretty rad but also kind of dangerous." It could also be pretty useful if you wanted to fight someone. Just way overload some twig or something and watch your enemies burn. Or explode. Or whatever overloaded magic makes an object do. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, fighting off some of her energy. Another random thought struck her. "Can you put magic into a person?"
 
"Okay, in order:" Madi replied, stepping back in case Sequoia wanted to get up and pace or something. "The amount of magic something can hold is relevant to its size. That piece of fennel could hold about ten more doses of what you put in before it starts to overload. Overloading right at the brim mostly just makes the magic feisty, 'cause you're overfilling the container so to speak and any little things could upset that balance. If you actually overfill something, it doesn't explode, but it crumbles into ash and dust. It's more depressing than dangerous, and takes a lot of energy to weaponize. I've seen people do it before though."

She had actually, a few times during raids and rescue missions. A witch would crumble locks or human weapons, but it always seemed like a waste to her. Especially because an actual spell could get the same job done more efficiently. But hey, some people swore by it.

"Putting magic in people is a different story." And changing the subject was a nice excuse not to annoy herself. "It's possible, but since people are naturally conductors of magic it's almost impossible to overload them. Usually an energy transfer is just for bolstering someone's reserves if they're low. Sometimes it can be used as emotional support, but only if there's a lot of trust between the two involved. A whole different story is Familiars."

"We're conduits." Dagger chimed in, his voice low and the rest of him out of the way. "Once we're bound to a witch, we can manipulate the flow of their magic. Amplify it, direct it, regulate it. They can still overpower us if they disagree with our decisions, so we don't have any actual control, but we have more... options, than the average magic user. It's a tool for the witch more than us, but it's still us doing the work."

"Which is why respect's the most important thing for a witch/Familiar bond." Madi jumped back in to take over, her voice softening a bit as well. She knew the power imbalance was still a sensitive subject for Dagger after all this time, so every time it came up she tried to remind him she didn't see him that way. "The more respect you have for each other, the stronger the bond and both of your magic gets. The more you treat each other as equals, the more of a balance your magics have and the more both of you can do."
 
Sequoia tilted her head, considering the new information. She'd never heard of a witch willing to treat a familiar as an equal. Well, now she had, but she assumed this was a rare case. Most of the familiars she'd known were like her. Trapped and repressed and used for amplifiers and not much more. But Dagger was definitely a different breed from those meek, young things she'd known. He was loud and angry and scolding and not a shrinking violet. "So how do you, like, form the familiar bond? Does it just happen or do you have to go find it or, like, make it or something?"
 
That question was not answered immediately. While a red blush creeped up over Madi's face, Dagger's expression grew... almost amused. The amusement was even more apparent through the false casuality dripping off of his tone as he said "Yes, go ahead, tell her how it works Madi."

Madi actually spluttered at that, before she covered her face with one hand and said "Okay, so what you're supposed to do is train on your own for a while, then cast this really complicated spell to summon your Familiar and establish and seal your bond. The process is supposed to be slow and fully controlled and most witches find a way to manipulate Fate and get a Familiar who they want and who went over the drill beforehand... I didn't do that. I was seven, stuck alone in a basement with even more magic stuff than this one, and tried the first spell I found that seemed like it'd bring me a friend. He appeared, neither of us knew what the hell was going on, and he still holds it over my head to this day do not think I can't tell you're enjoying this Dageru!"

Dagger said nothing, but under his Resting Bitch Face there was a suspiciously not-grumpy gleam in his eyes.
 
Sequoia giggled, equal parts at the story and at how embarrassed Madi was over the whole thing. It was kind of adorable. "Oh don't worry, I've done much dumber stuff! On time I accidentally burnt my own eyebrows off. I looked so bad! And then I tried to grow them back with magic and made them too big and I had these big fat caterpillar eyebrows for a couple days until someone plucked them. I looked amazing." She didn't talk about the scolding she got or the pain she endured after, but that was okay. It was a funny story and she would tell it if she wanted to. "So what are we doing next?"
 
Madi's accusatory energy slowly dissolved into an amused sigh as Sequoia told her own little story, and she was just left with an empathetic smirk on her face when asked for the next step in the process. "The next step is to start on a recipe, and enchant the rest of the ingredients."

She went rooting through her collection again as she added "I found you a recipe with only a few ingredients, so it shouldn't take up much more energy to leave your mark on the rest of what you need. Then you've gotta practice keeping up a feed with the mixture. Don't worry too much about getting everything right, the potion doesn't have to come out perfect for you to learn something."

And with that, Madi set down a sprig of mint and a sprig of eucalyptus, both lacking either witch's magic signature.
 
"Okay, cool. I just push the energy into the ingredients and then..." She realized she didn't quite know what to do once she had the ingredients filled with her magic. "Hey what do I do after I put my magic into the plants?" She asked, propping her head up in her hands. Did she crush them up and put magic into that, or did she just keep putting magic into the ingredients, or what? And what was she even making? "And what kind of potion is this?"
 
"It's a regenerative potion." Madi replied, stepping away from the counter and approaching the cauldron. She gave the next part of her lecture while lifting it from its spot and taking it to a faucet built into the wall closest to the kitchen. "A type of healing potion. Once some magic is in the ingredients, you smush the mint leaves just enough to bruise them and then toss 'em in, and burn the eucalyptus leaves over the cauldron until the ashes all fall in. The fennel gets put in first though, so it can steep in the water and give out the right energies. After all that's done, you just stir it a bit and keep feeding it energy until it all comes together. It's really not that hard, you can handle it."

She stayed by the faucet until the cauldron was half full, then brought it back to its spot and stepped aside for whenever Sequoia wanted to approach it. Hopefully she wouldn't have too hard a time enchanting the other ingredients first...
 
"Radical. I think I can do that." Sequoia did her best to channel her energy into the mint. It wasn't hard at first when she didn't try to push herself. She let her energy seep into the plant with a lazy smile on her face, one that she kept plastered on when she started getting distracted. This was easy. At first, it was the glowing plants in the corner of the room. They were just out of her tunnel vision and she just had to turn to see them head-on. Then it was her becoming aware of her own breathing. Then it was Flora's breathing. She tried to move on to the eucalyptus, only to find that the same thing was happening. She just couldn't force herself to concentrate long enough.
 
Madi tried to give Sequoia all the time she needed to try and do the magic, but when it was clear the other girl was starting to struggle, she spoke up. "Hey, it's alright. You don't have to charge any of these for too long, it's better to have a balance between the ingredients than to get one of them just right. What you have'll work fine."

Once her attempt at a pep talk was finished, she pulled up a stool by the cauldron and said "Now I know you can set stuff on fire, so do you wanna light the flame down here?"
 
Sequoia grinned in relief, muttering the words and waving her hand lazily in the direction of the pot. A flame sprung up immediately, dancing merrily around the bottom of the cauldron. At least she could still do verbal magic just fine. "One fire, ready to go." She stared dubiously at her ingredients. They definitely weren't;t full of enough magic, even a novice like her could tell. Still, it wasn't like she could make them any better. "Are you sure they're good enough?" She questioned, picking up the mint with a disappointed expression.
 
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