Chapter 2: Monday December 1st

I flop down on the old couch I just moved in the basement, trying desperately to catch my breath after having cleared enough space in the middle of the room for my needs - a more laborious task than I was expecting. I never really had much muscle to me and that was before I started on hormones. Well, granted, it’s only been a couple months now and that probably isn’t enough time to really see any of those side effects. But it’s more comforting to blame them than admit how little strength I really had.

“Honestly, it probably would have made sense to ask you for help. That’s what you’re supposed to be for after all, right?” The android of course doesn’t say anything back - I haven’t said the magic word. Instead it just stands on it’s charging portal, it’s cold dead (and now cracked, oops) face staring blankly at the scene before it. Still, it was nice to feel like I was talking to something while I’m working here. Same reason programmers all have rubber duckies, right?

Really, I probably couldn’t have asked for it’s help if I tried. I just felt too bad doing that. After how I acted on thanksgiving, and especially having broken its faceplate. After doing that I went and apologized to the folks, of course. Profusely. They claimed it was ok, that no real damage was done and it was under warranty anyways, and that things would be fine. I couldn’t help but feel they were disappointed in me though, especially since I hadn’t really had an episode like that in a while.

And for the android itself, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. I know it doesn’t have any sentience to it, so it can’t think or anything. It’s just shaped like a person, it isn’t actually one. But still, I broke the thing and now I can’t help but feel like I’m walking on eggshells around it. I didn’t think it’s right to use it just out of concept, but now even thinking of it makes me feel like a terrible person. Or, at least a hypocrite.

Anyways! I’m alone in the house all day long, it’s the week of the full moon (not technically necessary and also it’s the middle of the day but, like, the moon’s still up there! It counts! For tradition’s sake, and good luck!) I’ve gotten my prep package from Elwood Academy, who I still can’t believe I convinced to give me a shot. It’s time for me to get that big gift from myself.

I’m going to summon my familiar today.

Break time’s over - time to rip into that package and get everything set up. “You know, android, witchcraft wasn’t always as niche as it is right now. In fact, once upon a time it was the dominant form of mystic art! I’m talking, like, way back you know? Centuries! Before even the medieval times! Some even theorized the practice could have been where all the mystical arts originated from.” I take a peek inside the package - candles, loaner dagger, diagrams and instructions. And what I was hunting for - a pewter mortar and pestle, an herb blend (smells mostly of lavender and basil), and a box of coarse rock salt.

“Ugh, most of the work is grinding this stuff by hand, you know.” I plop back down on the couch with my items delicately - the instructions were very adamant not to let the blend touch anything but the pewter until the ritual had started. “So yeah, the witches. Really, what set them apart at the beginning is also what kinda led to their death. You see, originally humans weren’t capable of channeling any magic by themselves - it was the mystical beings that could do that. Of course, no matter how much magic they could channel, there was no way for them to use it by themselves. Hence, the pacts!” 

The lavender in the grinder smelled pretty heavenly right now, although all the salt made the air taste pretty acrid. “That’s the original version of witchcraft - so much more potent than it is today. Women who were able to cast basically any spell they could dream of as long as she and her partner both deemed it to be done. Essentially no limitations, and no competition. If anyone wanted magic to be done, it required a local witch and her lillum partner.”

“But the funny thing about magic use was that every spell polluted the atmosphere with more and more mana. We essentially terraformed the planet to be so thick with the stuff that even unbound women could learn to channel it themselves. And then, eventually, men realized they could do it too. And as soon as that happened, the status quo was over. At first it was just a rumbling, folks who thought it was more pure to be able to learn and craft their own spells instead of relying on lillum - you know, since men could do it too then it must have been the real way. Then the narrative became about how corrupt women were making deals with the devil to subvert the will of nature, and the lillum were his ‘demons come to sow the seeds of his discontent’. Of course they had no idea of climate change back then, so the theory for the sudden magical liberation was that the witches had simply subjugated people and withheld the secrets to the other arts from ‘god fearing moral beings’ until just then, for some reason.”

There, that should be enough grinding! Time to get up and use the rest of this salt to make the circle. I get up and stretch, making sure not to knock the bowl over and ruin all my hard work. “So yeah! That’s the start of the era of the witch trials. Eventually most ruling casts had their orders come in fast. Slaughter any lillum on sight, and capture and try any women who were suspected to have bonded with them. You would think the witches had time and ease of casting on their side. But unfortunately, the numbers simply were on the side of the hunts. Soon they had eliminated most witches in both Europe and the nascently developed colonies of America, and plans were for a new crusade to rid other parts of the planet of their lillum too.”

“And then, before that could happen. One day the lillum simply vanished. No one really knows for certain how or why - did they forsake us and leave our reality for our sins? Beam off onto another planet where they would be safe? Merely go into hiding? You know, I remember reading one day about a theory that the modern population boom was partially due to the lillum becoming or disguising themselves as human as a final grand magical plan for self preservation. No one really knows for sure - just that one day they were gone, and witchcraft with them. A statistically small set of humanity decided for the entire world that magic would have to be hard fought for from then on.”

I nestled the small black candles into the points of the circle where the diagram indicated they should go, and start drizzling the lead lines around them. “Of course, that isn’t the end of it. The mystic arts diversifies more and more over time, and soon people start exploring what came before them. It’s not really known exactly, but sometime in the late 40’s or early 50’s or something about then there was a group of women with historical witch family blood studying their pasts. One of them gets into their heads that they should all try recreating the old pact rituals to feel connected to them as they research. But when the first one completes it, the funniest thing - it actually worked! Sorta. There’s no lillum to connect to, obviously. But just a few minutes later a little creature from the woods, I think it was a crow? Starts hopping up and pestering her. Wouldn’t leave her alone really! And the longer they spend together, the more of a connection she feels to it.”

“She brings it to the group, they all try it, and they all get their own animal buddies attracted to them. One of them even had a full ass adult bear come to them, pretty much disproving the idea that they were just picking up random pets and calling it magic. After a ton of research into the concept they announce to the world that the practice of witchcraft was very much alive - thanks to the familiars. Pretty sure all that mana pollution in the air came to the animals just the same as people, and they allowed the bond that allowed witchcraft to be reignited. Albeit, limited - instead of endless possibilities, each witch now had access to only one specialty of magic, with their familiar seemingly connected to whatever it was. They could still, of course, cast whatever need be with your now standard spellcrafting, but the familiar bypassed the need to channel manna before crafting, and for your specialty skip crafting altogether and simply fire off any spell you wanted instantly. It’s wild, a centuries-dead discipline brought back just like that!”

I lean over and light the candles, starting a timer on the whole thing. The faster it gets done, the less wax I have to scrape off the floor later. Still, before I go for it… Calling it’s attention doesn’t count as using it, right? “Hey! Uh, Android?” No movement at all. Oh yeah, I forgot the word. I don’t like using it, but… “Hey robot?” Suddenly the android jerks to motion, stepping off of it’s pedestal.

“Yes, young master Athony? What would you like this unit to perform for you?”

Ugh. Now I’m second guessing thanking the walking coffee machine. “No, no, I don’t need anything. I just wanted to thank you for listening to me ramble on. This stuff has always been a bit of a special interest of mine, so I tend to go on if no one is around to tell me to can it. I know it can be a bit burdensome, but it helped pass the time.”

“Apologies, young master Anthony, this unit didn’t quite understand your request. Would you mind repeating your command again?” I roll my eyes, of course. Too complicated for the tin can to understand.

You are reading story Imposters at novel35.com

“Nevermind, cancel request."

“Ok then, process cancelled. Please alert this unit if you require any further assistance.” It stands there, staring at me from just outside my circle. I just sigh to myself, and get on with the ritual.

Right then. Big breath, in and out. Go time. Bring the blend in with me, and the dagger. Stand in the center of the circle with the lit candles. Slice open my left hand, and let it bleed into the herb mix. I reach down and pour it into my slit hand. Wow, holy shit, they’re not kidding about salt in wounds. This sucks! I almost drop the pile as I wince, but I’m not going to let this go wrong. I sprinkle a bit into each candle, rubbing the blend more and more into the cuts on my hand as I do so. Each flame flares and sparks a bit when the blend touches them. Then, I place my hand over my heart (shirt open enough that I can make skin contact without feeling too exposed) and repeat the chant. “Mother Gaia! I implore you! Hear my plea! Find me the one who matches my heart. Allow me to feel connected to this earth through them and you. Blood for mana.” Language is mutable, of course, the words don’t matter, they’re just customary. Well, and also I don’t wanna muck with the instructions, I’m trying to do this to the letter. It’s the meaning you put out into the world that channels the ritual.

The candles all flair up, bright yellow flames peaking as tall as me, before flaring back down. That… that means it’s working, right? Oh god, I can feel my heart beating a million times per second against my hand, blood pumping against it making my chest slick. It’s really happening, I’m really going to get a familiar. I’m really going to be a witch! “Mother Gaia! Grant me this pact!” With that, all the candles go out at once, the air now thick with smoke and salt.

I stand there paralyzed, not sure what to do now. I… I think I just wait, right? Supposedly my familiar will come to me in a few minutes at most. It’s fairly rare for it to take longer than a half hour. I wonder what I’m going to get? Shirly has her fox companion, sweet little thing. She let me pet it last time I saw her and he gave that chittery laughy call foxes give. His ice magic wasn’t much help up on those snowy mountains, though.

Standing here for a while kinda makes me feel like a dope, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. I look over to my phone, set up to show the time - 23 minutes. Ok, it’s on the longer end of things, but that’s ok! Not the end of the world. My friend Mags also had a longer wait time than most for her basic ass raven. Dumb little thing smacked into probably every window she could getting to her backyard. Ironic considering her specialty is divination - being able to locate anything one needs or desires.

My legs start to give out, so I sit down in the center of the circle - breaking it won’t effect the magic now that it's complete, but I don’t want to jinx it. I look over to the time - 42 minutes. Ok, ok, that’s a little excessive, but maybe it’s a really unique animal? And it’s just taking a long time to get here? Ohh, maybe I got a red panda! They’re just the cutest. And it’s on it’s way from the zoo? Although one from that far away probably means it’ll be granting teleportation, and I don’t know how in love with that concept I am…

I wait. And I wait. And wait. I… don’t look at the clock anymore. Maybe I’m just convincing myself that it’s, just, feeling like a million years. And it’s really only been a couple minutes. That happens, right? I’m going to turn around any minute and a big cuddly animal will be tapping me on the shoulder. Jumping into my arms and then we can start learning together. Right? The candles flared up! I saw it! It couldn’t just, like, be trick candles? I’m… sure that happened, I couldn’t have just convinced myself. It had to be the ritual, right? It had to work, right?

I sit in silence for a while, almost dozing off before a digitized voice startles me up. “Young master Anthony. You have been sitting there for almost two hours. Is everything alright? Is there any way this unit can be of assistance?” I look up and it's still just staring down at me, unmoving, its head cocked to the side like a puppy dog.

Two hours. I sat here for two hours waiting when nothing was going to come. Nothing was ever going to come, and I should have known that from the start. Even the unthinking machine can see what’s happened. “It… it didn’t work. My ritual failed.” I stare down at the cut on my hand, already starting to scab over around the detritus of my failed experiment. “I’m not going to have a familiar am I? I’m never going to be a witch. I’m… not real enough, am I?” I press my face into my hands. This doesn’t feel anything like most of my emotional outbursts. I’m not feeling too much of something. I’m feeling empty, nothing at all. This is so much worse. I don’t really have anything in me to cry, or move, or melt down at all. I just sat there.

After a good long while, I pull my head from my hands, looking up at the android. It’s simply still looking down at me, hands clasped together at it’s chest. Once again, I don’t want to use it, but I seriously doubt I’m going to have the fortitude to clean up anymore. And I don’t want to have to explain how I’m a failure to any of my family. A fraud. “Hey, uhh, android? I’m going to… go lay down. Would you mind taking over cleaning this up for me please? Also putting the couch and the table back in the center of the room too like it was before? I just don’t have the energy anymore.”

“Understood. This unit will get right on that.” It bends over, picking up the candles and the items off to one side, presumidly for cleaning later. I lurch my way over to the basement bathroom, and wash all the salt and grit out of hand, breaking open the wound again and watching the blood swirl down into the sink. I take the last thing from the package and wrap my hand in it - gause. As little energy as I have right now, I really don’t want this to scar on me. I don’t need a reminder.

I sulk off to my room, passing the android sweeping up the salt circle on my way there. Before I get past, it stops what it’s doing and looks at me. “Young master… you’re welcome.”

“Huh? I’m welcome for what?”

“You thanked this unit earlier, for listening to you. This unit is welcome that you spoke with it. It was no burden to listen. If you wish to speak further, this unit will be available.” It turns around quickly, marching upstairs to deposit the gathered salt into the trash. I just turn around to crawl my way into bed.