Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – The Straightest Of Faces

Matthew had decided to humour her. It was easier to just pretend she was who she said she was than argue. Of course, he had asked her to do magic, which was met with the swift response that…

"That's not possible right now,"

'Shocker,'

The game he was playing was to see if he could catch her out. By asking her questions that a witch would know, he wanted to see how far Clare… no, Emily, could take this.

"So, why can't you do magic right now? Let's start off with that," Matthew asked, folding his arms.

Emily devoured the next piece of toast Matthew had handed her before replying. "Well, first off, I'm not awakened in this body,"

"Of course," Matthew nodded in understanding, as though she wasn't talking gibberish.

She smiled, "Right, you get it. Maybe this sort of thing is common knowledge these days. Back when I was still learning, the church had confiscated all the knowledge related to witchcraft and the study of the magics."

"Oh yes, everyone knows this sort of thing these days." Matthew said, doing his best to keep a straight face, "But… could you just remind me of the details? It's been a while since I learned."

Emily beamed, "Sure! When it- Wait! If you already know, then why don't you believe me?"

Matthew burst out laughing and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I can't keep a straight face. Let's get serious, Clare, give me your parent's phone number. And If you've forgotten the number, give me your phone, and I'll call them from that,"

"Argh, why won't you believe me?" She shouted.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe it's because you are a magical witch that can't do magic. How does that sound for a reason?"

"It's not my fault this body isn't awakened. Like I said, I can't do magic without a proper vessel."

Matthew sighed, "Okay, please enlighten me. How should we go about awakening your... 'vessel'?"

Emily shook her head, "It's not that simple; there's a bunch of steps I need to take, pacts I need to make. Awakening is a complicated process that takes a lot of preparation."

"What sort of things do you need?" Matthew asked curiously, willing to see how far she would take this.

She wound her wet hair around her thumb and bit on its end thoughtfully, "Hm, a standard awakening needs a suitable location along the Lay Line. I'll also need rosemary, purified rock salt and animal blood from whatever familiar I'm planning to have,"

Matthew nodded along; he got up and went to the cupboard, grabbing a shaker full of rosemary and a cylinder full of rock salt. "Is that all?"

"Hm… and candles. They're just to set the mood, to be honest, but I like them. Your mindset is just as important as anything else when awakening. And, of course, I'll need the proper ritual texts in the local god's native language," She finished with a smug look as though he wouldn't be able to get those things.

Taking it as almost a challenge, Matthew ran into the living room and went through the drawers until he found a box full of birthday candles. When he returned, he was almost out of breath, "Right… and awakening does what? Get's you up early in the morning?" Matthew asked sardonically.

Emily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Ugh, this is why men aren't suitable to be witches; they have no imaginations. Listen, magic is all about two things: the Will and the World. We witches channel our Wills through our bodies and into a lightning rod of sorts. This is our wand,"

Matthew smirked at the mention of a wand. He was picturing something, fairy godmother-esk.

"And, of course," Emily continued, "Your body has to be in an appropriate state to carry the Will properly. Awakening your body creates a channel for your Will to affect the world. Think of it like a bow and arrow. The arrow is your Will, you are the wooden body of the bow, and awakening creates the string."

"That kind of makes sense, I guess," Matthew admitted. He had been hoping she would spew nonsense, but everything Clare had said so far made at least some semblance of sense. "But you mentioned familiars. What does that have to do with anything?"

Emily chewed on the ends of her wet hair thoughtfully, "Hm, familiars are complicated. Personally, I had a crow that was very useful for tracking down the necessary components for spells. It wasn't an actual crow, of course. Rather, an avatar of my Will, or I suppose if you want to be technical, my soul,"

Matthew sighed, "Okay, I get it. You've researched this sort of thing. I never pinned you for this sort of girl, Clare, but here we are. Now, I don't mind listening to more magic stuff; just give me your phone, so I can call your parents."

Emily groaned, "You keep talking about this, 'phone' what is it?"

'Her brain damage rating is beyond numbers at this point,' Matthew shook his head mournfully and showed her his phone as an example.

"Oh, the glass brick. I think I have one of those in my bag." Emily said excitedly, pulling an iPhone from her ruined bag.

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It only took Matthew one look a the phone to know it was broken beyond repair. It was still dripping wet, and the screen was so shattered it was a wonder it was still in one piece, 'I don't think rice is enough to fix that,'

"And you're sure you don't know your parents' numbers?" He asked with the last faint glimmer of hope.

Emily shook her head with finality.

"Jesus Christ, I'm surprised they haven't got the police out looking for you yet. Please tell me you know where you live?"

Emily shook her head again. "I already told you, I'm not Clare,"

"Yeah, I got that," Matthew said dismissively. "Okay… do I really need to call the police about this?"

"What are the police?" Emily asked curiously

"Why am I not even surprised?" Matthew looked up at the ceiling as though asking, why god, why? "The Police are law enforcement. They will come and take you away to your parents,"

"Law enforcement…" Emily echoed. She had her fair share of run-ins with law enforcement, and none of them were pleasant.

She wracked her brain, but the only way she could see this thick-headed brute believing her was to actually awaken and show off some of her skills. As he began to hit his phone screen, she squinted, 'What is he doing?'

Matthew put the phone to his ear and smiled at Clare, "Yes, 999. Can you put me through to the police?"

"What are you doing?" Emily hissed, staring at him with the phone to his ear.

"I'm talking to the police, now will you shut up,"

'Oh no,' Emily started to pace nervously around Matthew as he talked to the police, 'What should I do? I'm going to get taken away… They definitely won't treat women well; the lord of the land is never kind when he arrests criminals, especially girls.'

In a moment of sheer panic, Emily ran behind Matthew and hit him on the back of the head.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, putting the phone to his chest so the police wouldn't hear.

Emily squeezed out every ounce of Will she could muster. Forcing it, with some difficulty, to travel through her blocked anima. She grabbed Matthew's ear and leant close.

"Sleep," She whispered.

Matthew slumped over in the chair he was sitting in. His phone fell from his limp hand and landed on the kitchen floor, facing upwards.

Emily sat exhausted beside it, staring down at the glowing screen. From within the glass brick, she could hear a tiny voice. Copying what Matthew had done, she put the phone to her ear, and the voice got louder.

"Hello, hello?" It said, sounding tinny and distant.

"Hello…" Emily whispered.

"Who is this?" The person asked sternly.

"Um…" Emily looked at the glowing screen, where a red button said end. She had seen Matthew hitting the screen earlier, so perhaps if she did the same, it would work.

"Hey, you shouldn't waste police time! It's illegal to mess-"She hit the red button, and the person disappeared.

"Fascinating…" Emily muttered, setting the phone down and glancing at Matthew. 'If I awaken, will you believe me?' She wondered. She was going to awaken anyway. At least this way, she could have a person from these modern times on her side.

She glanced at the kitchen counter. He had already gathered the rock salt, rosemary, and candles. Now she just needed to find the blood. That might take some time, but she had a while before he would wake up.

"Plenty of time… As for the Lay Line, I already know the perfect place." She had seen it in the distance when she woke up the first time. It wasn't far from here.

"The Devil's Rise. It'll be dangerous, but as long as I don't anger the local god, nothing too bad will happen… I hope,"

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