Mollified Magic
Chapter 18: Molly gets a birthday present.
Lord Blaze dropped me off in the alley way behind the Spellman's store. The first rays of light were just appearing on the tops of the bare branches of the trees when he vanished.
"Revealatia!"
The back door to the house appeared at my command.
I walked inside and saw Tish, Molly and Morgana sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hello, mind if I come in?" I asked quietly.
Molly's face lit up.
"Tom! You're back!" She said, jumping up, hugging me, and giving me a kiss, "How did you escape?"
"I didn't," I answered, "Lord Blaze sent me on a mission. But before we talk about it, how are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine now," she said, "I had first and second degree burns from you and the altar, but Agnes gave me a healing potion and some salves and I'm almost back to normal. I should be fine in a few hours."
Tish looked at me.
"Why did you keep the fact that you were a warlock and the son of Lord Blaze from us?" Tish was upset and angry, "You used us and put all of our lives in danger."
"You have to believe me," I said, "I would never hurt Molly or any of you. This is as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I didn't even know magic was real until Molly told me three weeks ago."
"You almost killed Molly at her Coming-of-Age ceremony," Tish said bitterly, "Why are you here now?"
"First, I wanted to see if everyone was all right," I explained, "Then I wanted to apologize for any harm that might have happened. But you must believe me when I tell you that I had no idea that I was a warlock. I would never have tried to deceive you, any of you. You have all been nothing but kind to me."
"I believe you," said a voice from behind me. It was Molly's grandmother, Morina. "We all need to talk," Morina said.
She pulled out her wand and extended the table and added a chair so that the five of us could sit around it. She then took a seat and asked Molly and me to join her. Tish and Morgana were already seated.
"Before we begin," Morina said, looking at me, "Did Blaze put any spell or charm on you?"
Morina purposely omitted the honorific.
"Yes," I answered truthfully, "He placed a summoning spell on me that I could use if threatened or captured by one of his enemies."
"I imagine he has quite a few," Morina mused. "Anything else?"
"No," I answered. "I'm to wrap things up at school and bring Molly and Morgana to his mansion within a week. I'm also supposed to help Adrian make wedding arrangements for Morgana."
"I see," Morina said pensively. "How about you? How were you treated?"
"He treated me very well," I said. "I have my own suite of rooms and a servant. But I found that the servants are mostly women and they're all slaves. They all have red collars around their necks, and they aren't allowed to wear clothes."
"Were the men naked, too?" Molly asked.
"Yes, except for the butler," I answered, "They're all very beautiful, as you might expect. But I spent most of my time asking Lord Blaze questions about me and my mother. Then he took me to the Warlock Council meeting where I met all the warlocks on the council."
"Was Daddy there?" Molly asked.
"Yes, of course," I said, "But I'm afraid he doesn't trust me. No one does. They all think I work for Lord Blaze."
"Do you?" Morina and Tish both asked at the same time.
I paused before answering.
"From your perspective, I suppose I do," I answered, "The only way he would let me come back here is if I would help him lure Molly and Morgana to his mansion. I told him I would do it just to get a chance to see Molly again and say goodbye to my friends at school. But if you ask me if I want to deliver Molly and Morgana into his clutches, my answer is an emphatic 'no'."
Looking into Tish and Morgana's faces, I could see they were more than skeptical.
"But Lord Blaze is going to get his way, whether you come back to the mansion with me or not," I added.
"Oh, Tom!" Molly leaned over to hug my shoulders.
"It seems like we're all in this together," Morina said, "Our best chance is to work together and look for the right opportunity."
"Grandmother," I said, looking at Morina, "Why do you believe me? You've supported me and gave Molly permission to tell me she was a witch."
Morina smiled. "I knew you were somehow connected with magic from the very beginning," she said, "Do you remember that first night you were in Molly's dorm room? You were naked and some of your semen spilled onto the quilt."
"Your enchanted quilt!" I recalled.
"I felt a trace of magic in those drops of semen at that time," Morina continued. "It was obvious that you weren't aware of it. Even Molly had a hard time convincing you that magic was real."
"Grandmother, did you give me permission to tell Tom I was a witch because you knew he was already connected with magic?" Molly asked.
"That is exactly why I did it, child," Morina said, "But I had no way of knowing Tom was a warlock and certainly not the son of Blaze."
"When Lord Blaze took me to his mansion, he told me that he set me up with the Wards to hide my identity," I recounted, "He said he did it to hide me from his enemies. From the way he tells it, they're everywhere and everyone. He picked the Wards because saying the name "Ward" in my presence protected me further. He even suppressed my powers until I came of age."
"That can't be true," Tish said, "we all saw what happened to the altar, and that was
before
Molly ignited your full warlock powers. You must have had some magical powers before then."
"Lord Blaze thought the same thing," I recalled, "when I asked about that, he got out a book and muttered something under his breath. I thought it sounded something like 'harmonica winning' or 'harmonious tinning'."
"Do you mean 'harmonic twinning'?" Tish asked, suspiciously.
"Yes! That's what I heard, 'harmonic twinning'," I exclaimed, "what is it?"
"I've never heard of it either," Morgana said.
"Me neither," added Molly.
"It's an unusual, but not entirely rare event in the magical world," explained Tish, "it happens when two magical babies are born on Halloween within minutes apart from each other. But the mothers have to have some sort of connection as well. They could be related, but usually it has something to do with an emotional or friendship connection. Who did Lord Blaze say your mother is?"
Tish leaned in, watching me closely.
"Was," I said sadly, "he told me my mother was killed in a microburst by a warlock. Her name was Amanda Brewster."
"Oh my god!" said Tish excitedly, "Tom, what's your middle name?"
"Morton," I replied, "is that important?"
"You
are
Amanda's son!" Tish exclaimed, "it's so obvious now! Why didn't I see it before?"
"Mom, what's going on?" Molly asked, "what are you talking about?"
"Amanda and I were best friends, even after Blaze married her and took her away," Tish explained, "he was just 'Blaze' at the time and still had a bad reputation back then, but he at least allowed us to keep in touch. I think Amanda had a lot to do with that. Anyway, we both became pregnant at the same time. We even had the same midwife; she was the witch that passed away from COVID last year."
"I remember that night," Morina recalled, fondly, "Morticia, you and Amanda both went into labor at the Coven Council Meeting that Halloween. Norrie was the midwife and she delivered Amanda's baby boy just minutes before she delivered Molly. What a happy occasion that was!"
"Amanda and I always thought there must be a magical bond between our babies and we hoped they would grow up together and become good friends," Tish added.
"My middle name is the same as Tom's mother's name?" Molly asked.
"Yes," Tish answered, "and Tom's middle name is based on mine. Because he's a boy, she couldn't name him Morticia, so Morton was the next best thing."
"The entire coven blessed both babies that night," Morina added, looking at Molly and me, "there was indeed a magical bond between you two. You must have felt something when you first met."
"I remember getting a strange feeling the first time I touched Tom's arm," Molly recalled, "I didn't understand it at the time, but I felt we were somehow connected."
"I remember that touch, too," I said, "It was at that Thai restaurant, and it felt like something inside me was waking up. Do you think that's when I gained some magical power?"
"There's no doubt in my mind," Morina said, "otherwise, I would not have been able to detect it. As your harmonic twin, Molly would have been the only other person capable of awakening your magical powers before you came of age."
"Can that explain the vibrations I felt from Molly's wand and from the altar?" I asked.
"Those vibrations you felt was Blaze's suppression spell trying to block your connection with magical objects," Morina explained, "Not even Blaze's power could prevent your harmonic relationship with Molly from awakening your magical abilities."
"That explains the mishap you had with Betty," Molly smiled when she reminded me.
"But now that you know who I am and what I am," I said, "why would you still trust me? Adrian doesn't trust me."
"My father doesn't trust you because he didn't see you offer yourself to save me from Lord Blaze at the coven clearing," Morgana said.
"He also didn't see you protect me from the heat during the Coming-of-Age ceremony," Molly said.
"He doesn't know how honest and open you've been with us about Blaze's intentions and the summoning spell," Morina added.
"But I do now," Adrian said as he stepped around the corner from the back stairs.
"How long have you been listening?" Tish asked, looking up at him.
"I came in with Morina," he said, "She had me wait on the stairs in case there was any trouble."
He looked at me. "I'm sorry Thermos, I just had to be sure."
"Please don't call me Thermos. It's Tom. My parents, well my foster parents named me Thomas, most likely suggested my fath - by Lord Blaze because it's so close to Thermos. I'm sorry, I still have a hard time thinking of him as my father."
I looked Adrian in the eye. "I can't blame you for being cautious. You have a lot at stake. I guess we all do."
"So, what do we do now?" Tish asked. "How can we save my girls?"
"I'm afraid it's much bigger than that," reminded Morina, "Blaze wants to enslave the entire coven."
"As long as Lord Blaze has possession of the Golden Staff," Adrian said, "he can take both girls whenever he wants. There is nothing we can do to stop him."
"But Tom has been able to delay him," Morina pointed out. "He has given us time. That at least gives us a chance."
"Only a week," I lamented, "Then I suspect he's going to take matters into his own hands."
