The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 06

"Wow, your grandmother was a nurse in World War two?" His voice was soft and reverent.

"Something like that." Karen was watching Andrew with a pleasant smile while she sat in one of the side seats around the coffee table. She stirred her tea while she studied the young couple.

Andrew replaced the photo on the shelf and joined Sara on the sofa, happy as she nestled against him while sipping her tea. He was pouring some creamer in his cup when he looked at Karen and said, "So, I must admit, I'm happy that you are Sara's mystery friend. For a minute there I was afraid it was going to be Dr. Blake, or someone terrible like that."

They all chuckled for a moment, and as Andrew began to take his first sip, Karen responded, "No, that man is too arrogant to help anyone but himself."

"He strikes me as being too incompetent to even accomplish that." Andrew added as everyone laughed. The tea was pleasant and rich, soothing as it settled into his stomach. "Well, Sara didn't really tell me what this was about. Just that you had questions about last night."

"Well, that's true, but first I know you must be steeped with questions of your own." She sipped from her cup with a wry smile.

Andrew thought through the numerous mysterious which have shrouded his life. Just as he was settling on one, Sara blurted out, "Is there any chance Andrew could be, what did you call it? An 'Inky Bus?'"

With a chuckle Andrew corrected her. "An 'Incubus,' sweetie."

"Well, that's obscur. To be honest, I'm not sure if those even exist. What would make you think that you could be something so dark and dangerous?" Karen's voice showed her confusion at Andrew's speculation.

The lovers blushed as they looked at each other. "Go ahead, tell her." Sara said with a comforting peck on his cheek.

After a shy glance, Andrew took a deep breath before deciding to dive in with both feet. "It seems that my abilities are somehow tied to our sexual energies. Whenever we fool around I can feel the pressure of our excitement build up, and as we... Well as we climax I have started being able to sense erotic energy traveling into me."

Karen blushed as she watched the intimate couple. She could see Sara flushed with arousal and Andrew squirm against his own desires as he was reminded of their several trysts. Piecing things together she asked, "Is that what happened to Sara's car this morning?"

The room filled with warm laughter as Andrew considered how to respond. "Yeah, Sara pulled off in a field and was helping me to control... Well, helping me learn how to control myself. After we finished, the car was dead. Every single piece of electronics in it was overloaded. A couple of days ago, we did the same thing to Sara's phone. We didn't realize what caused the phone to die until last night when it happened again, with her new phone. It seems that electronics and..." Andrew took a breath while his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "And our lovemaking do not get along. Is that normal?"

Shaking her head, Karen responded, "No, Andrew. This is quite puzzling. First, this is the first I have heard of someone generating magical energy through sexual activity. Second, I have no idea why generating magical energy would cause you to short out electronics." The older woman considered something before asking, "You two did not — how shall I phrase this — hold a clandestine 'meeting' within the equipment room at school, did you?"

Their cheeks turned bright red as they looked around with a nervous giggle. "Maybe, why?" Was all that Andrew could bring himself to say.

"You should refrain from those activities at school. At least until you learn to control this aspect of your gift. Mr. Spencer was furious today about how building maintenance refused to fix a burnt out light in the equipment room. He believes they are making up a larger problem to avoid doing their jobs. I'm guessing you are the unwitting architects of his frustration, considering what you just confessed."

"Yeah, sorry. We will try and be more careful going forward. Though I am still forced to wonder: why do I generate energy like this? I'm not complaining mind you, but it's kind of distracting."

Sara was running her hand along his thigh, as if to prove his point. "I don't know. Seems fulfilling to me." Her honey sweet voice dripped with her desire.

Karen was shocked by Sara's overt display. She had known the woman for a long time, and while she knew that Sara was deeply enamored, she had never seen her exhibit such sexual need. The connection between the two lovers was coming into focus for the older woman.

"This is something well outside of my understanding, Andrew. Before we speculate about your gifts, let me try and explain how magic works. Or at least how I understand it to work.

"When I was a child, my mother cut herself while preparing dinner. My father was still out working the fields, and I was alone with her in the house. Before I understood what was happening she collapsed to the floor, blood pooling around her arm as she slipped out of consciousness.

"I couldn't have been older than eight. Old enough to help out around the farm, but my brother's handled the animals, and they would have known what to do. I had no idea, but the wound spoke to me. When I knelt down and grabbed her wrist I could feel it. The damage to the tissue, the veins and capillaries, and there it was, the puncture in her artery. I felt all the intricate wonder of her frail body pulsing in my frightened young hand.

"Something within me seemed to fall into place. It was so long ago, I have a hard time remembering how it felt. I reached within myself, and for the first time I bent my will and forced her body to mend. The artery closed, and the numerous veins reconnected. The drain was too much for me, and I fainted. My father found us there, both passed out and unresponsive.

"It took two days for either of us to wake up. My mother was awake before me, and in an ironic twist of fate she nursed me back to health. See, what I didn't know yet was that the magical energy I had used to heal her body had come at a price. I hadn't learned yet how to build up and store my own reserves, so in a sense I cannibalised myself to generate the energy required to heal her."

"Wow, can I do that? I mean, can I heal people like that?" Andrew's voice was distant as he imagined having that kind of ability.

"Perhaps. Your gifts are as yet unknown. Though I suspect not. There is something you need to understand about magic. Those few gifted with its use are also cursed by its demands. We are shaped by its presence, and it is shaped by our nature. Or perhaps we are shaped by its nature, see I am not a magical theoretician so I cannot say which effects which. All I can say with certainty is that the few wizards and witches I have met are all shaped in distinct ways. Their magic manifests in magnificent and varying abilities.

"I am gifted with a healer's touch, and a long life. By my nature I cannot ignore someone in need. I can sense the pain of those around me, feeling it in the air like a cool breeze across my body." Karen's face was kind and measured, her tone genuine and expressive of her desire to be understood.

"So, is that why you shielded me from Zack on Monday?"

"I wasn't compelled to, if that's what you are asking. But I wanted to. You were so scared and felt so powerless. Zack is usually much more considerate than that, so I intervened. You needed a friend, and Zack needed to be reminded of who he was." Karen smiled at Sara before continuing, "Of course, now a lot more of Zack's behavior has been given light."

"Thank you, Karen. Regardless of why you helped, it was still a wonderful thing to do."

"You're welcome, Andrew."

While stirring creamer into a fresh cup of steaming tea, Andrew glanced back at the picture on the shelf.

"No fucking way!" Andrew's shocked eyes narrowed on the teacher who gave him a sly grin.

"I'm afraid so." She sipped from her cup as Andrew shook his head.

Sara looked between Andrew and Karen trying to understand their exchange. Karen chuckled while Andrew explained, "Have you ever looked at that picture on the shelf?"

She looked across the room and remembered the old photo. The proud and confident woman with the young injured boy. The strong genetic resemblance between Karen and the woman from the photo assured Sara that it was a cherished family heirloom. Her eyes again found Andrew and pleaded for him to explain what she was failing to piece together.

He cupped her face and with a gentle smile told her, "That is Karen."

Her eyes grew wide as she stared at her friend with her mouth agape. "But... You... "

Karen's laughter was rich and merry as she smiled at her young friend. "Sara, my dear. I have always told you that I have led a long and rich life."

"But, you never told me how long..." Her voice hid a subtle hurt at such a profound secret having been kept from her. "I'm happy to finally know, but why had you never told me?"

"Ohh, my dear girl. Knowing would not have changed our relationship, and our time has always been best spent in the present. The past is such a trivial inconvenience." Sipping from her cup she watched them with her comforting gaze. Sara seemed soothed by her explanation, though Karen knew that the young woman still felt a tinge of betrayal.

"Does that mean I will age like you do?" Andrew's tone carried his excited speculation through the room.

"Let us see. Though please be careful what you wish for. Immortality hides many curses, as I am sure you can guess."

Karen reached down to the floor beside her chair, pulling a moderate sized wooden box onto her lap. Andrew considered her words, and looking at Sara realized the implications of what he had hoped for a moment ago. The idea of watching Sara grow old while he remained youthful and vibrant broke his young heart.

They hugged against the dread as they both shared the same depressing thought. Countless movies and fantasy novels skimmed through their collective thoughts while the same narrative played out. Coming apart the young couple kissed to fend off their fear. Karen cleared her throat, bringing their attention to her.

She had opened the unassuming box and set a small hourglass, and a milky white semi-transparent stone on the table. The hourglass looked old, standing a little over a foot tall, and was adorned with many intricate designs. The stone was about the size of a fist and appeared completely unblemished, it's iridescent surface adding to its mystery. Sara remembered the stone from when she was a child, when she had held it and looked into its pale depths while Karen watched her.

"First, to address your question about aging. Please, pick up the hourglass."

Andrew reached out and lifted the sturdy device, finding it surprisingly heavy for its size. His skin tingled and crawled as he felt an insistent need pulling at him from the cool wood as he turned the apparatus over in his hand. Karen watched him, her eyes betrayed a sense of surprise as he rotated the hourglass in his grip. Whatever she was expecting seemed to have not happened.

Closing his eyes, Andrew could see the hourglass floating within a void in his mind, shadowed by the glowing radiance of energy in the distance of his thoughts. Soft tendrils of hollow energy snaked and whipped around the device, seeming to search for something to latch onto. Andrew pulled forward a thin strand of energy from the roiling pool in the back of his mind and brought it forward, until the hourglass's gossamer bands grabbed hold and began feeding.

As the connection was made, Andrew could feel the trickle of energy as he powered the ornate but unassuming item. Opening his eyes he was amazed to see that the white sands within glowed with a twinkling radiance that seemed unnatural yet mesmerizing. He was troubled by the sense that something else seemed off about the strange tool. Failing to put his finger on his troubles he set the hourglass on the table and was startled as the sands began falling more quickly. Sara's eyes were wide as she reached out and lifted the glowing apparatus. Again the sands began to fall at a slower speed, which caused Karen to gasp in astonishment.

Andrew and Sara looked at their teacher who watched the slow descent of the magical sands with disbelief. She turned her attention on the young couple as she struggled to explain the meaning of what was happening. Sara studied the thin stream of shimmering sand, every ethereal twinkle a different vibrant color from the last as it made its slow fall towards the bottom.

"This is so beautiful." Sara's voice was cheerful and reverent as she set the hourglass back onto the table where the glowing sands again fell at an expected rate.

Karen lifted the device, causing the sands to freeze in place. The contents of the hourglass seemed frozen in the moment and time that the older woman had grabbed it. As she inspected the twinkling sands she turned the apparatus over. The sands still hung where they were, providing no movement as they defied the laws of physics within their glass enclosure. For a few seconds Karen held the hourglass, ensuring that its contents would remain immobile within their transparent prison. As she set it back onto the table and released her grip the sands again fell, casting sparkles of light onto the table around it.

"Andrew, do you know why the hourglass started glowing?" Karen's voice was full of questioning unease.

Andrew was certain that something about what just happened had been unnerving to Karen. He had spent enough time with her in class to know when she was asking a leading question, and he had no sense that she knew the answer to what she just asked. He was forced to think about how he had activated the device before he could try and describe it.

"Well, I had to mentally pull a strand of energy from the back of my mind and connect myself to it before it would activate. Why? Is something wrong?"

The teacher watched the glowing sands of the hourglass as they poured at a constant pace, casting twinkling light as they fell.

"Are you still connected to it?"

"Yeah, I believe so." Closing his eyes, Andrew confirmed that he could still sense the thin connection to the hourglass as it siphoned energy from his mind at a slow but steady rate. With a slight tug he released his tether and felt the device drop from his mind, vanishing into the inky black distance. He was pleased to see that the ornate object again sat on the table, its white sands counting out the moments with dull lifelessness.

Karen reached out and picked up the device, the sands again stopped, though the sparkling brilliance from before was almost unnoticeable. "This is how the Vitae Tempus has always appeared to me. It drains magic from my body as it measures the rate with which I age. As you saw, your life will likely be much longer than a normal humans." She set the apparatus back onto the table and picked up her tea while studying Sara. "It seems that Sara too will enjoy a long life, which is a pleasant, if unexpected surprise."

Sara beamed at Andrew who shared her joy at this news. Any extra life that Andrew would get to live would be shared by Sara, as they journeyed into the future together.

"Sara, would you mind picking up the moonstone, please?"

Lifting the large stone, Sara was surprised by how glassy and smooth it felt. Its cool surface soaking in the heat from her body while she peered into its milky depths. Karen exhaled a loud sigh of relief as she relaxed. Extending her arm, Karen asked for the stone, which began to glow a faint murky blue as Sara placed it into her open palm.

"This device is similar to the last. While the hourglass tells about how one travels through time, the moonstone helps one understand the nature of their magic. As you saw, Sara is not emitting any magical energy. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the color means, and have been unable to find any information in my limited research."

Andrew studied the soft glow of the moonstone as the azure light seeped through its milky surface. "But with your long life, you must have been presented with many opportunities to study with other wizards and witches. Surely someone must know how it works."

Karen laughed, "Trust me, there are those who do. But I am not counted among them." The genuine smile on her face did little to soothe the frustration that welled up within Andrew. Looking around the room he was reminded by the plentiful books, newspapers and magazines of where Karen's interests resided, and he knew it was not in magic.

With a deep sigh Andrew picked up the moonstone and studied its glossy surface. He sensed the familiar feeling of need from the cold hard stone, the same desire he felt from the hourglass. The stone remained glossy and semi-transparent within his hand until he reached out his will and connected himself to it.

They all watched as lilac shaded light began to spill through the milky opaqueness within the stone. Ever brightening shades of violet light shifted and swirled under the glassy surface. As the stone grew warm in Andrew's hand, speckles of shiny brownish metal seemed to form and fade at random places under its hard exterior. The ever changing mosaic of purples within the oval spheroid transfixed everyone within the room until Andrew placed the stone back onto the table.

As the colors and shapes within the moonstone faded, Andrew said, "Well, that seems intriguing, if pointless."

The sardonic tone of Andrew's voice was not lost on Karen, who responded, "I'm sorry I cannot provide guidance for what the moonstone says. Though this does tell us one thing."

Andrew and Sara both perked up, sensing that Karen had seen something important.

"You seem to possess a tremendous gift with magical devices." As she looked between the two young faces, Karen realized that they had no point of reference to compare to. She picked up the warm glassy stone and held it out as azure radiance began emanating from deep within its pale interior. The swirling shades of blues were much more rich and active than the last time Karen had used the mystical stone.

"These artifacts are considered greedy, which just means that they work without will or control. When a magically active being comes into contact with them, they begin drawing energy so that they can function. I had never known the true beauty contained within these magnificent tools until now, and I am in awe. You are able to activate them at will, and even now you are powering this device, despite the fact that I am holding it. That is something I have never witnessed, nor heard of."

While Karen placed the moonstone onto the table, Andrew took a sip of his tea and considered the things that she had said. Sara lifted the moonstone and silence descended as mottled patches of shiny bronze alloy marred its perfect surface. They watched in fascination as pinhole cracks formed and sealed across its alloy plating. Pale lilac rays of iridescent light shining through the brief gaps in its metallic exterior.

Andrew reached out to Sara, and together they cupped the large ovoid stone. Everyone watched as the bronze alloy patches shifted and settled into a solid band near the bottom half of the device. The bottom quarter remained pearly white, while the top half began emanating a bright and swirling violet light, casting discordant patterns across their spellbound faces.

Looking at Karen's slack-jawed expression, Andrew laughed and asked, "So, I guess this isn't normal, is it?"

Swallowing, Karen responded, "That is new, I will admit." Her eyes were fixated on the stabilized stone, its bronzed and violet surface hinting at some unknown secret meaning.

Sara released the apparatus into Andrew's waiting hand. The light began dancing around its entire surface, as flecks of brownish alloy again faded in and out of existence just beneath its glossy finish. They puzzled over its significance while watching the lavender glow.