Teddy brushed some escaped ashes back near the fireplace. His fingers turned black. "I just say an incantation, something I found a the library one day, and it just happens. The flames appear, I mean." He raised an eyebrow as he watched Azrael create the flame. "Wait, you two can do magic as well?"
At the same time, Lana asked, "How did you do that?"
"It comes to me naturally. It also helps that I'm the Angel of Death."
"Yeah, we can!" Vozrea added.
“An incantation? Interesting… you mean you didn’t use your own blood? Actually, considering the fact…” Arabelle got lost in her own thoughts. Then she registered Teddy’s question. “Um, yeah I guess. I’m a witch. I hope I can say that here.”
She had watched Azrael create the flame with curiosity. Nothing she knew about magic could be observed here. Was Teddy a witch? That fact that they were in the presence of the Angel of Death was certainly surprising.
Teddy crossed his arms. He had so many questions. "Blood? We don't use blood… at least I don't. And witches? Where do you guys come from?"
"The woods, apparently," Lana answered. But Teddy shot her a look that told her to be quiet.
"Imma take a nap, this is tiring for me." and with that, Azrael fell asleep.
"I come from Paradox Vortex, universe A-11."
“We don’t come from Iokisia… I think that’s what you said?” Victoria said, growing interested in their discussion.
“Apparently, we don’t come from anywhere.” Arabelle glanced at Lana, a smile playing on her face. “Victoria and I are witches. From what I’ve gathered, a witch’s blood contains what we call magic in it. That’s why we sometimes use it for spells, rituals, whatever you want to call them. We have innate abilities as well. Anyway, although the way you use magic is different, I think we can figure it out using the same theories. But I’m gonna have to ask you a bunch of questions. Do you have paper and pencil?”
Lana hurriedly left the room and came back with the supplies. "Ask away," she said, pulling some chairs over.
"Wait," Teddy interrupted. "What kind of theories?"
"Oh, shut up," Lana shot with an eyeroll. "We'll figure it out. Again, ask away."
“Thanks,” Arabelle obliged, taking the supplies and sitting down. Victoria found a chair and sat; Joel was calming down. Charlie leaned against a wall, knowing from experience not to interrupt.
Arabelle began, “Well, we’re going to have to start with theories anyway. I experiment with magic, see. It’s more of a pseudoscience, but I’ve gotten pretty consistent results. Anyway, from what I’ve seen concerning blood rituals, if the blood is tainted, or the magic container has unneeded materials, the ritual won’t work. Kind of like cooking. Now, I haven’t seen a ritual gone out of control, per se. But I assume the fundamentals are still there.”
She took a breath, focusing herself.
“Okay. So maybe…” Her eyes drifted. “Is it possible you said the incantation wrong?”
"Wait, you always have to say an incantation?" Vozrea asked, shocked.
"It's possible," Teddy suggested. "But I guess I would've expected to just not work. And yeah, as far as I know you have to say an incantation. But maybe a sorcerer could do it without, I dunno."
"Which he's not," Lana confirmed. "A sorcerer, or a witch or wizard or whatever."
"All the magic I know are simple spells from books." He would sometimes go to their small local library, but books on magic were scarce; there wasn't much need for them in his small town. "I'm not really the best person to talk to about this."
"If you guys need help with magic, me and Azrael can always help! In fact, we would be glad to!"
"Yeah, thanks," Teddy said, but he wasn't sure that would be of much help. "But I'm not sure our magic works the same. If theirs doesn't-" he motioned to Arabelle and her friends. "-we can't be sure yours does." Teddy started to feel a bit overwhelmed. He had never actually been good at magic, and now there were witches and the angel of death in his home due to some failed magic. Or something.
"Azrael's portal closed when they came," Lana said. "And you guys couldn't open it again… am I right? I know you said something about fuel, but we don't use fuel for our portals."
"Yeah…"
Arabelle had jotted something down on the piece of paper. She sat in silence for a few moments, thinking. Then she started doing it out loud.
“So you don’t use blood, you use incantations… does the voice create sound waves that induce the magical effect?” She shook her head, as if clearing it. “And he doesn’t think he got it wrong…”
She straightened. “Is that all it takes? An incantation? Does it require something like an emotion or desire? Or no?”
Teddy perked up at the last sentence. "Yeah, yeah, I think I remember something like that. I read it somewhere…" he racked his brain, trying with difficulty to make the words float to mind. "The object reacts… reacts to emotion, or your thoughts once you say the incantation. Something of the sort."
“But you didn’t mean for it to go out of control?” She perked up too, locking her eyes on him. “Or maybe you didn’t think about it too much because you expected it to go the way you wanted?”
"I… I don't know," he admitted. It was a bit embarrassing to admit that he didn't really know what he was doing, but it was the truth. "Maybe. It's possible."
“Okay.” She scribbled on the piece of paper again. “That’s a start. I’ve seen it happen with blood rituals too. Maybe try to be aware you’re playing with fire?” Arabelle grinned. “Actually, could you try to do it again? I think a demonstration would help.”
“Arabelle, are you sure?” Charlie said. “He’s literally playing with fire.”
“It’ll be fine. We just need to give him space and don’t put any pressure on him.” Arabelle turned her eyes on Charlie at the last few words.
"Yeah, I mean, yes, okay," he stammered. He'd never been asked to show off his magic before. He stood and walked next to the fireplace. "Stand back." He held out his hands, although he didn't need to, but it helped him focus. A small murmur came from his lips and when nothing happened, he said it again, out loud. A roar of flame, bright red and orange, filled the fireplace. Then as quickly as it had came, it had gone.
Lana's heart started racing at the scare of the flames. "I've never seen you do that before."
Arabelle paused for a moment. “… Interesting. I definitely think sound waves help as well. But tell me, what exactly were you doing? What was the thought process?”
(Im trying to think of a way to integrate my characters naturally…)
Teddy's hands had started shaking slightly. He, indeed, had never done that before. Fire didn't just disappear like that. He shook his head, dismissing the small bit of fear creeping up in him. "Well… when I say the incantation, I also think about what I want to do. But, I just wanted a small fire, and I swear that is what I thought about." He wanted to turn the attention away from his failure, so he turned to Azrael. "How did you do it? The fire, I mean. I know you said it just comes to you, but is that all?"
"I just think about it, and have the desire to do that and only that in the moment," Azrael said as she woke up.
Arabelle furrowed her brow. “So maybe… hmmm. Maybe our magic is different.”
She scribbled on the piece of paper. Then she set it in her lap and said, “Okay, let me get this straight. So Azrael… right? She simply summons fire at will. You summon fire through incantation and willpower. We summon fire with blood, willpower, and sometimes emotion. So I’m going to have to abandon the observations I made back… back in my world.”
"You don't have to… It just isn't useful here…"