Death is a Girl

Chapter 40 - Learning Magic

The truth spell was a strange sensation. When asked a question it was like the words were forced out of her by some invasive mechanism that forced her tongue and lips to move. She was sure the discomfort was clear on her face as she reiterated what she had already told them.

Arrietta kept a hand over her mouth and Morrigan thought she looked on the verge of tears. With all the makeup around her eyes, that would quickly become a mess, but she held herself together.

“I see… this is quite unfortunate,” Atomyst said, stroking his long white beard. “The boy had been acting strange. He stopped showing up for work. Arrietta said he had been moody lately at home as well.”

“It had to be these other two boys!” Arrietta said. “Todd would never take something from the shop unless he was coerced into it!”

“I’m quite sure he acted under duress,” Atomyst agreed. “However, he knew the dangers and yet allowed himself into that position.”

“Why wouldn’t he ask one of us for help!” Arrietta said.

Morrigan sighed. “I’m really sorry about your family troubles here, but can I please leave now?”

Atomyst looked at Morrigan, his expression solemn. “Yes, of course. We’ve put you through enough already.”

With a wave of his hand, the glowing beads shook as if they caught a gust of wind, and the luminescent quality of both the beads and the runes drawn on the walls disappeared, darkening the room once again. Morrigan quickly headed towards the door, eager to leave the shop. Once she passed through the threshold, she sighed with relief, then looked over her shoulder to see Emma wasn’t following. “Emma?”

“Um, I was thinking. Do you have something that can help Morrigan with her appearance? I wanted to have her stay with me, but my parents might notice there’s something wrong with her.”

Atomyst stroked his beard. “Yes, actually, I’m sure it’s the least we can do. Especially after all the problems my grandson caused you. Just a moment…”

The old wizard disappeared towards the back of the room again then returned with a book that wasn’t quite as worn as the others and held it out to Morrigan. “Since your attunement is already so strong, I suggest you start with this one. The spells contained are quite harmless, yet useful. In particular, you will find a guide to using glamor.”

“Glamor?”

“Or, perception blocking, as you may know it,” Atomyst clarified.

Morrigan took the book from him and put it under her arm. “Thanks… um, I don’t have any money.”

“No charge, of course. If there is ever anything you need, don’t hesitate to call on us.” He then lowered his voice. “Arrietta is a bit rough around the edges, but I will make sure she understands that we owe you a debt, and she will treat you accordingly from now on.”

Morrigan nodded politely, though she had no plans on ever coming back here. “Alright, well, thanks for the book. Good luck with things.”

She hurried out the door, Emma in tow behind her.

Once they were back in the truck Morrigan took a look at the book, then reached down and slipped it under the seat.

“So what now?” Emma asked.

“I don’t know.”

Emma sighed. “I’m sorry about what happened in there. I shouldn’t have pushed you to come.”

“Eh, it’s fine. She’s the one who wouldn’t listen to me when I explained things.” She turned the key and put it in gear.

“Do you want to go somewhere quiet and check the book out? I want you to come home with me, but we need to do something about your appearance first.”

Morrigan pulled the truck onto the roadway. She didn’t know what she wanted, but she felt better now that Emma was with her.

“Here, let me take a look.” Emma put a hand on Morrigan’s seat as she leaned towards her and reached between her legs. Morrigan moved as much as she could to give Emma room.

After successfully retrieving the book, Emma opened it on her lap and started flipping through. Morrigan just drove, not sure where she was going but figured she’d just head back towards town.

“Hmmm I think I found it,” Emma said. “Uh, it’s pretty wordy, but… basically, it says to shape the magic around yourself, as if you wish to wear it as a second skin and impress upon it how you wish to be perceived. There’s a warning that it’s not foolproof; if someone looks too closely, they may see you as you are.”

“Yeah, I’m used to that.”

“You are?”

“When I was reaping, either Death or Noir would use it on me and they warned me the same thing.”

“Noir?” Emma asked.

“A demonic cat. He was my guide.”

Emma grinned. “Demonic cat?”

“Yeah, he’s kind of a jerk. Really condescending but… also kind of funny sometimes. Oh, and he also taught me how to drive.”

Emma snorted. “Come on, you’re messing with me.” Morrigan shrugged a shoulder in response. “Okay, okay, I need to hear everything about Noir the demonic cat now!”

“Hmmm… well, let’s see. The first day I woke up as a reaper, I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not, but I saw him in my room and screamed so loud my mom ran right up the stairs…”

***

“Wow,” Emma said as she leaned back against the old willow tree now that they were back at the cemetery. “You really did lie about a lot, didn't you?”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” She had told Emma everything she cared to relive about her first days as a reaper. She told her about Momo the cat, and the many people she had to reap. She recounted her battle with the demon and Noir’s transformation, though she wasn’t sure her words did justice to just what it was like to witness that. Then she admitted everything about her life that she had so carefully lied about since meeting Emma in middle school.

“It’s kind of embarrassing to admit your mom’s a stripper,” Morrigan said. “Not exactly the best way to meet people. ‘Hey my mom gets naked and dances for money, how about your parents? Wanna be friends?’”

Emma chuckled. “Honestly, if you introduced yourself to me that way I’d personally have thought you were the coolest girl in school.”

“Shut up. You're lying.”

“Nope, I’d feel like I had to top you. I’d say my dad’s a burlesque dancer or something.”

Morrigan snorted. “Where did you even come up with that?”

She leaned back, taking a deep breath. “Actually, if you really want to know the truth. I’m from a long line of witches myself. Arietta's lineage probably goes back further, though."

“You said your dad’s an accountant and your mom’s got a government job.”

“Uh, so boring!” Emma whined. “Why did I have to be from the boring side of my family?”

“Boring side?”

“You don’t know the half of it. I had to beg my cousin Hilda to show me anything. Then when my mom found out, she threatened to not let me see Hilda anymore if she kept involving me. Mom doesn’t like all the witch stuff; she wants to keep me away from it.”

“But… you are a descendant of witches?”

“Yeeeah, but mom doesn’t care about that stuff. Oh, some of my ancestors were killed in the Salem witch trials. Cool family history.”

Morrigan grinned. “How come you never brought any of this up at school?”

“It was kind of ingrained in me that people would think I was a freak and I wasn’t supposed to talk about our ancestry. Or that it might be dangerous for me if the wrong people found out, but I think that's paranoia. You don't ever hear about literal witch hunts these days. ” She sighed. “That’s just the way I was raised and I guess it stuck.”

“You mentioned the Salem witch trials…” Morrigan reached into her bag and took out the diary. “I found this in Death’s house. Apparently, it’s one of his old apprentices who was killed because people thought she was a witch.”

Emma looked at it curiously as she took it and flipped it open. “Woah, no way. 1694? This is a frikken piece of history!”

“You look a little too excited.”

Emma read the first few passages as Morrigan stared out over the tombstones. She tried not to think about it, but everything could be coming to an end for her pretty soon. There were still no names on her list, and last she knew, Noir had revoked his stamp of approval on her being a reaper. Would Death send her to limbo when he finally found her? She didn’t know, but she figured things would happen as they would. She was glad to have this day with Emma, though. Even if it couldn’t last, she felt happier right now than she thought she ever would have been able to. She had a friend who she could take her mask off in front of. She just wished she didn’t have to die first before realizing that.

“Damn, this girl is dark,” Emma said, closing the diary. “Can I borrow this?”

“Sorry, but no. You can read it whenever you want, though.”

“Well, we are going to be roomies for a little while!”

Morrigan paused at those words. Emma turned her head and Morrigan put on a smile. “Thanks, Emma… for everything.”

“Don’t worry about it, that’s what friends are for.” Emma smiled and handed the diary back to her. As Morrigan took it, they caught each other’s eyes. Emma blushed, and Morrigan fidgeted at how she smiled at her.

“Wellp, first things first,” Emma said, grabbing the spell book and standing up. “I wanna bring you home to meet the parents, soo…”

“You make it sound like we’re dating.”

Emma winked. “I’m willing to give it a chance.”

Morrigan shook her head as she stood.

Emma leafed through the book and found the chapter on perception blocking, or ‘glamor.’ “So, does any of this make sense to you? Something about shaping the magic over yourself like a second skin…”

“Let me see.” Morrigan took the book and skimmed through the chapter. “Hmm so how do I do this?” she muttered.

“From what my cousin has told me, you want to find your power source.”

“My what?”

“Basically find that warm spot, she says there’s no mistaking it when you find it. Close your eyes and search for it in your chest. Then it will feel like a tingling sensation. From there, she says to reach for it and take a little as if you're breaking off a piece of chocolate.”

Morrigan paused and thought about it. It sounded similar to what she had done before. Minus the chocolate part. She just wondered if she could do the same without summoning her scythe.

“So try it!” Emma said as she sat on a rock next to the willow tree. She crossed her legs and waited.

Morrigan let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. She searched her chest for the feeling that Emma had described but there was no fuzzy feeling or anything there. Instead, she focused on her hands and definitely felt something there.

“I think I got it,” Morrigan said. “Now what?”

“Let’s see. The book says to mentally move it over yourself, then visualize how you want to appear. It also said you’ll need to constantly put energy into the glamor to keep it active.”

“Sounds like a pain,” Morrigan said, remembering how much focus it took to spread her magic over that rope for Sam. She’d have trouble doing two things at once.

Morrigan took a deep breath and did as Emma had described. But it didn’t feel right as she cast the spell. She opened her eyes and found the grass dying around her once more. And this time it was spreading faster. The small well suddenly felt like a river.

Morrigan gasped and tried to pull it back into herself, and a sudden panic gripped her heart as she stumbled back. Her steps left withering footprints, as she felt that external sensation continuing to spread. “Emma get back!” she yelled. Then, all at once, the sensation flowed back into her—up her legs, through her body, and down her arms until it disappeared into the palms of her hands. She gripped her heart, staring at the ground but seeing the creeping decay had stopped spreading.

She felt herself shaking as she looked back at Emma, who was now on her feet with wide eyes, observing the withered patches of ground. “Woah…” Emma said under her breath. “Never heard of that happening before.”

Morrigan suddenly turned and stomped away.

“Hey! Morrigan, wait! It’s okay!” Emma said as she came after her. “Wait up! What’s wrong?” But Morrigan ignored her and kept going.