Chapter 9: Rejuvenation
After his fascinating conversation with Zoe, Michael fell back to waiting for Mallory to return to their room so that he could finally explain why he reacted so weirdly, however, when waiting became tedious, Michael found himself staring back at the small archive of books located in their other bedroom. Last night, Michael couldn't settle down enough to sleep, so he decided to silently explore the other room, discovering the abundance of books, with a moderate percentage of the books relative to the practice of magic, while the majority are books non-relative to the practice of magic. After finally picking a book, Michael got comfortable on the unnaturally soft king-sized bed, so comfortable, in fact, before he could get stuck into the book, he fell victim to his fatigue, falling asleep so quickly he never got the chance to turn off the lights, leaving only Michael with the memories of recent, as well as past events.
Michael? Sweetheart? Put those scissors down!
Please, Father, you must help the boy, he hasn't been himself, I fear the worst for him.
Get out! I don't care where you go! You can sleep on a park bench or under an overpass, I DON'T CARE! You have made a fool of me this entire time, treating me like the help. All the buried rodents and the MURDERED nannies, and I went along with it, thinking it was just a PHASE that you were going through! But THIS is not a phase! This is WHO you are! WHAT you are! And it's only gonna' get worse. But I swear to GOD, but it is not gonna happen in my house! Not this time!
Michael! Please, stop! Don't run, not from me!
Welcome to Miss Robichaux's.
My journey here, as well as my overall experience at this school, never would have been the same without you. I'm glad I have you by my side, Michael, I need you by my side now, without you, I just- I don't know if I could function without you.
Are you hear to save me?!
You're in Hell, boy, her Hell, even someone with your calibre won't last forever in Hell.
Your spirit is cunning, my son, but you- you cannot hide from me forever, Michael. Michael. Michael? Michael! Michael?! MICHAEL? MICHAEL! MICHAEL?!
Michael's eyes slowly pry open, his mind and body suddenly brought back into cognisance, but this time, he's awoken by the warm feeling of Mallory's arms wrapping around him, slow and delicate as if Mallory is trying her all not to wake him up, but unfortunately, he's a light sleeper.
"Hey," Michael whispers, feeling her arms jolt slightly in shock. "Before you apologize, Mals, you didn't wake me, I just happen to be a light sleeper."
"In other words, me cuddling up to you woke you up because you're a light sleeper?" Mallory scoffs, the pitch blackness hiding a cheeky smile that rests on her face. "I didn't mean to wake you, I just- I really needed this, to cuddle up to you, God I missed you, Michael."
"Words cannot describe how much I've missed you too, Mals," Michael says, placing his over Mallory's before placing it hard against his chest, revealing to her the velocity his heart is raging. "You make me feel so nervous, so alive, in fact, the most alive I've felt in years. I feel things I've never felt before, and no matter what has happened or how I've reacted to recent events, you must know that I am happy, Mallory. I am truly happy, terrified of most of what has happened, but I remain happy regardless, everything and everyone around me, especially you, make this whole new life feel so right."
"I- I thought I was really going to lose you, Michael, I've heard about what happens to those who are trapped in hell, and when I saw the way you reacted to Misty's touch, I started to freak out again," Mallory sighs, clenching harder onto his chest, feeling every inch of his powerful heart beat. "I know you didn't mean to, it's just, Misty went through the horrific experience of being stuck in Hell, and the thought of you going through that frightens me, but now she's safe, because of you she's back home with us, her sisters, as well as her brother and saviour, you."
"I couldn't have just left her behind if I did I wouldn't have forgiven myself, I just," he stops, thinking about whether or not he should recount to Mallory what he perceived in Misty's memories, or if he should wait, not ruin the moment. He decides on the latter, shifting closer to her before grabbing her hand, kissing it delicately. "What's important is Misty and myself are safe, that I'm with you, at this moment, alive, well and happy. I waited for you, you know, but, I obviously ended up falling asleep."
"You ended up leaving the lights on too, don't forget that detail," Mallory giggles, feeling the urge to nibble on his ear, only to stop herself. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, handsome."
"I forgive you, gorgeous, I forgive you," Michael smiles, closing his eyes to fall back asleep, before opening them again. "Mallory?"
"Yes, Michael?"
"I'm feeling much better, now that I've Awoken, I want to give exercising magic another try, I don't want to give up, I don't want to give in to the terror of what I am, of who I am," Michael says, his speech clear; he seeks endorsement from the person he trusts the most in this world. "I want to understand the extent of power, and more, I want to know the history behind my gifts, but I want you to be by my side when I do. You don't have to play pretend on my behalf, Mals, I know you wield magnificent power and I want you to share what you can do with the others, with me, and if you want to, perhaps you could tutor me on how to perform various feats."
"Of course, I will support you, hell I'll do that plus way more without question, I will always support you, Michael, because to be honest, you're kinda' stuck with me now. We're in this together, you and I, until the very end, the very end," Mallory says, finally kissing Michael's cheek. "Shall we get some sleep now? I'm pretty exhausted, to be honest, and we get to sleep in tomorrow as well, but because you're so eager to get back to it, we should begin drilling magic. Does that sound good?"
"Sounds more than good, Mals," Michael whispers, closing his eyes finally, and after a couple of minutes, he begins feeling Mallory's grip loosen on his chest; a sign that she's comfortable and fast asleep. "Sounds more than good."
After spending a whole day being coached by Mallory, Michael feels more poised magic than he has with anything prior, the way the sortilege pierced through his soul, powering up before exiting through the other side, it was beyond description for him. Mallory revealing to him her true capabilities made him speechless, and beyond her mere capabilities, but the purity that resides with it, it's indefinable. They began by advancing through small charms, talismans and spells to magic on a much more moderate degree of difficulties, such as temperature manipulation of the room, the negation of one of the room's lights and with Mallory's guidance, Michael carefully moved one of the lamps from one side of the room to the other with Telekinesis, and in over-excitement, he almost kissed Mallory, and luckily for him, she almost kissed him too. Michael wants to take it slow with Mallory, only make things somewhat serious when they're both ready, but he can't help but admit it, it's beginning to become difficult. Just the way she walks, the way she talks, her facial expressions, the beautiful dresses, both dark and bright, as well as the tiara she wears, the way she sometimes licks her lips when she sees him, she assumes he doesn't notice but he has, almost every time, and he loves it. There's so much he loves about her, the way she smiles and laughs, the way her arms are placed on her hips when he says something she doesn't approve, and the way he hips curve and highlights her wonderful...
"Michael? Are you with me, dude?" Zoe asks, dragging back into reality, shit, he almost forgot he was in the cemetery with Zoe when he should be at home eating dinner with Mallory, Kyle and the other young women. "You seem preoccupied?"
"I'm fine, where is Madison's gravestone?"
"Just up here, we're almost here, just don't zone out on me again," Zoe snickers, guiding Michael through the cemetery, the thunderstorm in the distance creeping its way closer as each minute of walking passes.
"Don't you think Kyle and Mallory are going to find it a little suspect that we're both missing from dinner?" Michael asks, watching Zoe stop in her tracks.
"That depends, are you considering the notion that my fiance suspects I'm cheating on him with new Warlock student? Which would mean he's suspecting me of cheating on him and acting in a very unprofessional matter?" Zoe asks, eyeing the visibly awkward and troubled Michael. "Don't worry about that, Mikey, Kyle is protective but he's not protective to the point where I can't have male friends, he's probably suspecting me of going out for burgers without him."
"So he's very confident then? That's good, he's a great looking guy, I've heard women dig scars," Michael comments. "Probably monstrous strength too."
"Well, the three things you just named, he's got; the looks, the strength capable of lifting only God knows what, we're still yet to figure that out. As for his scars, Madison was the source of those when, well, when Kyle was caught in the crossfire when she killed his frat brothers."
"And we're about to bring her back to the land of the living?" Michael scoffs, following Zoe once again. "Why would you want me to bring her back when Kyle killed her in the first place."
"We- I- it's just- complicated, okay?" Zoe reluctantly answers, pointing towards a small group of gravestones, specifically at the second-smallest one. "Here she is, sitting beside the Coven's other heartbreaking losses." That's when Zoe's eyes meet Fiona's gravestone. "Well, almost all of them are heartbreaking."
"I've noticed Miss Myrtle Snow has both "Mother" and "Advisor" on her gravestone while Miss Fiona Goode only has "Reigned Supreme" on hers, so, is there a story about that?" Michael asks curiously as he stares at the small assortment of gravestones. "I'm sorry if me asking bothers you, Miss Zoe."
"It doesn't, Mikey, don't worry about that, okay? It's just not my story to tell, Cordelia would probably give you context much better than I ever could. When I was enrolled in Miss Robichaux's, Cordelia was a teacher, Kyle was a walking corpse and there were only three students, four if you counted Misty, she happen to come to us late, while the threat of Hunter was still apparent."
"Miss Robichaux's has really-"
"Really what?" Zoe asks, discerning Michael's reticence, a now continued reticence. "You're zoning out on me again."
"I can feel her, I can feel Madison, her soul or life essence or something like that, but it's her, I'm sure of it, Miss Zoe," Michael reveals quickly before moving in front of Madison's gravestone and placing his hand on top of it. "This is the source, this is- this is-"
"Michael?!" Zoe screams, catching the suddenly unconscious Michael with Telekinesis before softly placing him on the ground. "You really need to learn how to Descend safely, dude. Jesus Christ."
