"So if you use this ward, it'll block everything from outside it's perimeter without drawing away too much magic," James said as Syd willed herself to just absorb the information.
The Enochian wasn't hard for her to read anymore, and in fact it almost seemed to whisper to her as she read it. But the different symbols and ingredients for the spells were starting to cause her to have another headache. James had wanted for her to just review Enochian for the rest of the day, but she just felt a sudden urgency to do something, anything. So she had pestered him into teaching her warding spells.
A phone rang from the kitchen, and James excused himself to answer it. Syd stared at the page for a few minutes before leaning back in her chair and putting the book over her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Portia's voice came from the hallway.
"I'm trying a new learning method called diffusion," Syd joked and set the book back down on the table; Portia's eyes had narrowed in confusion. "It's a joke. Diffusion occurs in cells when there's more… stuff outside the cell than in it. It equalizes it, I guess."
"Ah, so you are trying to get the information to permeate your brain," Portia said with a small smile.
"Exactly! Not working out very well though, I'll admit."
Portia laughed a little, and James walked back into the room with his phone. He looked tired but a little relieved. Portia's face grew serious in return. Syd sat back and watched the two of them. She couldn't mentally hear what they were saying, but she could see what their expressions could tell her. After a few moments of mental back and forth, they noticed Syd passively watching them while drinking tea.
James cleared his throat and explained, "That was one of my contacts. Apparently there are two witches willing to teach you, Maggie and Don Stark. They say that they've met Sam and Dean before, and they're willing to train you. I'll have to speak to the Winchesters first, but it looks promising."
Syd watched Portia closely. Portia clearly didn't like or trust these people, but James had at least talked her into agreeing with him. These Starks might be the best chance Syd had at keeping her powers under control. Syd nodded to James, and he sat back down at the table in front of Syd.
"So they're natural witches?" Syd asked curious about her possible new mentors.
"Well, I don't know if they both are, but they're both extremely powerful witches. Don was really the one who agreed. Apparently Maggie isn't too fond of the Winchesters," James stopped when he saw the apprehensive look on Syd's face. "But she agreed to assist in the training."
"Well, that's… good. I guess," Syd said uncertainly. She didn't really like the idea of being taught by someone who disliked Sam and Dean, but there really weren't that many options for her. At least this Maggie Stark agreed to assist, although Syd reasoned that could just be a way to keep an eye on her.
"And Don thought of a pretty ingenious way to teach you without him having to live in the bunker," James said. "We can set up a spell that uses mirrors to create a gateway between his house and here. That way you can still live here but use the gateway to get to his house for lessons."
"But his place probably isn't warded as well as the bunker is it?" Syd asked.
"Probably not, but I've never seen a place with this much magical protection. Anyway, we'll work on that when we get to it. We still need to get Sam and Dean's thoughts on this. Now we should probably end lessons for today, but we'll resume this tomorrow."
Syd nodded, and James left the library. Portia remained in the doorway. After watching James leave, Portia walked up to the table. She was quiet for a few moments as though struggling to find the words to say.
"Maggie isn't a bad person. I don't know her personally, but I do know that she has a reputation for being not only a very good witch but a decent person on occasion. She won't do anything to you while she's your teacher; I know that for certain… unless you sleep with her husband. I've heard rumors, and I'd deeply recommend not doing that."
Syd laughed a little and replied, "That's not going to be a problem. I have much bigger things to worry about at the moment, so sleeping around isn't really a priority for me. Especially since if he did hit on me, all I'd have to tell him is that Lucifer has a thing for me, and he'd probably run for his life."
"That would be the smart move to make, but you know… love is an important thing. Don't live your life according to someone else's rules. You'll never find happiness that way," Portia said with a small sad smile on her face.
Syd nodded, and Portia left the room to follow James. Portia's advice seemed to be taken from personal experiences, which Syd hadn't expected of Portia. Syd didn't know much about James or Portia, but she did know that they were on the run from something. Ordinarily that would ring an alarm with Syd, but Sam and Dean seemed to trust them at least. Sam and Dean weren't very comfortable around James and Portia, but they did respect them. Syd worried about whether that was because James was a witch because Syd was a witch too. What if Sam and Dean started feeling that awkward around her? That would hurt, especially if Dean treated her that way. If that happened, she'd probably just leave the bunker. There'd be no point in hiding from Lucifer if her hell was here.