Chapter 7; The Magic Filter Cycle.

—Wanda's POV—

"Where is he….?" Wanda waited for her husband's return anxiously. Jorgen had an increasingly ill-tempered look on his face. He tapped his foot restlessly, muttering under his breath about Cosmo's flightiness. He swore that for every minute he kept them waiting, he was going to make him do 1000 pullups.

Wanda wanted to do much worse to him. She looked at Timmy, who was laying in bed wearily, his cold, pale hand held her's in a feeble grip. Poof sat beside his brother's pillow, patting his head. Timmy had taken his lunch dosage of the medicine, but he had not gone into a coma as Jorgen had predicted. He couldn't really be called awake, though. His awareness was dull, like half his mind was asleep and dreaming.

Sometimes he'd give her hand a frail squeeze and ask for a blanket or something hot to drink. Sometimes, in a thin voice, he'd complain about the cold, or whimper about how 'it hurt', or how he felt like he was disappearing.

Seeing his big brother in such a delicate state was making Poof cry. It was making Wanda want to cry, too. She kept reassuring him, again and again, that he was going to be ok.

"Your not disappearing." She assured, gripping his hand. "I know, your mind's all fuzzy and your body is weak, but you are going to be alright. We're going to be starting your treatment shortly, so try to relax, ok?"

"Poof, poof?" Poof asked if they could just bring him along, promising that he would be good and not interrupt his brother's treatment.

"The council is very stern about retaining the secrecy of this sort of magic. They don't want anyone not directly involved with the treatment there." Jorgen denied the possibility, making Poof pout.

"I guess I have no other choice. I'll have to call Mama Cosma..." Wanda sighed and took out her phone. As usual, it took one ring before her mother-in-law poofed into the room with them, rather than even bothering to answer the call.
The minty green fairy, however, did not break out into her usual brand of insults towards her daughter-in-law. Instead, she looked frazzled, and extremely put out, as if she had been in the middle of some very unpleasant business.
"I need you to watch Poof for a few hours." Wanda told her briskly, not wanting to give the overbearing woman a chance to vent over whatever had her so befuddled. Nor did she want to waste more time by having the woman pepper her with nosey questions.
Timmy was in such an awful state. She wanted him to get his treatment as soon as possible.

"Ah, yes, of course..." The woman responded with uncharacteristic detachment. Very few things could distract this woman from her grandson. "Timmy's treatment... sounds like it might take awhile... I can watch Poof until tomorrow if you need?"

"What do you know about-?" Wanda started when the answer to her question occurred to her. She sucked in a sharp breath, feeling her cheeks grow hot as she balled up the hand she wasn't using to hold Timmy's into a fist. When he had asked Poof to come with him, he had mentioned 'grandma', but she had thought he was just going to drop Poof off there as he wanted to register for a new wand. "Is Cosmo with you? He was supposed to-! We were waiting for him!"

"Dont be so inconsiderate! My poor boy has been through a lot. His nerves are shot! What, with having experienced something so awful? Is it any wonder he needed a mother's comfort? I finally got him to rest, I did. Poor thing hardly got any sleep since the accident. "

"Well, that's just perfect. Here we are left waiting on him, with Timmy's health deteriorating by the moment and he's taking a nap."

"Well, none of this would have happened if you haven't been gallivanting off for a week, shirking all your responsibilities off on my poor son."

Fury mixed in with guilt; she had been blaming herself, feeling that if she had not left that Timmy would be alright. She, however, knew that she was being unfair to herself by thinking this way. One week to visit with family was not some great, unreasonable indulgence.

"-knowingly pushing him past his capabilities, with no consideration at all for what might happen. You know Cosmo is not smart, and yet you left him to take care of your godson alone. You're the one to blame for all this." Mama Cosma had not paused in her long-winded rant.

Every part of her wanted to defend herself against the unreasonable tirade but, Timmy's treatment had been delayed enough. Getting the last word in with her shrew of a mother-in-law was not worth allowing Timmy's suffering to continue for a moment longer than necessary.

"Yes, well, be sure to tell Cosmo that he's more than free to take as much time off as he needs to recover his nerves." She spat. "I can handle everything myself. Like always! In fact, it'll be easier for me if I don't have to deal with his mood swings and infantile behavior!"

"How dare you speak like that about my son?" Mama Cosma demanded, giving her the usual stink eye, which Wanda ignored. She cleared her voice and turned to Poof. "Be a good boy sweetie, we'll be back soon."

"Poof..." her son looked sad, and she knew that her anger towards his father had caused it, but she was beyond livid. Poof was miserable and Timmy was hurting, whilst Cosmo was dallying at his mother's place, napping and being babied by the smothering woman. It always turned out like this. Whenever her husband messed up, it was those around him that bore the consequences.

"We've wasted enough time." Jorgen lifted Timmy, his voice cracking with impatience. "Tell Cosmo that I've underestimated him, he's far more incompetent than I gave him credit for!"

"Well, I never-!" Momma Cosma's indignant huff was the last thing they heard as they poofed out of the room.

— Jorgen—

"I don't know how or why you put up with that moron." He commented, looking at Wanda's bright red face. She looked like she could explode at any moment.
She ground her teeth in response and he decided not to risk kicking the metaphorical hornets' nest further.
Timmy stirred in his arms, making an incomprehensible murmur. Those creepy, dead eyes looked around languidly, but he saw no recognition in them. The boy was in no state to truly comprehend anything. It was weird for him to see the spunky boy in such a condition.

Timmy Turner was supposed to be a mischievous rascal. A playful little troublemaker, whose great love for fairies, and his innate goodness, made him endearing to the vast majority of fairy world's inhabitants despite the problems he occasionally caused. Seeing him reduced to a state like this was uncomfortable.

"Is he ok?" Wanda forgot her anger and looked anxiously down at her godson as he continued to groan. He had to give her full points for caring about her charges well being. Many godparents seemed to care more about what a sick or injured godchild meant for their evaluation. Not to say that they did not care about their godchild, but the kid came in second to their own self interest.

Wanda was one of those who cared more about the child than about herself, and he respected her for that.

"He's consciousness is getting fainter." He remarked, not without pity.

"Hang in there, sweetie. We'll get you feeling better soon. "Wanda was reassured. She then glanced around herself, having been too infuriated to really take notice of her surroundings before.

"Where are we?"

"In the forbidden basement of the fairy council HQ."

"They have a forbidden basement?"

"Yes."

Wanda looked left, right, up, down and then at him. "What's so forbidden about it?"

Fair enough. It looked like a standard run-of-the-mill basement. Dust, cobwebs, a jumbled of decrepit odds and ends, most of which would never see the light of day again. The look of monotony completed its self with a dingy light bulb that flickered every couple of moments.

"Well, nothing really." He admitted. "But it's a private place to talk."

He poofed up a mattress to lay Timmy down on. Wanda immediately went to his side to check on him. The boy had closed his eyes by now, and looked as though he had fallen asleep, which was good. He'd rather speak of some things without Timmy hearing them, even if he was in no state to really understand things.

"When Timmy died, he was revived by magic." He started off with a brisk summary of the situation at hand. "However, because of poor compatibility, or perhaps clumsiness on Cosmo's part, his vitality did not restore. This caused his body to rely on the revival magic trapped inside to function."

"So, whenever I gave him the medicine to have him flush it out..." Wanda could not keep the guilt from her voice.

"Yes, the more magic that left him, the weaker he got, however it is necessary. Wanda, do you remember your history lessons? When magic stagnates inside a human, what befalls them?"

Wanda wrapped her two arms around her midsection. She looked queasy as she no doubted recalled the horrific experiments that fairy world had once conducted on children. She had not been alive during the dark days of fairy world, but he had. If she thought just reading about it was sickening, then she was lucky not to have seen it with her own eyes.

"Well?" He pushed as she hesitated to answer. She gulped and held Timmy's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Stagnated magic can cause severe illness or mental abnormalities if left in a human too long."

"When magic stagnates inside a non magical body, it eventually rots and turns rancid. What happens then?"

"... severe physical deformities and the mind deteriorates."

"Exactly. So what we are going to do is keep the magic inside of him fresh with the magic filter cycle. This will not allow the magic a chance to stagnate."

"So, I'll be doing what exactly?"

"You'll be renewing the magic inside of him three times a day. You flush out the old with the medicine, and inject the new. We will continue this treatment until his body gains back enough of his own natural vitality to function without it."

"Ok, but if magic is left inside of a human body for such a long time…. will it have a side effect?" Wanda looked at her godson worriedly.

He sighed and summoned the most detestable book in the universe into his hands. There were only three that existed, and that was three too many, as far as he was concerned.

"This tome, Wanda, has documented every human experiment performed in the dark days of fairy world." The book felt heavy even in his arms, but it was not the weight of leather and paper that gave it heft. It was the sins within that gave it its weight. "This was written at the cost of thousands of children's lives. Some had their bodies ruined. Some lost their minds. Others even had their souls destroyed." He held the book out to her, feeling as if he were offering her something worst then the most vile excrement imaginable. "The price paid for the knowledge you're about to be given is one that can never be repaid or forgiven."

Wanda turned pale and clung to her Godchild as if the mere presence of the book could hurt him. "W-why are you...? What do these horrible things have to do with Timmy's treatment…?"

"Creating a magical current in a human body to keep a human child alive." He opened the book to a section in the middle. "It's the only magic from the Dark days that may be used in absolute emergencies."

"So I'll be performing...?"

"A spell which is the byproduct of human experimentation."

Wanda looked as if she had just been slapped and she put a hand over her mouth to stifle back a sob. "I...to Timmy...? I…."

"Turner will die if you don't." He told her bluntly, and her body jolted as if she had been physically hit. "…I know it's horrible that we have to resort to using something made from so much suffering…" His mind trailed off unwittingly to memories he wished he did not have. "But at least these awful spells can save a life now and have saved them before. Timmy won't be the first to go through this, he sadly will probably not be the last. Everything will be fine, Wanda, if you just follow the instructions exactly."

"Of course...I..." She took a moment to compose herself and gather her nerve. "…So, about my question…what will having magic inside of him for so long do to him?"

"That depends, Wanda, in perfect honesty. Tell me, how close are you to your Godchild?"

She looked unprepared for such a question and reacted with an awkward surprise. "Is that important?"

"Yes, because the bond between fairy and child is the determining factor in what side effects, the magical filter cycle will cause the child to manifest."

"What do you mean?" She asked, finally taking the book he offered with trembling hands. This was a forbidden book that very few received permission to read.

It was not a privilege to study this tome. It was a tragedy, one that invited more tragedy if one allowed their hearts to be consumed by what was written in the pages.

He would just need to believe in Wanda's experience and stout heart to prevent her from being led astray.

— Wanda —

Wanda sat down the book. Her hands felt dirty from having held it. They felt so contaminated that she couldn't bear to even give Timmy's hand a squeeze as he uttered a small moan in his sleep. His furrowed brows and perspiration made it clear his sleep was not a pleasant one. He was suffering. He needed help, but the only help she could give….

"Do you comprehend what will be done to Turner?" Jorgen questioned, and she nodded, looking accusingly at the book as if it were to blame for its contents.

Creating a magical current within a dying child to keep them alive while their bodies recovered...one of the many experiments from the dark days.

It sounded nice on the surface, but the fairies of old had not done this out of love or kindness. More often than not, they themselves were the ones to put the child into a near death state for the sake of this cruel experiment.

"Yes…I understand." She swallowed the lump in her throat.

The fairies had conducted this travesty of an experiment to see if humans could become magical beings. A magical species dependant and subservient to them.

The first experiments had led to stagnated and rancid magic; so they had come up with the magic filter cycle to see what happened if fresh magic was housed inside a human for an extended time.

The child developed physical oddities that could not be explained, or odd abilities, abnormal thinking or speech patterns...but their frail bodies were too weak to contain the magic and after ten years tops, they'd die.
After many experiments, they discovered a way to give magic to humans without leading to their death. There were seven particular points on the human body receptive to receiving magic. If magic was injected into these points, the magic refined its self into something their bodies could withstand.

This method allowed the child to become close to what they wanted.

A human with magical ability; a witch, wizard, mage, sorceress—whatever they called themselves — they were little more than a tool for the fairies. They lived amongst the humans, acting as a spy or helping kidnap children, in exchange for more power. Their reliance on the fairies to keep their magic also made them easily disposable if they became too greedy.

"Turner will end up changed by this; but how changed will depend on his bond with you."

"I see…." She closed her eyes, reviewing the contents of the book in her mind.

For fairies that had little to no feelings towards the child injected with their magic; the child's ability was weak—and weird physical changes or mental deterioration were the norm.

The stronger the feelings between fairy and child, the greater the abilities they got in exchange. Levitation, pyrokinesis, telepathy, precognition, just to name a few examples.

But not just powers developed; changes also occurred to their physical bodies and mental capabilities.

These kids sometimes had their growth stunted, or became prematurely aged. Other times, they became very smart or became unhinged. The secret how it affected them was in the bond between fairy and child.

If the fairies disliked the child, or if the child resented or feared the fairy; the changes were dangerous. Evil powers, disgusting physical states, damaged minds…

If the fairies doted on the child or the child loved them, the changes were sweet; kind powers, a charming physical state, increased mental ability.

"…Timmy will be fine, I am sure of it." She opened her eyes and gazed down at her sleeping godson, smiling. Her magic would cause changes in him. She did not know what they'd be but, if love made things turn out positively, then…Timmy would be ok. "I love him. Timmy is my all-time favorite god child."

He was so much more than that, but to say so to Jorgen would be inviting unwanted scrutiny. After all, if he knew just how much she loved him, then he might reassign her as a preemptive measure to avoid another "Bubbles" incident.

Jorgen smiled, not suspecting the depths of her actual feelings. "Yes, and all of fairy world knows just how much Turner loves his godparents. I'm sure he'll turn out fine in your care, Wanda."

"Just…. out of curiosity, if he develops powers—does he still need to lose his memories when he grows up?" She asked, a little hopeful, but the large fairy frowned, shaking his head.

"No can do."

"But, what if—" She shut her mouth as Jorgen narrowed his eyes. If she protested too much, he might realize just how unwilling she was to let her boy go.

"I know you're worried Wanda, but at least wait until we know how the magic will affect him. If, when Turner eventually loses his fairies, we feel he might be in danger because of his abilities, we'll step in."

A little of her hope reignited. "Really?"

"But it's not like we're still living in the times of witch burnings and changeling hunts." Jorgen continued, killing off a little of her hope with each word. "Chances are, as long as you teach him how to manage his new abilities that he'll be able to manage on his own. A little tweaking of his memories won't have him questioning where he got them from, either. Also, with no exposer to magic, his abilities will weaken over time and will most likely be gone by his thirties."

"I see…." Her hope turned to disappointment again. Fearing she was being too obvious, she quickly made an excuse. "I'm just worried how Poof will take it, when eventually the time comes to say goodbye. To him, Timmy is his actual brother. That time you took Timmy to the Wishing Well, Poof wouldn't stop crying."

"Ah, yes, it will be hard on Poof." Jorgen nodded, deceived. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was hesitating. Whatever it was, he apparently decided against saying it, for when he spoke, it was to move things along.

"Alright, so now you understand what we're going to be doing and the side effects. Now I'm going to explain the procedure."

Jorgen poofed up a chalkboard and took the horrid book back into his hands. He drew an outline of Timmy's body on the board with X's in seven different places.

"I'm going to mark these places on Turner's body now. The marks will be visible only to your eyes and mine for the sake of keeping this magic secret. Anti-fairies and even some of our own could use this knowledge for ill."

She stroked Timmy's bangs. His forehead was sweaty and his dreams had not seemed to improve. She watched as Jorgen raised his wand and saw Timmy's body jerk slightly.

"Did that hurt him?" She asked worriedly. She could see a small blue star, about the size of her fingernail, on his throat, an indigo star on his forehead between his brows, and a white star on the very top of his head. The other four marks must've been covered by his clothing.

"These points on the body are very sensitive; they control a humans' physical, emotional and mental states. It's at these points you need to inject the magic."

"But…. will it hurt him?" She asked again, squeezing Timmy's hand.

"In the beginning, it will hurt." Jorgen answered honestly. "It will feel like an intrusion in his body. He may cry and even beg you to stop, but you have to push through. Eventually, as his body adapts, it will stop hurting. It will even start feeling good after a while." Jorgen made a face. "…Unfortunately, sometimes the child will form an addiction to the feeling of having magic in their bodies. If you see signs of this behavior, be sure to snip it in the bud straight away. Once a human becomes too addicted to magic, there is no saving them from going bad."

"Timmy would never." She defended her godchild, insulted. In the Dark Days of fairy world, when they stole children far too often to remain undetected, humans had hunted them. Some for revenge, while others sought to steal their magic. The things some adult humans had done to steal magic from fairies could easily rival the horrors committed against their children.

That was one of the main reasons children could not keep the memories of their fairies once they grew to become adults. 90% of fairies instinctively mistrusted adult humans and feared being hunted again.

"I can't see Turner turning out like Crocker, either, but magic and power have a way of changing even the best of people."

"Well, not my Timmy. Admittedly, he is a little selfish, but he'd never hurt us. He loves Cosmo, Poof and I like family." She thought back to his devastation when he realized he had hit them during his seizure.

"Well, even the council admitted no godchild has loved their fairies the way Turner does." Jorgen admitted. "But be sure to keep a watch just in case."

"I will…so…how do I do this magical injection?" She asked. From the book, she understood she would need to place her wand at each of these seven points and send magic into his body. She would need a clear mind and precise focus on what she wanted the magic to do, so no mishaps happened.

The book, however, had clarified that every child had a different capacity and that tests needed to be performed to see how much magic would be too much or too little. She did not know how much magic to inject him with, nor which order to follow. The book had also stated that for the best results; the points had to be injected in a particular order and that this too varied from child to child.

"We need to do tests before we can know."

"So, are we going to call Dr. Rip Studwell?" She asked, since these sounded like medical tests.

"No." Jorgen clenched his jaw, his entire expression clouding over. "This is not knowledge that fairies who have access to humans can have. Even your mind, Wanda, will have your knowledge on how to perform the treatment erased once Turner no longer requires it."

"Then…how are we going to have the tests done?" She asked, confused.

"Both the tests and the treatment will take place in Fey World." Jorgen informed her, his face and voice dire. She put her hands over her mouth in horror as she sucked in a sharp gasp of air.

Fey World…. the single most dangerous place possible to bring a human child.