Aligning with Magic

"Wait, you are saying Josie is missing a part of her soul?" Hope said, having just listened to John's recent discoveries.

"Basically." John nodded, his expression severe. "This might complicate things."

"No kidding. The soul is not exactly something most people deal with. It's basically unknown territory in the magical field." Hope said, understanding the situation. "How severe is it?"

"Honestly, I don't know exactly. After I calmed down, I thought things a little more thoroughly and took certain things into consideration. The severity can range from nothing… to both of the twins dying."

"Explain everything."

"Someone missing a piece of their soul is a huge matter, as you can guess. It's totally different from losing a member. From what I know, it's like losing an aspect of yourself. When I noticed the problem with Josie's soul, I immediately thought that this was the reason the twins should merge before they pass the age of 22. To absorb their twin, completing their soul, because they will probably die after they are 22. However, in my not so calm state, I forgot an important piece of the puzzle that is the Gemini Curse." John said, a mocking smile on his face as he thought how ridiculous his previous reaction was. "And that missing piece? It's Josette Laughlin. " John replied.

Listening to it, Hope put aside for a moment the self-mockery John just displayed. "Their mother lived past the age of 40, right?" She said,

John nodded. "Exactly, way past the curse 22 years-old threshold. And I don't know if it's possible for someone living with a fractured soul that should have killed them 18 years earlier." John explained, his back lying on the chair near Hope's desk. "That can mean two things. First, missing a part of her soul never brought any harm, and there can be a number of reasons for that. For example, after her twin was banished to the Prison World, the curse was cut off temporarily and thus what was bound to happen never happened. Because that's what it was referred to, a curse. And for some reason, when severing the connection of this curse when he was in the Prison World, it's possible to keep someone missing a piece of their soul alive." John explained.

"But… doesn't that mean that when Kai Parker returned, his sister would die either way?" Hope asked, pointing out a possible problem in this theory.

"I thought about it too. Very possibly, Josette Laughlin would die anyway after the curse returned to work properly even though Kai Parker merged with someone else. Or maybe not, since the curse would've been dealt with. Who knows? Or…" John paused, giving emphasis to his next words. "There is the second option: Josette Laughling never missed a part of her soul."

"But-"

Before Hope could raise her question, John was already answering her. "Yes, Josie had a piece of her soul missing, and I said that was probably related to the curse, but that's what I believe. Just because I most probably think my hypothesis is right, I must also consider the possibility I am not, and the lack of a piece of her soul is related to something else, like her being a Siphoner. And by losing a piece of her soul, she lost the main aspect of every witch, possessing inner and own power. And with this possibility, the curse is probably something entirely else and I am just making things confusing with my initial fear that my words probably led Josie to have a fucking hole in her soul." John said, letting out a sigh, one filled with mental tiredness, stressed with the situation.

When seeing John acting like this, Hope frowned a little, not liking his current situation. "What's the problem?" She asked, saying nothing else.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You are acting strange. Self-mockery, stressed, and saying things you normally don't say." Hope pointed out, crossing her arms under her chest. "Spill it, what is the problem?"

Feeling her stare at him, and staring back at those blue eyes of hers, John couldn't find in himself the strength to just ignore her question. And so, he answered her question.

"I am thinking I am failing at what I am supposed to be recently." John said, it took him a moment to find the best words to say.

"Continue." Hope said.

"These possibilities… I should've thought about them sooner when I was with Josie." John said slowly, his head low. "How could I have missed such important information? I shouldn't forget about things like that, these alternatives. And worse than forgetting them, is acting nervously and pushing Josie away from me because I panicked. I shouldn't be like that." He said, shifting his stance on the chair. "I shouldn't forget about anything. My thoughts shouldn't be this shallow and simple, I should think as deeply and thoroughly as possible. I shouldn't be this… simple." At the end of his speech, John let out another sigh, this time, one of frustration.

Seeing the boy like that, Hope smiled sympathetically at him, understanding what was his problem.

"John, come here." She said, tapping the side of her bed.

Looking up, John raised from the chair slowly, walking to Hope's bed and laying down on it, by her side.

With a swift movement, Hope moved her arm over him, pulling him closer to her, as her other hand caressed his hair. "You can't beat yourself simply because you can't get things perfect." She whispered, her voice extremely soft right now.

"It's childish, right?" He said after a brief silence.

"No, it's not. You just wish to be the best out of what you can possibly be. I can relate to that." Hope said, her thoughts going back in time a little. "I remember when my parents died. I thought everyday: Am I doing enough? Was I the person my parents wanted me to be?" She said, melancholy laced in her words. "And no matter how much I think I progressed, I will never be satisfied by it. All I, we, can do is try. Until eventually we reach our best or continue improving to get there."

Enjoying the softness of her touch, John listened to every word said by Hope with full attention, doing his best to understand what she tried to transmit to him through them.

And when he thought he understood, he lifted his head. His eyes met hers when she felt the movement of his head, and he muttered the next words. "Have I ever thanked you for making me a happy me?"

"Yes, by making me a better me." Hope smiled, pushing her lips forward, kissing John.

After a brief passionate kiss, their lips parted, with John resting his head near Hope's chest, while she rested her chin on the top of his head.

"I want you to learn it as well." John suddenly said. "How to resonate with magic." He completed his phrase.

"I will try." Hope said, scratching the back of his head. "But not now. Until the time of your meeting with Josie, let's stay like this a little longer."

"Okay." John said, diving into the warmth of Hope's embrace.

[Scene Break]

"Good evening, Josie. Lizzie." John nodded to the blonde girl, who smiled when he noticed her presence.

"I told Lizzie what I did and she asked to come along. To learn as well." Josie explained the presence of her sister, smiling to soothe the situation in case John still felt bad about what happened days earlier.

"No problem, it's good she is here too. Your sister should also learn this trick of yours." John replied, turning to Lizzie. "How have you been doing, Lizzie?"

"Great! And about to get better if you can help me do what Josie did." The blonde replied, trying to behave as if everything lately has been perfect for her, but John knew she has been a little quiet since that party.

However, sincerely, John didn't care much about this and proceeded to do what he came here at this moment. "Okay, since everyone is here, let's start explaining what we are going to do." John said, waving his hands, casting a magical holograph of humanoid physiology in the air.

"As we know, all sentient beings own a soul. And today, what Josie achieved is related to this very powerful entity which resides in our bodies and is essentially us. Resonating with magic." John said, a single point of blue light appearing in the middle of the head of the humanoid figure.

"Our souls reside in our heads?" Lizzie asked.

"Nearly, but not quite as well. This is more like the best representation of how you could see a soul." John said, but his words still left both girls confused. "You know I can see things beyond the sight of a normal human. For example, I can see beyond the visible light. Past the infrared and ultraviolet. So, question yourselves, if I were to show you an image of something beyond the ultraviolet, how would I do it?"

The answer came shortly, with Josie answering. "You would show us the closest representation to what you are seeing. You see a color we don't. So for us to see it, you change the color to violet." She explained, looking at the holograph. "You do the same here, giving us the representation possible so we can understand it."

"Exactly." John nodded in agreement, satisfied with Josie's answer. "Now, resuming. Magical Resonance, in very simple words, is resonating yourself, your soul, with the magic itself present in the environment around you." He said.

Suddenly, magic started to move around John, drawing a circle around him despite no movement from him. "What I call Magical Resonance is similar to Science's Resonance. But remember, similar, but not equal. Magic is something that can be understood through science, but there are things I can't translate and explain. At least not now." Slowly, John's words were said with more enthusiasm. The excitement he felt from sharing his passion of magic with others was such a great feeling.

…

Far away from where John was, with her hands resting on the frame of the great window, Hope smiled as she heard the excitement in John's voices. "Nerd."

…

"Normal Resonance happens when a wavelength of certain size aligns with an object of equal size, leading the object to resonate. This means the object will absorb energy from the waves more efficiently. But, what about Magical Resonance? As Josie demonstrated earlier, when you resonate yourself, your soul, with the magic in the environment, the magic naturally moves towards you. That's why it becomes easier for you, Siphoners, to absorb the magic all over your body." John said, the magic in the environment suddenly moving towards him. He turned it into a blue light so the twins could see it. "And for now, that's what we are going to focus on, on how to resonate with magic and draw this power to you. Josie already achieved the first step, but I want you two to go beyond. I want you to be able to resonate at any moment or place, not only when you sit down and concentrate. And for that to happen, I will first help you resonate and then we will try the rest. Sit down with your backs to me, please." He said, sitting down.

Doing as he said, the twins turned around, showing their backs to John.

"To help you Resonate, I will put my hands on your back and lead the magic into you. What I will do will basically be like sending you a signal, from there, you have to feel the magic within you and answer back by making your soul able to receive this signal. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." Josie said. Lizzie, however, had other words to say.

"Have you ever done this before?" She asked, a little eccentric with everything.

"No, you will be the first."

"Not the first I expected." Lizzie grunted. "Ow!" She received a slap in her tight from Josie.

John chuckled at that. "Can we start?"

"Wait, I have another question." Lizzie said. "Is it possible for it to go wrong? Like, not resonating properly?" She questioned, and it was a good question as well.

"Not that I know." John replied honestly, his eyes narrowing a little. "From my knowledge, the worst that can happen is you not getting to resonate with magic. However…" A thought crossed John's mind, giving him an idea. "Interesting…" And now another thought.

"What is?" Josie asked.

"Nothing you have to worry about now. I am here, everything will be fine." John's voice was calm, so the twins could be as well. "Now, let's start it." John said, now acting seriously.

"Close your eyes. From now on, forget about your five basic senses. Focus only on the magic in you and try to feel it wholeheartedly." As words left John's lips, magic came out from his palms, connected to the girls' backs, the magic entering in them.

…

From her window, Hope observed John help the twins. But right now, her focus was not solely placed in the situation in front of her. Her focus was also placed on his previous words.

"Resonating with magic from the environment…" She muttered, her tone neutral.

Overall, the magic in the world could be divided into two, nature and own. One found in nature and other found in those of magical heritage.

Magic found in nature was usually used by witches to cast spells or perform rituals which required much energy. They channeled it to compensate for the magic they didn't have.

Throughout her life, Hope never required to channel magic to cast any spell. Her magical heritage gave her enough. To the point that, as some people say, supply the entire French Quarter Coven's ancestral magic for generations as a baby.

She knew she was powerful, and since she also had no great ambitions that required more power, she never seeked more. She was content with what she already has.

The only moment this perspective of hers wavered was two years ago, when she felt the most powerless in her whole life. When she didn't have the necessary power to protect her mother, nor the one to destroy the Hollow and save her father and uncle.

After these events, unknown to herself until recently, she started to "suppress" her own powers.

She didn't practice magic as much, just as requested in classes and used it in daily things. And as life started to get "normal" again, with no witches trying to take her life and ancient vampires trying to kill her family, she didn't see the value of her power and didn't make real use of it.

The once great power that could fuel one of the most powerful covens of the Northern Hemisphere for decades became dormant.

And it would probably continue like that if not for the words of a single boy who she cherished very much and a thought that kept her awake at night sometimes.

"For him." Hope muttered, looking intently at John. Only she knew the meaning behind her words.

Spinning around, she walked to the middle of the room, where a relatively big space was opened after she moved her art materials earlier.

Sitting down on her knees, with her thighs resting upon her calves and heels, Hope closed her eyes as John instructed, followed by how he said to forget about the five basic senses, focusing only on feeling the magic.

Let's see how it is. Hope thought.

Quickly, seconds went by, with Hope getting deeper and deeper into her own mind, into herself. The outside world started to disappear for her, with the only sight to her being the flickering lights she could see through her eyelids with her enhanced senses.

When it seemed like a minute went by, suddenly, even these lights disappeared. However, strangely, everything seemed to become even more brightful despite her having her eyes closed.

What is this? Hope thought, "looking" at the glowing lights of deep blue flying around her. Is this how I view magic? She thought.

Honestly, Hope felt it was strange to feel the magic around her. It was such a familiar presence, but at the same time, uncommon. Different from her own magic. Technically, they should be the same, but they were different.

And she felt this feeling even more intensely when she tried to reach out to the magic. Like a bridge was built between her and it.

The glowing blue lights moved in her direction, and an extraordinary feeling hit her when the magic brushed against her skin, responding to her every breath and thought, almost like it was alive. Its current action a response to her trying to feel it closer, and then it decided to come to her itself, letting her experience the presence of its existence.

What if… Hope noticed it, leading to a change in her thoughts. And she observed as the magic in front of her followed her mind, starting to move in her intended direction.

For the next moments, Hope played with the magic around her, manipulating it at her will as the magic simply went where she wanted it to go. And she observed it like a child who just began to practice their spells, wondering at how it happened as her curiosity rose.

"It seems we have a genius here." A familiar voice which seemed to come from everywhere surprised her.

Opening her eyes, Hope didn't need to move to notice the young man sitting down on her window, looking at her with surprise and tenderness.

"Congratulations, Hope. You now can control natural magic."

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Notice: Changed Resonation into Magical Resonance.

I think this is the chapter I most changed midway writing. There were simple so many things I wanted to explain, but had to hold a few things due to plot and other things. Anyway, I can't even believe I posted it before weekend. I thought that with this little break, I could write more. Well, not as much as I wanted since I got my interest in something else, related to the fanfic actually. I will explain more in the future. Anyway, I am liking where things are going and things I have planned for this fic. Remember to comment what you think, grammatical mistakes or if you noticed a plothole I missed. I will do my best to correct it or make use of it. Enjoy your holidays and thanks for all your support - Author