The Knights of Scooby
Chapter Six
by Lionheart
*-*-*-*-*
It had been another week, making in all three since the night Mr Mage Dude had changed his life. XanderÆs interlibrary loan books had arrived, and heÆd been able to scrounge up most of the rest in between cruising the used book stores and making a few, very few, special orders for new ones.
But he had, between all of that, managed to obtain copies of the normal stuff, the strategy and martial arts guides that Mr. Mage Dude had made him memorize. Plus, heÆd also gotten a good one on archery.
Xander had after many hours and aching fingers completed typing out the æAnnotated Codex of Magical ThoughtÆ and, by virtue of WillowÆs ceaseless encouragement and a resolve face here or there, been sufficiently motivated that heÆd finished the Xander-Dex at roughly the same time.
HeÆd be including both in her study session because, well, why not? And she got to be his first victim because sheÆd earned the priviledge. Jesse was too laid back to care about who went first, and Amy was going to be out the next two days going to Disney Land for some family reunion or other.
Willow had been a little nervous. Xander, however, felt sure of their success.
In the hypnotism section of the Sunnydale Public Xander had found an actual book of spells, including ones to recreate images seen by drawing them in a trance, so heÆd created copies of those chakra charts and other things.
He had also used one of those trances to write out longhand a copy of that so very extremely useful 'Ars Memoriae' scroll, but his arm had hurt so bad afterwards that he wouldnÆt be doing that again. Waaay too much cramping for a happy Xander to think about doing again.
They would not be waiting for him to type out those other magic books, as there seemed to be no reason they couldnÆt go back and do them later in another session, just like Xander was hoping to have more than one. Similarly, the two books on how to fight and recognize demons would have to wait, as heÆd only just started typing those and there was no way that his eager buds could be restrained until those could be completed.
But those were really the only things heÆd learned that heÆd be leaving out for WillowÆs first time through this, and there should be opportunities to plug those holes up later.
As Amy had already warned them, the books on sex magic available in the public library were just enough to get you in a serious world of hurt without any benefit, or way to stop that. And that seemed to be a general theme among all of the books on magic available there, with incomplete grimories, botched books on rituals, advanced stuff way too high end for beginners, and the usual selection of æHow To Get Possessed By A Demon Of Your ChoiceÆ tutorials making up the bulk of the volume of the libraryÆs magical selection.
With few exceptions, every magical book in there seemed to be an entry into the: æHow Best To Royally Screw Up Your Life Using MagicÆ sweepstakes. Even the hypnotism book had a few such traps caused by incomplete explanations, but thankfully due to having dreamed the Codex now for three weeks, heÆd been able to spot and remove them, filling in the blanks they hadnÆt covered.
But what kind of maniac was in charge of stocking that library anyway? It was like they were TRYING to get people into trouble, making sure that they had no end of ways of stumbling into way more than they could handle!
Xander had even found one more book by Percival Throckmorton in their selection, entitled æPowers and RitualsÆ and as Amy explained it was the sort of book that can get you in nasty, nasty trouble, thrown in off the deep end, if you didnÆt already have an extremely firm grounding in the essential basics taught by his æCodex of Magical ThoughtÆ (a work that virtually no one had a firm grounding in) plus another book by him that Xander didnÆt even know the title of. So the æPowers and RitualsÆ book was infamous among magical folks for getting those who tried it into vast and uncontrollable amounts of trouble.
And no, the library didnÆt have a copy of the Codex, or that other one. It was like a theme, to carry the advanced grade of magic without the beginning tutorials to get you safely started, in those rare cases when the books they carried werenÆt simply flawed to begin with. There was only enough of the simple stuff to serve as bait to the trap, drawing people in by making them think they could handle it. It was like the whole collection was calculated to cause mischief!
Who was in charge of that anyway?
The way Amy explained it, it was so bad her mom kept watch on those people checking out magic books so she could run a business on the side curing the various problems theyÆd inflicted upon themselves when they inevitably screwed whatever they were trying up.
Still, theyÆd solve the mystery of why the public library was that way later. In the meantime, they already had more than enough to occupy their attention.
So, early one morning, by pre-arrangement, Xander got up from the sofa in WillowÆs house, shutting off the alarm clock as he did so. Then he padded up the stairs to WillowÆs room and eased inside of the partially open door.
Willow was sleeping peacefully.
Xander paused at the entrance without meaning to, just drinking in the sight of her, his best friend since forever, her hair spread out upon the pillows and a peaceful smile on her face.
He never got tired of the good feelings he felt as he watched her at rest.
Well, on with the show and all of that.
XanderÆs very first act was to remove those compulsions from Willow. He did not know exactly what they were, but on close observation decided that heÆd probably never find out, as he couldnÆt yet translate the spell matrix and theyÆd been in place for so long that whatever behavior they gave her was almost certainly something he considered normal.
Still, it was very satisfying to untie those magical knots on her soul, then to watch them dissipate into meaningless strands of ether. Somehow he knew he had done a very good deed, even if he didnÆt know precisely what.
As Mr Mage Dude had done to him, the next spell did not so much rouse Willow from her sleep as waken her just enough to put her in a hypnotic trance, then a second to help in memorization.
That was the easy part. Now it was time to approximate the rest as best he could, as his oldest friendÆs parental troubles were different from his own.
All of them, even Willow, had discussed the kinds of things she needed to hear during this session tonight.
ôWillow Rosenberg, your parents do not determine your worth, you do, and you have become a beautiful young lady of infinite value. Your friends can see this, even if your parents do not. Do you understand this?ö
ôYes,ö Willow breathed that one word out as a joyful exclamation. Could he have looked so pleased when the mage told him this? Xander wondered. The light of joy illuminating her face was unmistakable.
It made him feel oddly... something, but there was no time to figure it out now.
Privately, Xander thought Ira and Sheila Rosenberg were fools for neglecting their daughter so badly. If only theyÆd paid her a little attention she could be so much more than she was right now.
But then, they probably would have been upset at her hanging out with the poor kid with the drunk parents next door; so his win, her loss, and he felt a bit guilty over that.
Grateful, but guilty.
ôYou are a very gifted and talented young lady, but you need to develop your gifts and talents more. Do you understand?ö
ôYes,ö Willow breathed softly, still in rapture from the first question.
ôGood,ö quoth Xander. "I am going to do several things that you may find odd or distressing, but they will help you to aid your friends as they do what is needed. You do want to stay with them, don't you?"
"Yes," said Willow, with conviction, even while blushing madly for some mysterious reason.
ôUm, excellent,ö Xander stumbled over his words, wondering why she would look so... enthused, even as she blushed deep scarlet clear down to where the flush disappeared under her pajama neck. Still, he pulled out the roll of computer paper onto which heÆd used a trance to copy the 'Ars Memoriae' scroll. He gave it to her, saying, "You will start off by mastering this."
In a trance, and with the memory spell helping, Willow was able to memorize the scroll in about a minute, roughly the same amount of time he had used to do the same thing. She set it aside, saying ôOkay,ö when she was done, her blush having faded slightly as she studied.
"Very good," the boy nodded, retrieving and rerolling the computer paper. "Have you selected a memory palace?"
"Yes," the mesmerized teen stated blandly.
"Build it," her friend commanded, "Then order your mind."
Willow repeated XanderÆs long, slow blink and rapid eye movements. As she did so her blush finished fading away until it was all normal Willow-flesh there. No blush to be seen. ôOkay Xander,ö she stated after her eyes snapped open.
"Very good." The teen took a large poster, on the back of which heÆd written the chart, and showed that information to her. "Now, I need you to memorize this chart of the major and minor chakras of the human body."
When it took Willow only about a second to memorize that highly detailed and complex illustration heÆd practically sprained his hand drawing, Xander knew that this was going to turn out to be a success.
æGo Willow!Æ
Although he knew the Latin incantation for pulling a big book out from a small pocket, Xander hadnÆt actually mastered that spell. He probably couldÆve, but preferred for the moment doing as Throckmorton had said and concentrating on the basics, trying to master them before he moved on to anything more advanced - And he wouldnÆt be doing that if he couldnÆt see how it was doing him some real good.
Amy had been a useful example there, as those cosmetic spells were very similar to the one he used to hide pencil-stab marks on the bodies in the morgue, and although hers were more advanced she had much more difficulty controlling them than he did with his small spell. As a result, he got better results within the more narrow scope and focus of his small spell than she did with her more powerful ones.
When he had demonstrated this and explained some of theory behind why she had displayed some interest in the small one, although she did not seem fully convinced of the value of those tutorial cantrips as yet.
Xander was almost certain sheÆd come around once Willow had memorized the Codex and was able to outshine her on the makeup side of things. Plus, there were minor hair-growth cantrips and shaving spells that heÆd forgotten to tell her about, that he was certain ought to be convincing.
While these thoughts had been going on, Xander had been busy retrieving the big stack of paper that was their newly printed copy of ThrockmortonÆs æAnnoted Codex of Magical ThoughtÆ, and instructing Willow to memorize it, just as he had done.
Once she was through with that it was time to memorize his abbreviated version, the one they liked to call the Xander-Dex. There were no other magic books, nor any laptop, so they wound up the memorization with all of the nonmagical stuff heÆd collected, all of which went fine.
Xander found it strange that out of all that useful and safe magic stuff heÆd learned, none of that was to be found in the Sunnydale Public Library, in spite of them having an otherwise large and wide-ranging selection of magic. Nor did he dare to ask for an inter-library loan on those topics, in spite of having AmyÆs mom serving as an in to the system.
Maybe it was because of his parents, but he didnÆt generally trust authority figures, and something was up there with all of that magic stuff seemingly arranged specifically to cause trouble among people who didnÆt know better. And, there was also the fact that the police had to know about the vampire threat, yet they did nothing.
No, whatever it was, he wasnÆt about to go advertising æHere am I! I am a mage!Æ until he had a better idea of why certain things seemed so wrong.
So, to make up somewhat for that lack, heÆd elected to depart a bit from the schedual of what Mr. Mage Dude taught and had Willow read an unabridged æGrayÆs AnatomyÆ and a æNew Home Medical EncyclopediaÆ set in four volumes. This was followed by an æEncyclopedia of Medicinal PlantsÆ with a few other books on natural healing, hoping to build on that angle where normal medical means did what magic was worst at, and vice versa.
This was already shaping up to be a lot, and Xander knew from experience that you didnÆt want to shove too much in at once as it would end up being a mess to sort through it. But still, they did not want to stint and possibly end up losing out on any advantages they might have otherwise obtained by a bit of boldness. And school was a bit of a headache anyway, better to get one now sorting through some books, and keep it, than suffer later and forget it.
So, as an experiment, he had Willow go through each of her textbooks for the upcoming year, committing them all to memory to see if that would help.
TheyÆd finished off with the most comprehensive book on body language and posture reading that heÆd been able to find, to help her decipher auras better (and a book he was hoping to memorize himself, in his next turn at this).
Done with the books, having completed the selection he had available for this session, it was time for what heÆd really felt the whole hypnotism thing was indespensible for: opening up her brow chakra.
TheyÆd tried this without the trance and it was just too hard to get a handle on. So, tapping into the bodyÆs subconscious ability to know what was really going on with itself seemed to be a great idea for spreading around the benefit of the amazing ability to expose vamps and stuff via aura seeing.
Once more back to sticking closely to his program, Xander recited, "Willow, I want you to focus on your brow chakra, your Third Eye. When you feel it, open it. You know that you can," he ordered, secretly hoping this would work.
"Its open," she said, after a moment.
"Good," replied Xander, knees nearly shaking with concealed relief, "Now close it, and open it again."
"Done," the redhead sighed, a few seconds later.
"Look around," said her friend, still quoting the mage, "What do you see?"
"Everything is glowing, almost... alive! So beautiful...ö she breathed, but then frowned. ôBut there are trails of black smoke, everywhere," she said, then brightened, face softening as she smiled. "Your aura is sweet."
Xander flushed a bit himself, recalling that his own aura cloaking cantrip still only lasted a short while, and must have run out while he slept waiting to get up and do this session with his redhaired best friend.
He swallowed once before continuing. "The 'black smoke' is the energy of the Hellmouth, which shrouds the entire town, and can be seen or felt as far away as Los Angeles. The wards we've placed should reduce its influence, somewhat, but we should continue to create better ones.ö
ôI donÆt like that Hellmouthy stuff,ö Willow said with a completely honest face, which turned from a frown to adoration as she focused again on him. ôBut I like you. Your aura looks cuddly, and kind. It looks all warm and safe and comfy.ö
She licked her lips rather innocently.
Suddenly nervous, as this was NOT how he had pictured this going, Xander tried to rush ahead so he could skip the parts that were making him nervous.
"But the Third Eye can also look inward.ö He desperately tried to change the subject. ôDo that, now."
"I see... ropes, all tied up in knots,ö she answered.
Xander, who had been all prepared for her to find a pulsing light in a cage, just like he had seen, was caught off guard by this.
So, he did the best he could. Hoping for the best, he told her, adapting from Mr. Mage DudeÆs words, ôYou must release that power that is constrained inside of you. So... untie the ropes. You know you can.ö
All ready to tell her that she had taken her first steps into a larger world, Xander was NOT prepared for Willow to come rocketing off her bed to slam her body against his, wrapping both arms and legs around him to practically swallow his face in a desperate kiss, while shortly afterward beginning to make deep, satisfied noises within herself as she explored his face with her lips and ground her body against his.
No, out of all of the possible things that might have happened, he was least prepared for that one.
*-*-*-*-*
Xander Harris was one of the few teenaged males on Earth with enough guts to turn down an opportunity to get laid by a pretty, perky and very friendly and amorous witch. Partly this was his shock at the surprise of the event, partly not wanting to take advantage of Willow in her trance state, and partly it was AmyÆs utterly embarrassing, but in the end useful, lecture about the benefits of waiting until they were sixteen and had that copy of CasanovaÆs second book her mother had promised her a chance to borrow.
But mostly he just needed a chance to switch gears from a æHands Off! Best Friends!Æ Willow to a æRandy Sex KittenÆ Willow that was willing, even eager, to jump his bones. And it was quite a change to make.
Frankly, on the æRock the fundamental underpinnings of XanderÆs worldÆ scale it ranked up there with the first discovery of magic and vampires as a ænailed from the blindside, wasnÆt expecting thatÆ sort of experience.
Not that he was in any way objecting. Even after having brought Wills out from her trance she was... oddly affectionate, cute and every bit as sexy and flirtatious as any man could dream.
Nor did this look like it was going to go away any time soon. The young boy was enough of a thinker by now to recognize the possibility was that she had liked him for a long time, and those ropes had merely been a representation of her inability to express that desire for her insecurities.
TheyÆd known about the insecurities beforehand, and tried to resolve them from the start. The rest was... unexpected.
Although a brief description of the benefits of those ævirgins onlyÆ spells and rituals had also been a factor in keeping his pants on since making that little theory. As Willow was making it quite plain that she wanted no part of the æHands Off! Best Friends!Æ category anymore.
She was willing to keep the best friends part, but she wanted those hands most decidedly ON! And wasnÆt making any secret about that.
He also couldnÆt hide behind the æItÆs only a theoryÆ defense, as she was now quite willing to tell him sheÆd known sheÆd had æbetter than friendsÆ feelings toward him since, like, forever, but had been too scared to say anything.
A quick consultation with Jesse had returned with a ôDuh! You mean you didnÆt know that?ö and a similar call to Amy had yeilded hysterical laughter and the response that, yes, sheÆd known Willow was all hots for Xander all along. Since, like, kindergarten at least.
It was only through a careful, reasoned explanation that they really did need to save themselves for later that prevented Willow from making Xander her own in a very personal and physical way before he could leave her room.
One could hardly turn down any handy advantage on a Hellmouth, after all, and certain of those ævirgin onlyÆ sex rituals yeilded results that no other school of magic offered.
So, safe for the present, except for the fact that the new æSex Kitten WillsÆ had demanded frequent snuggles and kissing as compensation. The discovery that she had curves had practically shorted him out. It was all day before heÆd recovered enough thought processes to even recall that a world existed outside of her embrace and caresses.
Oh, no. Xander was most thoroughly caught by his best friend before that day was done. TheyÆd kept it all to the kissy and snuggly stuff, but there was no mistaking their relationship for what it once was anymore.
They were dating, and a couple, and the only person at all surprised about this was Xander. It was giggles-ville for everyone else.
She had her man, and Willow was going to keep him!
*-*-*-*-*
JesseÆs whole hypnotism thingy went off without a hitch, although Xander had Willow perform it as there was no chance he was going to risk getting all over smoochy with his OTHER best friend!
No way, not happening.
Still, Willow did a perfectly credible job on him. No amazing revelations or sudden boughts of leaping out of bed to reveal that heÆd always been in love with the Pillsbury Dough Boy or anything.
He had family problems, though different ones than either Willow or Xander. Being the only son of a single mom, with four younger sisters gave his house æExcessive X-chromosome poisoningÆ as he liked to call it.
But the æGreat Mental HealthÆ quote theyÆd figured out to give him had been nothing more than a simple ædonÆt be afraid to work hardÆ. Pathetic, but he was not the subject of either great neglect or abuse, so he didnÆt truly need anything Earth-shattering.
The whole ælook inside yourselfÆ aspect of the event had also been different from either WillowÆs or XanderÆs. Jesse had seen a great suspension bridge, but it had loose and sagging cables and was incomplete, with piles of building materials sitting around unused.
So, not knowing anything better to do, Willow had simply ordered him to finish the bridge, tighten the cables and complete it.
They hadnÆt really known what that command had done, but Jesse reported feeling stronger and more able, so they trusted it was alright.
The content they gave Jesse was practically identical to what WillowÆs had been, although using his textbooks, which were the same as XanderÆs, instead of hers, which were a bit too advanced for either boyÆs comprehension yet.
WillowÆs own report of the textbook memorization had been favorable, so the other teens, including both boys but especially Amy, were all eager to get that advantage, as less struggling over horrible schoolwork meant so much more time for other, more enjoyable, things!
End of Chapter Six
Chapter Six
by Lionheart
*-*-*-*-*
It had been another week, making in all three since the night Mr Mage Dude had changed his life. XanderÆs interlibrary loan books had arrived, and heÆd been able to scrounge up most of the rest in between cruising the used book stores and making a few, very few, special orders for new ones.
But he had, between all of that, managed to obtain copies of the normal stuff, the strategy and martial arts guides that Mr. Mage Dude had made him memorize. Plus, heÆd also gotten a good one on archery.
Xander had after many hours and aching fingers completed typing out the æAnnotated Codex of Magical ThoughtÆ and, by virtue of WillowÆs ceaseless encouragement and a resolve face here or there, been sufficiently motivated that heÆd finished the Xander-Dex at roughly the same time.
HeÆd be including both in her study session because, well, why not? And she got to be his first victim because sheÆd earned the priviledge. Jesse was too laid back to care about who went first, and Amy was going to be out the next two days going to Disney Land for some family reunion or other.
Willow had been a little nervous. Xander, however, felt sure of their success.
In the hypnotism section of the Sunnydale Public Xander had found an actual book of spells, including ones to recreate images seen by drawing them in a trance, so heÆd created copies of those chakra charts and other things.
He had also used one of those trances to write out longhand a copy of that so very extremely useful 'Ars Memoriae' scroll, but his arm had hurt so bad afterwards that he wouldnÆt be doing that again. Waaay too much cramping for a happy Xander to think about doing again.
They would not be waiting for him to type out those other magic books, as there seemed to be no reason they couldnÆt go back and do them later in another session, just like Xander was hoping to have more than one. Similarly, the two books on how to fight and recognize demons would have to wait, as heÆd only just started typing those and there was no way that his eager buds could be restrained until those could be completed.
But those were really the only things heÆd learned that heÆd be leaving out for WillowÆs first time through this, and there should be opportunities to plug those holes up later.
As Amy had already warned them, the books on sex magic available in the public library were just enough to get you in a serious world of hurt without any benefit, or way to stop that. And that seemed to be a general theme among all of the books on magic available there, with incomplete grimories, botched books on rituals, advanced stuff way too high end for beginners, and the usual selection of æHow To Get Possessed By A Demon Of Your ChoiceÆ tutorials making up the bulk of the volume of the libraryÆs magical selection.
With few exceptions, every magical book in there seemed to be an entry into the: æHow Best To Royally Screw Up Your Life Using MagicÆ sweepstakes. Even the hypnotism book had a few such traps caused by incomplete explanations, but thankfully due to having dreamed the Codex now for three weeks, heÆd been able to spot and remove them, filling in the blanks they hadnÆt covered.
But what kind of maniac was in charge of stocking that library anyway? It was like they were TRYING to get people into trouble, making sure that they had no end of ways of stumbling into way more than they could handle!
Xander had even found one more book by Percival Throckmorton in their selection, entitled æPowers and RitualsÆ and as Amy explained it was the sort of book that can get you in nasty, nasty trouble, thrown in off the deep end, if you didnÆt already have an extremely firm grounding in the essential basics taught by his æCodex of Magical ThoughtÆ (a work that virtually no one had a firm grounding in) plus another book by him that Xander didnÆt even know the title of. So the æPowers and RitualsÆ book was infamous among magical folks for getting those who tried it into vast and uncontrollable amounts of trouble.
And no, the library didnÆt have a copy of the Codex, or that other one. It was like a theme, to carry the advanced grade of magic without the beginning tutorials to get you safely started, in those rare cases when the books they carried werenÆt simply flawed to begin with. There was only enough of the simple stuff to serve as bait to the trap, drawing people in by making them think they could handle it. It was like the whole collection was calculated to cause mischief!
Who was in charge of that anyway?
The way Amy explained it, it was so bad her mom kept watch on those people checking out magic books so she could run a business on the side curing the various problems theyÆd inflicted upon themselves when they inevitably screwed whatever they were trying up.
Still, theyÆd solve the mystery of why the public library was that way later. In the meantime, they already had more than enough to occupy their attention.
So, early one morning, by pre-arrangement, Xander got up from the sofa in WillowÆs house, shutting off the alarm clock as he did so. Then he padded up the stairs to WillowÆs room and eased inside of the partially open door.
Willow was sleeping peacefully.
Xander paused at the entrance without meaning to, just drinking in the sight of her, his best friend since forever, her hair spread out upon the pillows and a peaceful smile on her face.
He never got tired of the good feelings he felt as he watched her at rest.
Well, on with the show and all of that.
XanderÆs very first act was to remove those compulsions from Willow. He did not know exactly what they were, but on close observation decided that heÆd probably never find out, as he couldnÆt yet translate the spell matrix and theyÆd been in place for so long that whatever behavior they gave her was almost certainly something he considered normal.
Still, it was very satisfying to untie those magical knots on her soul, then to watch them dissipate into meaningless strands of ether. Somehow he knew he had done a very good deed, even if he didnÆt know precisely what.
As Mr Mage Dude had done to him, the next spell did not so much rouse Willow from her sleep as waken her just enough to put her in a hypnotic trance, then a second to help in memorization.
That was the easy part. Now it was time to approximate the rest as best he could, as his oldest friendÆs parental troubles were different from his own.
All of them, even Willow, had discussed the kinds of things she needed to hear during this session tonight.
ôWillow Rosenberg, your parents do not determine your worth, you do, and you have become a beautiful young lady of infinite value. Your friends can see this, even if your parents do not. Do you understand this?ö
ôYes,ö Willow breathed that one word out as a joyful exclamation. Could he have looked so pleased when the mage told him this? Xander wondered. The light of joy illuminating her face was unmistakable.
It made him feel oddly... something, but there was no time to figure it out now.
Privately, Xander thought Ira and Sheila Rosenberg were fools for neglecting their daughter so badly. If only theyÆd paid her a little attention she could be so much more than she was right now.
But then, they probably would have been upset at her hanging out with the poor kid with the drunk parents next door; so his win, her loss, and he felt a bit guilty over that.
Grateful, but guilty.
ôYou are a very gifted and talented young lady, but you need to develop your gifts and talents more. Do you understand?ö
ôYes,ö Willow breathed softly, still in rapture from the first question.
ôGood,ö quoth Xander. "I am going to do several things that you may find odd or distressing, but they will help you to aid your friends as they do what is needed. You do want to stay with them, don't you?"
"Yes," said Willow, with conviction, even while blushing madly for some mysterious reason.
ôUm, excellent,ö Xander stumbled over his words, wondering why she would look so... enthused, even as she blushed deep scarlet clear down to where the flush disappeared under her pajama neck. Still, he pulled out the roll of computer paper onto which heÆd used a trance to copy the 'Ars Memoriae' scroll. He gave it to her, saying, "You will start off by mastering this."
In a trance, and with the memory spell helping, Willow was able to memorize the scroll in about a minute, roughly the same amount of time he had used to do the same thing. She set it aside, saying ôOkay,ö when she was done, her blush having faded slightly as she studied.
"Very good," the boy nodded, retrieving and rerolling the computer paper. "Have you selected a memory palace?"
"Yes," the mesmerized teen stated blandly.
"Build it," her friend commanded, "Then order your mind."
Willow repeated XanderÆs long, slow blink and rapid eye movements. As she did so her blush finished fading away until it was all normal Willow-flesh there. No blush to be seen. ôOkay Xander,ö she stated after her eyes snapped open.
"Very good." The teen took a large poster, on the back of which heÆd written the chart, and showed that information to her. "Now, I need you to memorize this chart of the major and minor chakras of the human body."
When it took Willow only about a second to memorize that highly detailed and complex illustration heÆd practically sprained his hand drawing, Xander knew that this was going to turn out to be a success.
æGo Willow!Æ
Although he knew the Latin incantation for pulling a big book out from a small pocket, Xander hadnÆt actually mastered that spell. He probably couldÆve, but preferred for the moment doing as Throckmorton had said and concentrating on the basics, trying to master them before he moved on to anything more advanced - And he wouldnÆt be doing that if he couldnÆt see how it was doing him some real good.
Amy had been a useful example there, as those cosmetic spells were very similar to the one he used to hide pencil-stab marks on the bodies in the morgue, and although hers were more advanced she had much more difficulty controlling them than he did with his small spell. As a result, he got better results within the more narrow scope and focus of his small spell than she did with her more powerful ones.
When he had demonstrated this and explained some of theory behind why she had displayed some interest in the small one, although she did not seem fully convinced of the value of those tutorial cantrips as yet.
Xander was almost certain sheÆd come around once Willow had memorized the Codex and was able to outshine her on the makeup side of things. Plus, there were minor hair-growth cantrips and shaving spells that heÆd forgotten to tell her about, that he was certain ought to be convincing.
While these thoughts had been going on, Xander had been busy retrieving the big stack of paper that was their newly printed copy of ThrockmortonÆs æAnnoted Codex of Magical ThoughtÆ, and instructing Willow to memorize it, just as he had done.
Once she was through with that it was time to memorize his abbreviated version, the one they liked to call the Xander-Dex. There were no other magic books, nor any laptop, so they wound up the memorization with all of the nonmagical stuff heÆd collected, all of which went fine.
Xander found it strange that out of all that useful and safe magic stuff heÆd learned, none of that was to be found in the Sunnydale Public Library, in spite of them having an otherwise large and wide-ranging selection of magic. Nor did he dare to ask for an inter-library loan on those topics, in spite of having AmyÆs mom serving as an in to the system.
Maybe it was because of his parents, but he didnÆt generally trust authority figures, and something was up there with all of that magic stuff seemingly arranged specifically to cause trouble among people who didnÆt know better. And, there was also the fact that the police had to know about the vampire threat, yet they did nothing.
No, whatever it was, he wasnÆt about to go advertising æHere am I! I am a mage!Æ until he had a better idea of why certain things seemed so wrong.
So, to make up somewhat for that lack, heÆd elected to depart a bit from the schedual of what Mr. Mage Dude taught and had Willow read an unabridged æGrayÆs AnatomyÆ and a æNew Home Medical EncyclopediaÆ set in four volumes. This was followed by an æEncyclopedia of Medicinal PlantsÆ with a few other books on natural healing, hoping to build on that angle where normal medical means did what magic was worst at, and vice versa.
This was already shaping up to be a lot, and Xander knew from experience that you didnÆt want to shove too much in at once as it would end up being a mess to sort through it. But still, they did not want to stint and possibly end up losing out on any advantages they might have otherwise obtained by a bit of boldness. And school was a bit of a headache anyway, better to get one now sorting through some books, and keep it, than suffer later and forget it.
So, as an experiment, he had Willow go through each of her textbooks for the upcoming year, committing them all to memory to see if that would help.
TheyÆd finished off with the most comprehensive book on body language and posture reading that heÆd been able to find, to help her decipher auras better (and a book he was hoping to memorize himself, in his next turn at this).
Done with the books, having completed the selection he had available for this session, it was time for what heÆd really felt the whole hypnotism thing was indespensible for: opening up her brow chakra.
TheyÆd tried this without the trance and it was just too hard to get a handle on. So, tapping into the bodyÆs subconscious ability to know what was really going on with itself seemed to be a great idea for spreading around the benefit of the amazing ability to expose vamps and stuff via aura seeing.
Once more back to sticking closely to his program, Xander recited, "Willow, I want you to focus on your brow chakra, your Third Eye. When you feel it, open it. You know that you can," he ordered, secretly hoping this would work.
"Its open," she said, after a moment.
"Good," replied Xander, knees nearly shaking with concealed relief, "Now close it, and open it again."
"Done," the redhead sighed, a few seconds later.
"Look around," said her friend, still quoting the mage, "What do you see?"
"Everything is glowing, almost... alive! So beautiful...ö she breathed, but then frowned. ôBut there are trails of black smoke, everywhere," she said, then brightened, face softening as she smiled. "Your aura is sweet."
Xander flushed a bit himself, recalling that his own aura cloaking cantrip still only lasted a short while, and must have run out while he slept waiting to get up and do this session with his redhaired best friend.
He swallowed once before continuing. "The 'black smoke' is the energy of the Hellmouth, which shrouds the entire town, and can be seen or felt as far away as Los Angeles. The wards we've placed should reduce its influence, somewhat, but we should continue to create better ones.ö
ôI donÆt like that Hellmouthy stuff,ö Willow said with a completely honest face, which turned from a frown to adoration as she focused again on him. ôBut I like you. Your aura looks cuddly, and kind. It looks all warm and safe and comfy.ö
She licked her lips rather innocently.
Suddenly nervous, as this was NOT how he had pictured this going, Xander tried to rush ahead so he could skip the parts that were making him nervous.
"But the Third Eye can also look inward.ö He desperately tried to change the subject. ôDo that, now."
"I see... ropes, all tied up in knots,ö she answered.
Xander, who had been all prepared for her to find a pulsing light in a cage, just like he had seen, was caught off guard by this.
So, he did the best he could. Hoping for the best, he told her, adapting from Mr. Mage DudeÆs words, ôYou must release that power that is constrained inside of you. So... untie the ropes. You know you can.ö
All ready to tell her that she had taken her first steps into a larger world, Xander was NOT prepared for Willow to come rocketing off her bed to slam her body against his, wrapping both arms and legs around him to practically swallow his face in a desperate kiss, while shortly afterward beginning to make deep, satisfied noises within herself as she explored his face with her lips and ground her body against his.
No, out of all of the possible things that might have happened, he was least prepared for that one.
*-*-*-*-*
Xander Harris was one of the few teenaged males on Earth with enough guts to turn down an opportunity to get laid by a pretty, perky and very friendly and amorous witch. Partly this was his shock at the surprise of the event, partly not wanting to take advantage of Willow in her trance state, and partly it was AmyÆs utterly embarrassing, but in the end useful, lecture about the benefits of waiting until they were sixteen and had that copy of CasanovaÆs second book her mother had promised her a chance to borrow.
But mostly he just needed a chance to switch gears from a æHands Off! Best Friends!Æ Willow to a æRandy Sex KittenÆ Willow that was willing, even eager, to jump his bones. And it was quite a change to make.
Frankly, on the æRock the fundamental underpinnings of XanderÆs worldÆ scale it ranked up there with the first discovery of magic and vampires as a ænailed from the blindside, wasnÆt expecting thatÆ sort of experience.
Not that he was in any way objecting. Even after having brought Wills out from her trance she was... oddly affectionate, cute and every bit as sexy and flirtatious as any man could dream.
Nor did this look like it was going to go away any time soon. The young boy was enough of a thinker by now to recognize the possibility was that she had liked him for a long time, and those ropes had merely been a representation of her inability to express that desire for her insecurities.
TheyÆd known about the insecurities beforehand, and tried to resolve them from the start. The rest was... unexpected.
Although a brief description of the benefits of those ævirgins onlyÆ spells and rituals had also been a factor in keeping his pants on since making that little theory. As Willow was making it quite plain that she wanted no part of the æHands Off! Best Friends!Æ category anymore.
She was willing to keep the best friends part, but she wanted those hands most decidedly ON! And wasnÆt making any secret about that.
He also couldnÆt hide behind the æItÆs only a theoryÆ defense, as she was now quite willing to tell him sheÆd known sheÆd had æbetter than friendsÆ feelings toward him since, like, forever, but had been too scared to say anything.
A quick consultation with Jesse had returned with a ôDuh! You mean you didnÆt know that?ö and a similar call to Amy had yeilded hysterical laughter and the response that, yes, sheÆd known Willow was all hots for Xander all along. Since, like, kindergarten at least.
It was only through a careful, reasoned explanation that they really did need to save themselves for later that prevented Willow from making Xander her own in a very personal and physical way before he could leave her room.
One could hardly turn down any handy advantage on a Hellmouth, after all, and certain of those ævirgin onlyÆ sex rituals yeilded results that no other school of magic offered.
So, safe for the present, except for the fact that the new æSex Kitten WillsÆ had demanded frequent snuggles and kissing as compensation. The discovery that she had curves had practically shorted him out. It was all day before heÆd recovered enough thought processes to even recall that a world existed outside of her embrace and caresses.
Oh, no. Xander was most thoroughly caught by his best friend before that day was done. TheyÆd kept it all to the kissy and snuggly stuff, but there was no mistaking their relationship for what it once was anymore.
They were dating, and a couple, and the only person at all surprised about this was Xander. It was giggles-ville for everyone else.
She had her man, and Willow was going to keep him!
*-*-*-*-*
JesseÆs whole hypnotism thingy went off without a hitch, although Xander had Willow perform it as there was no chance he was going to risk getting all over smoochy with his OTHER best friend!
No way, not happening.
Still, Willow did a perfectly credible job on him. No amazing revelations or sudden boughts of leaping out of bed to reveal that heÆd always been in love with the Pillsbury Dough Boy or anything.
He had family problems, though different ones than either Willow or Xander. Being the only son of a single mom, with four younger sisters gave his house æExcessive X-chromosome poisoningÆ as he liked to call it.
But the æGreat Mental HealthÆ quote theyÆd figured out to give him had been nothing more than a simple ædonÆt be afraid to work hardÆ. Pathetic, but he was not the subject of either great neglect or abuse, so he didnÆt truly need anything Earth-shattering.
The whole ælook inside yourselfÆ aspect of the event had also been different from either WillowÆs or XanderÆs. Jesse had seen a great suspension bridge, but it had loose and sagging cables and was incomplete, with piles of building materials sitting around unused.
So, not knowing anything better to do, Willow had simply ordered him to finish the bridge, tighten the cables and complete it.
They hadnÆt really known what that command had done, but Jesse reported feeling stronger and more able, so they trusted it was alright.
The content they gave Jesse was practically identical to what WillowÆs had been, although using his textbooks, which were the same as XanderÆs, instead of hers, which were a bit too advanced for either boyÆs comprehension yet.
WillowÆs own report of the textbook memorization had been favorable, so the other teens, including both boys but especially Amy, were all eager to get that advantage, as less struggling over horrible schoolwork meant so much more time for other, more enjoyable, things!
End of Chapter Six
