[Guyver54]

Sorry if this disappoints anymore, but this is just an short intermission for plot.

Becoming Part of Her Collection:
Intermission


The hour was late, and Roxie and her small friend had just finished up an intense, six-hour play session of Warhammer 40K, so the young witch decided to call it a night, and help her friend get ready for a long night’s sleep. She had taken Beth to the bathroom, where the shrunken roommate proceeded to take a shower in the bathroom’s sink. And while she was busy with that, Roxie was busy magically shrinking some of her friend’s belongings, like her bed, dresser and some outfits. After that, Beth was put to bed, and fell immediately to sleep.

The young witch guessed having her precious collection destroy, watching it being repaired and being shrunk in the process, and doing a six-hour play session would tire anyone out. After putting her friend to bed, Roxie made the call to the people who could help her, and waited.

She didn’t have to wait long, as the witch felt a tingle go through her, and she stood up from the kitchen’s table. She made the short trip to the front door and opened it.

“Roxanne,” Jeffery Morris, age 59, said professionally.

“Roxie-Baby!” Rosie Morris, age 60, exclaimed cheerfully as she pushed past her husband and gave her daughter a big hug. “How’s the old homestead treating you?”

Despite his age, the father of Roxie didn‘t show it. Jeffery’s black hair didn’t have a sign of grey in it, and his face was wrinkle free. His skin had a health shine to it and his red eyes were focus solely on his only child. This night, the aged mage was wearing a pair of black kakis, brown loafer and a sky blue dress shirt under a brown blazer.

Rosie, much like her husband, didn’t look her natural age. Her cherry blonde hair didn’t have any grey in it, and her tan face didn’t have a wrinkle on. In a strake contrast to her more business-dressed husband, the older witch looked like she was getting ready for some kind of hippy convention. She was dressed in a green sleeveless, single-piece dress with a skirt that reached to her ankles. She wore three thin, silver bracelets on her right wrist, a necklace with a crescent moon on the surface, brown saddles and a green bandana on the top of her head. About the only thing out of place on the older woman was the pair of glasses resting on her nose.

Roxie chuckled lightly as she returned her mother’s hug. “I’m doing fine, mom. And house has been nice to me and my roommate.” She looked at her father with a small smile. “And it’s good to see you to, dad?”

Jeffery just smiled slightly as I walked up to the mother and daughter, and planted a small kiss on the younger woman’s forehead, causing Roxie to blush faintly.

“It’s good to see that you are well,” Jeffery said with fatherly love, but turned serious as he said, “But I don’t believe you called out to Road Island for some much needed family time.”

Roxie just sigh and gently released her mother. She looked her father in the eyes as she said, “Ever the businessman, eh, dad. But you’re right. I need your help with something, but first, I think, in order to understand what happened, you need to know the whole story. I made you both your favorite teas.”

Rosie squealed like a schoolgirl and her husband nodded as they followed their daughter into the house. Once the family was seated at the table, Roxie began to recount the day’s event, and the oddness of it, including the weird headaches and the magical signals she has been picking up on.

Jeffery set her half empty cup on the saucer as he looked his daughter in the eye. “I had heard of serves Soul-Break occurring in non-magic users before, but never a total breakdown. While I agree with your reluctance on the matter, I believe you should keep the young lady at her current size.” the old mage looked to his cup as he voice got more solemn. “I have seen the effects of a total Soul-break and it’s not pretty.”

Roxie sigh and looked at her own cup, not trying to think of the problems Beth would face in the coming times. Rosie looked between her loved ones, feeling the tension in the air, and quickly decided to do something about it.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot!” the older witch chirped cheerfully, gaining the attention of her family as she began to draw runes. “I got some stuff for your little roommate before leaving.”

“And that made us 10 minutes late,” Jeffery muttered sourly.

Rosie ignored her husband comment as she continued to draw runes so fast that not even her husband can follow. She snapped her fingers once she was finished and the runes exploded in a burst of light. The light wasn’t very bright and Roxie didn’t need to look away or shield her eyes, allowing her to see the mall bag materialized in front of her. She gently grabbed it and opened it, seeing the odd items in it.

“What you’re looking at is an enchantment bracelet and a port necklace,” Rosie explained, answering her daughter’s unspoken question. “The bracelet would allow your friend to walk around the house like she was still normal size. It would even project her against most animals and insects if she wanted to take a stroll outside. The port necklace would teleport her to a place inside of this house, incase of potty emergencies. I also grabbed a few other things that your friend might need.”

Roxie looked at her mother stunned by these recent turn of events. The young witch tried to talk, but no words were coming out of her moving mouth, and this just caused Rosie to giggle lightly.

“Oh, dear, you’re still so easy to read,” the older witch spoke lightheartedly. “Being small is the new fad this century. There are many, witches, sorcerers, and mages who choose to shrink themselves down and live the fairy life. Some even had made their new size permanent, and those ideas are to make life that much easier.”

“As intriguing as this conversation is, I believe we have a bigger matter at hand,” Jeffery interrupted politely.

Rosie didn’t’ liked being interrupted, even by her own husband, and looked at him with a glare as she childishly blow a raspberry at him. Needless, she got to her feet as Jeffery ignored the antics of his wife and stood up as well, patiently waiting on their daughter.

Roxie nodded, and also stood up, gently placing the bag in her chair, and then began showing her parents to the basement door. Once the family had reached the door to the basement, Roxie let her parents do their work. Jeffery reached out with his left arm, his opened hand hovering a few inches from the knob. Rosie placed her left hand over her husband and intertwines her fingers into his.

“Oh grand spirit of the air, I ask for your aid,” Jeffery chanted softly. “Show us what we can’t see within eyes. Reveal to us what we can’t hear with our ears. Please aid us so the plight of another maybe lifted.”

The older mage’s hand lit up in a soft green energy, and that energy was spread into Rosie’s hand. Roxie lazily watched as all of this happened, having seen this spell many times during her childhood. After a minute, the young witch noticed her parents exchange a knowing glance and she knew that usually meant something.

“Jeffery, this signal…” Rosie said seriously.

Roxie felt a pit form in her stomach from her mother’s tone. Normally, Rosie calls her husband by nicknames, usually Jeff or something like that. But when she uses his full name it doesn’t mean anything good.

“I know, Rosemary,” Jeffery replied calmly. “But we shouldn’t jump to any collisions until we examine things farther.”

Rosie nodded and released her hand from her husband’s as the energy from the spell faded. Jeffery then brought his hand down into the knob, opening the door with a simple twist of his wrist. The family descended into the basement where Rosie whistled when she saw the room.

“By the grand spirits…! I never thought I would see such a thing in an all female household,” the older witch said with slight amazement, and looked at her daughter. “I find it hard to believe that such a young woman could collect this much.”

Roxie just frown as she said, “I told you, mom, this was something Beth’s entire family collected.”

“I know dear,” Rosie replied with a soft smile. That smile dissolved into a serious expression as she looked at her husband. “Use some of the latten magic from my ancestral home to aid you in your next spell, Jeffery.”

The older spell-caster nodded quickly and then looked towards his daughter. “Roxanne, do you have any idea of when this collection was destroyed?”

Roxie frown curiously at her father, but replied, “I would have to say 4:30, 5 O’clock. But what does my friend’s collection have to do with anything?”

“Dear,” Rosie said seriously, “Because you haven’t used your magic in nearly 18 mouths, your sixth sense can’t detect what your father and I sensed earlier. There’s a magic in the air, one not part of the magic of your ancestors, or the magic you used to repair your friend’s toys.”

The young witch looked toward her father, speechless as this new development. Jeffery nodded to confirm his wife’s words, and Roxie opened her mouth to say something. The old mage stopped her by holding up his right hand, palm open. Roxie instantly closed her mouth, recognizing that her father wanted quiet.

Jeffery nodded and then looked to the center of the basement. The mage closed his eyes as he exhaled a small breath, bringing up his arms, and pressing his hands firmly together. He began to chant as he slowly spread his hands apart.

“Grand spirit resting in the void of time, I humbly awaken you from your slumber. Please, show us the events of the past. Aid us in understanding the cries of these poor souls of plastic and paint!”

By the end of his chant Jeffry had spread his hands far enough apart that only his finger tips were touching, forming into a square-like pattern. In the space between his hands was a faint glowing light. The old mage suddenly thrust his hands apart, sending the energy into the basement. For about a minute, a sparkling fog littered the room, casting it in a soothing and relaxing atmosphere.

Roxie frown as the fog disappeared and she looked around the room. She thought nothing had happened, the room look exactly the same as it did before her father cast his spell. Any doubts she had was quickly put to rest when she heard the door to the basement opened, and spun around on her heels.

“My…why most young women dress in such outfits,” Rosie muttered dryly. “Truly, not a lot of women of this day and age have enough dignity to present themselves right.”

Roxie didn’t hear her mother as she watched her girlfriend descend into the basement. To the young witch, there was a goddess standing in front of her. Jessica’s has an hourglass figure with breast that was just the right size. Her peach skin showed no imperfections, as her gold eyes scan the room anxiously. Her ember red hair was short, tied into a ponytail.

The image of what the young woman was wearing…was interesting. She was basically wearing a skirt so short one could easily see up it at the right angle. Her top wasn’t much better…just being enough to cover her breasts, barely. She also had on a lot of fake jewels on bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and wore white sandals.

“Dear, those eyes…” Rosie whispered as she got close to her husband.

Jeffery simply nodded, and turned to watched the afterimage play out.

The group watched as the image of Jessica walked around the room, an expression of indifference on her face as she studied the table.

“Why witches choose to live with inferior beings I would never know,” Jessica scoffed as she turned away. “Then again, this is a Bright we’re talking about. There’s nothing special about those chumps.”

Rosie growled under her breath as the image of her daughter’s girlfriend insulted her family like they were inferior to her or something. She held her tongue, however, as it was useless to yell at a magical projection. Jeffery on the other hand, was studying his daughter.

Roxie had just heard her girlfriend call her mother’s family chumps, and she didn’t even react, not the way one expect. She was staring lovely at the projection, and seems lost in the magical creation. The mage filed this into the back of his head and turned back to his spell.

The projection moved from the table to the center shelf on the left wall. She stopped a good three feet in front of the shelf and looked at its content with mild distain.

“All this space wasted on some stupid toys, Jessica muttered in disgust. “There’s nothing here that can help me.”

The image of the woman turned around and walked back to the stairs. She suddenly stopped at the foot of the stairs. She stood there for nearly five minutes, apparently starring into space. Suddenly, she spun around on her heels, her eyes glowing green, and without warning a large cluster of figures was sent flying from shelves from the left corner.

Like awoken from a daydream, Roxie gasped as she watched as the models were held in the center of the room and before she knew what happened the figures exploded, showering the floor and gaming table with the toys’ remains as the surface of the table was torn opened.

Roxie watched as more figures were lifted from their homes and began spinning clockwise in a wide circle, but the gasp was quickly closing. The figures continued to draw ever closer to one another, and began scraping together, filling the air with a horrible screeching sound. The young witch watched as her friend’s toys began to collide into each other, but didn’t stop. She could feel tears filling her eyes as she watched the toys began to submit to whatever force was pushing against them and where crushed under said force. The figures were quickly pressed into a tight ball, and the ball exploded, scattering the remains to different parts of the basement.

Roxie looked around the room, watching as different toys were taken from their homes and brutally destroyed. She watched as a set of Tau Fire Castes were fling into the ground, only to be lifted into the air and slam into the ground again. She finally became aware of someone laughing in the background, and look to her left. Her face paled to a sickly white when she saw her girlfriend laughing with sadistic glee at the destuction around her.

“STOP, STOP! JUST STOP THIS!” Roxie screamed at the top of her lungs.

With a faint sigh, Jeffery snapped his fingers and the magical projection disappeared. The old mage looked at his daughter in concern. Roxie was shaking like a leaf, her eyes glued to where the image of her girlfriend stood.

“Roxanne,” Rosie asked in concern as she move comfort her daughter. “Are you going to be okay?”

“No, I not!” the young witch snapped angrily.

“Don’t take that tone with your mother, young lady,” Jeffery scrolled firmly.

Roxie’s eyes widen as she realized what she had done and hanged her head as she muttered, “Sorry.” the young witch didn’t notice the smile her mother gave her a smile as she walked up to the table, her face solemn. “I just don’t get it. Jessica’s the kindest person you would ever meet. I just can’t imagine why she would do something like this?”

Rosie’s eyes widen as she looked at her husband. “Jeffery…” she whispered urgently.

The old mage nodded calmly, saying, “Yes, I detect it as well. You probably should de-spell it, as you and her have similar magically wavelength.”

Rosie nodded and looked at her daughter. With a quick breath, Rosie extended her left hand and began drawing runes fasting then the eye could follow. Within 30 seconds the older witch had drawn seven different runes, and sent them into her daughter.

Roxie gasp as memories began flashing through her mind. Memories of her girlfriend whispering soft nothings in her ear were replaced by Jessica calling her belittling names. Good times of Jessica giving Roxie’s cooking praise were changed to the young woman coldly scoffing as she threw a dish to the ground. The young witch gag as a memory of Jessica and herself were change from a pleasant night of intercourse to one of Jessica belittling her and calling both of her both of her families maggots.

The young witch couldn’t handle all of these jarring memories, and she vomit the contents of her stomach. However, before the vomit could hit the table, a red portal opened and the vomit was completely sucked up.

“So that what the second set of runes was a portal spell,” Jeffery said analytically.

Rosie just offered her husband a small, shameful smile as she said softly, “I know from person experience just how jarring removing a Mind Charm can be.”

“MIND CHARM!!” Roxie screamed, startling her parents slightly as she spun around to face them. “Even I know those are illegal, and I don’t even study magic anymore!”

Unfortunately, all the yelling wasn’t something her still weary stomach agreed with, and before she had a chance to avert her head, Roxie vomit again. Fortunately for the married couple, Rosie’s portal spell activated, and the vomit was teleported before it could reach them. But that last act had left Roxie gasping for air, and her mother moved quickly to her side, rubbing her back the best she could while her husband decided it was a good time to examine a random figure in the collection.

It took nearly five minutes for Roxie to gain her second wind, and by that time, thoughts were burning in young witch’s head. She looked at her mother, eyes heavy with question.

“Mom, what’s going on? How did Jessica do all of that? I didn’t hear her chant any spells or draw any runes?” the young witch asked confusingly.

Rosie just frowns, but before she could say anything, her husband got in front of the mother and daughter, an indifference expression on his face.

“Before you know of that, I got to ask, what do you remembers about the different types of spell casting?” the old mage asked in a tone that says “This is a lesson and you should take it serious”.

Roxie sigh faintly and straightened up as she thought back to her old lessons. “Well…there’s psychical casting-the art of openly chanting and using your body for the spells-what you basically do. Then there’s spiritual casting-both mom and are skill in that art,” the witch said slowly.

Jeffery nodded, satisfied with that answer and said, “And as you knows, there several other methods as well. But one is considered the most dangerous art, and that’s the one your so-called girlfriend uses…Mental magic casting-an art that allows one to just think about the spell and cast it without any aid.”

“I don’t understand how that is dangerous?” Roxie asked curiously.

“Because of the way the magic masses with the mind,” Rosie said seriously. “Using that method of spell-casting can do damage your mind in different ways, from a simple verbal tick, to serious mental instability.”

Roxie was stunned by this. She had known that there were many other kinds of spell-casting, but she never know that there was one that was dangerous. But that left her with a question on her mind.

“If you’re wondering why such magic wasn’t outlawed,” her father said, seemingly reading the woman’s mind, “It’s because not a lot people have the patience to master mental magic.”

Roxie just looked at her father with a blink look, meaning she didn’t understand what her father just said. This cause Rosie to chuckled slightly, and took over the lecture as she smiled softly.

“As you know, dear, magic is an inherited treat. It because of that little fact that the time it takes in teaching magic can be cut in half, taking anywhere from 5 to 10 years to teach the basics,” the smile was suddenly replaced with a serious frown. “But mental magic can’t be inherited. It needs to be teach from the very beginning, and can take anyway from 25 to 50 years to lean the basics. Can you imagine trying to teach a five-year-old the magically wavelength patterns?”

Roxie wince inward, recalling all the headaches she endures due to that subject. She learned about that subject when she was around 15, and she doubted a child could sit still long enough for a parent to try and teach it.

Jeffery must have picked up on his daughter’s thoughts as he said, “Your so-call girlfriend belonged to the Allen family, and to this day, is the only family that has mastered mental magic, for all the good it does them,” the old mage’s face darkens as he looked at the spot where the projection of the woman was just a few minutes ago. “The Allen family is an arrogant lot. They believe because they had master mental magic their deserved a place on a council. They have been trying for 33 years and they’re denied entry every time because of the danger that mental magic presences.”

With a faint sigh, Jeffery turned away and walked up to his family, looking his daughter right in the eyes.

“Now, before the charm was removed, what where you thoughts about you so-called girlfriend?” the old mage asked grimly.

Roxie thought for a second, and suddenly her face twisted into a deep scowl.

“I was…I was going too proposed to her,” the young witch spit angrily.

Jeffery frown but nodded as he said, “I should have guessed as much. Outside of being recognized by the council itself, an almost undeniable way to get into a council is being in a family that has long-standing history with a council.”

“It makes sense, both Jeffery and my own family have serves on councils for many generations,” Rosie said seriously. “She most has thought this room might have held something important, but when she saw nothing but toys, something must have snapped in her.”

“Or the ancient magic in these walls could have triggered something,” Jeffery said offhandedly. “But these are just theories, and we wouldn’t know if-Roxanne, are you okay?”

Jeffery frowned when he noticed that his daughter wasn’t paying attention and probably hasn’t been for a few minutes. She was slump over the gaming table, and hands were clinched tightly on the rim. The old mage cautiously got closer to his daughter, and dared to look at the state she was in.

The young witch’s eyes were clouded over with fury, and she was holding the table so tightly her knuckles were starting to turn white. Her jaw has been set, and her lips curled back to show her tightly clinch teeth.

“Roxanne, are you going to be okay?” Jeffery asked in concern.

“No dad, I’m far from okay,” Roxie replied coldly.

The young witch looked her father in the eye, and even he felt a twitch of fear go through him. The fury in her eyes was scary, even to a season mage like him, and he took a step back.

With a high sigh, the young witch turned her back on her father and began walked alongside the table, talking in a cold voice.

“I learn the girl I have been dating a year saw me as nothing more then a mean to her end. She treated me like a pet, and boy was she ever a bad owner. She belittle me, told what I should do ever single time she was here, and made me text her every waking hour. And the worse part of all of this? I took it all with a shit-eating grin. A GRIN!!! So, no, dad, I’m far from okay.”

By the end of her sentence, the young witch had reached one of the shelves and was currently looking over it. She took a Fire Caste figure gingerly into her right hand and stared at it. Jeffery was about to go and comfort his enrage daughter, but his wife moved to his side and put a hand onto his right shoulder, gaining his attention. The mage looked at his wife as she slowly shakes her head, a clear message in her eyes. With a mute sigh, Jeffery smiled it Rosie, and together they looked at their daughter.

It took nearly two minutes before Roxie spoke, and when she did her voice was low and filled with regret.

“But you want to know what really gets me about all of this? I alienated my friend, treated her worse then I was being treated. It’s no wonder she lash out at me this afternoon. And what made to make matter worse, I think that charm messed with head, making me feel pain any time I thought about my friend in anyway. I’m just glad I was able to fix everything before it was too late.”

With a heavy sigh, Roxie set the figure back into its home and looked at her parents. Both seasoned magic-users were a little stunned by look in their daughter’s eyes, but held their tongues.

“I’m maybe a little rusty when it comes to magic, but I know Jessica broke several magical and standards laws and I have a plan to get even with her. I would need both of your help in that,” Roxie said with an eerie calmness that sent shivers down her parents’ back. “Can I count on you?”