(Minka P.O.V.)
Just as Deianira had estimated, the twins had finally made it home after a few days. I gave them two days to unpack and settle back into their day-to-day activities before paying them a visit. Since Christina and Noel decided to stay in their childhood homes it was within walking distance from the main pack house. Dylan, their younger brother, on the other hand, enjoyed the quiet and solitude and opted for a small cabin near the outskirts of the woods and needed a small go-cart to get to him whenever anyone needed his help.
It seemed that whenever the girls were home it was always louder and more lively in the neighborhood and today was no different.
As I walked up to their cabin, the sound track to one of their favorite childhood movies was blaring through the front door, "Salaca doo la menthicka boo la bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, Put 'em together and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"
I covered my ears and shook my head as I turned down the music, "I can't believe you ladies still listen to that. Don't you think it's a bit outdated?" I asked. Breathing in a sigh of relief at the silence.
Noel's Jaw dropped, "Outdated? This movie was a classic long before we were even born and yet it was so nostalgic that our parents still played it for us. It's a classic and timeless masterpiece and nowhere near considered outdated," she scoffed.
I, myself, had never actually seen the movie, but then again, anything older than one hundred years was not usually worth my time, so seeing them so tightly wound over a cartoon almost always had me rolling my eyes or shrugging my shoulders.
I rolled my eyes and jumped onto one of the stools at the kitchen island and tried to peer into the boiling pot on the stove.
Although I'm sure Alaric and Cassandra had taught them to use their sanctuary strictly for spells and potions and the kitchen for family meals, I knew for a fact that they would often attempt to multitask. So, when something was cooking on the kitchen stove it was always more of a gamble than a guarantee it was going to be edible, regardless of how good it usually smelled.
"Is it edible?" I cautiously asked.
"Edible? Yes. Without possible side effects? Mmm... not likely," Christina said, walking over to the pot and giving it a quick stir before taking it off the heat.
It was a chunky liquid with an odd brown color. I looked at her a little grossed out when she handed me a spoonful of the mixture to try and could only imagine what kind of spell or potion it was meant to be.
Noel looked at her sister and they both started giggling in unison, "Calm down, its only chili. The biggest side effect you are likely going to have is massive gas and blowing your toilet apart," she laughed.
"I never know what to expect with the two of you," I said, taking the spoon from her and giving it a taste, "Needs more heat and some salt," I said, licking my lips.
"You see? I told you," Christinia said, vigorously shaking some salt into the pot and adding a rather large pinch of red pepper flakes to the chili.
"So Dee says that you need an intense crash course on magic control?" Noel asked, serving herself a large bowl of chili with some bread and sitting next to me.
"Do you also want a way to reduce your magic or just learn how to control the magnitude of magic you are releasing?" Christinia asked, sitting on the other side of me.
Despite being twins, the girls were not identical. Aside from a smile that mirrored itself, the girls were anything but identical. Christina had sandy wavy hair that brushed just passed her shoulders. Her eyes had the same greenish brown hue that Cassandra did. Noel, on the other hand, took after their father more. Her hair flowed almost to her hips and was a few shades darker than the light sand color that Christina's was and her eyes were more bluegreen than green. Seeing their family pictures on the wall, I could see why Deianira would say each girl favored one parent over the other. Christina looked more like Cassandra, while Noel and Dylan looked far more like Alaric.
"I don't want a handicap on my powers, but I feel if I don't have them reduced at least a little, someone is going to get hurt while I am trying to learn how to fully control them. With that being said, I heard your parents not only helped my great grandmother Sadie control her abilities but they helped her see what was hunting her. Is that true?"
"I heard something about that and, from my understanding, it wasn't anything that they had actually done but the circumstances had somehow allowed it to happen."
"They were evaluating Alpha Sadie's magic. How strong it was at that moment, and if it would end up getting stronger. When you do an evaluation, you're basically going into your own subconscious and it sorta becomes a battle of wills."
"It'll challenge your mental, spiritual and emotional well-being and open up insecurities and vulnerabilities that even you weren't aware of and hopefully help resolve some of them."
"The draw back, of course, will be that if you end up confronting the entity that's hunting you, you risk the chance of it locating you or embedding itself within you," they said, alternating the conversation seamlessly from one another.
"Its not like he's not already doing that, so that won't be something new. It doesn't feel like it wants to do me any harm, but that's not to say that he's incapable of it. Honestly, the way I see it, I have more to gain than to lose at this point," I said, looking from Christing to Noel.
"Cool. We have the time, so if you want it done now, we can."
"Sounds good to me, let's do it."
(Christina P.O.V.)
"Dude, this is a lot of pressure!" I whispered to Noel, "I've only read how to do this in mom and dad's grimoire."
"Yeah, but we all went through it when our magic awakened. It's all in the magic yielders' control. Our main job is to read the crystals that she'll produce."
We were just outside of the sanctuary and could hear Minka quietly humming the fairy godmother's song and smiled to myself internally.
I glared at Noel. I was older by almost five minutes, but she always took on the older sibling persona. She was the one Dylan and I went to when we were having issues with our magic. It just seemed like she always had everything under control with her calmer outer appearance, but as her twin and a natural empath, I could always sense when things were getting to be too much. In this case, however, she really was calm and collected and believed we could help Minka through her trial. I took her confidence and took a calming breath before entering the room.
"You know I can sense your stress, Christinia," Minka said from her laying position on the sofa in our sanctuary.
"Then focus that energy inwards and start slowing your breathing," I chastised.
I, myself, took a deep cleansing breath. I loved this room during the afternoon. All the windows were stained glass and it felt like we were inside of a rainbow. The gentle breeze outside played with the wooden wind chimes and added that sense of calm we needed for the ritual we were about to perform.
Noel handed me the tray of clear crystals before partially closing the sheer curtains to the windows, dimming the natural light in the room slightly.
When Minka's breathing slowed down to long shallow breaths, we began.
I placed the first stone on her temple and just above her heart. After a few minutes, Minka's eyes began to flutter back and forth, signaling that she had entered her subconscious. After a few more minutes, the first two crystals began to change. I looked at the crystal and handed it to Noel, worried. When I dropped the two red crystals into her hand she looked up, her face mirrored the same worry I had. Whatever Minka was facing, it was evil and until she came out of the trance all we could do was help keep her body safe until she woke up from her internal battle.