Lucy Silvet Chapter 3: Uncertainty A blue bolt struck the coat that lied atop the bed, sending it into a spasm before the energy that surrounded it sunk into its body. The gray fabric was devoured by a cerulean hue, growing black star patterns along its design like a disease. Once the blue filled out the edges, another bolt struck the coat. Now it bore a tone of forest green with oak tree patterns on the sleeves and stomach. The spells' lights flashed wildly across the blood hound and its couch, pressing down with their indescribable weight, flashing against the dark of his eyelids. He rolled over to face the bedroom wall, only to feel the shift in the air from the magic. "You're not going to discover the new black like that." he said. "I'm not an idiot, Azodald." the witch said combatively, stopping her blasts momentarily to glance back at him. "This is just me practicing and saving money on a new outfit. Smart and efficient. Everybody's happy." Lucy proudly said. Azodald saw his teasing was biting at her. There was more to the trigger happy spell casting than magical frugality. He rested his heads atop his paws as he kept an eye on the bed. At first she hadn't bothered to accomplish more than a color change before piling the coat back onto the couch but a thought had flooded into her mind and she wanted to dive further. Tossing the coat onto the bed, she spent the last half hour blasting it. First with simple color changing, than she cranked the speed. Patterns were added and now she was on to creating new material like glitter and buttons. "Oh no!" Lucy cried out in restraint, rushing over to the bed. Azodald knew it too well from being at her side, it was the same tone made when someone spotted an injured bird. He didn't bother to inquire, Lucy lacked all hesitation to walk over and show him the disaster. "Look Azodald. It's completely shredded." He felt a smile spark onto his face and no resistance to oppose it. "Wow! You really wrecked that thing. It looks like it got caught in a wood chipper. What did you do?" His ears twitched with curiosity. "First I put buttons on it but then I decided to remove them so there were holes where the buttons were." "Uh huh." "And then I wanted to fix the holes so I took control over the string structure of the coat but at first I was controlling it through groups and without any needlepoint magic so I fixed that and-" "Go on." In these moments, Azodald felt gratitude towards her witch blood. If this was a regular conversation not about string structures and the instrumentation of a spell blast, he would have to fight off all fantasies of running headfirst into a wall of knives. As she continued on, detailing how she manipulated the strings and how she had to learn the weave culture of the cloth, his ears rested loosely against his head. The only laughter to have here is one of insanity. "So I think that's what shredded it." "I'm just glad we're done with the legacy of the coat. Want me to sniff out a good spot to bury it while you write up a eulogy?" Lucy slammed the tattered clothing onto the ground. "It's not funny, Azol!" "Hey, what's with the swearing?" "I said AZOL!" "Oh. Still, what is up with you? It's just a lousy coat. You can get another one for cheap and change it all up the way you like it. Witches be witches." "You weren't even paying attention." she said, crossing her arms and looking away. Azodald rolled his eyes beneath his heavy canine brow and resigned to lifting himself up and walking over to the girl to see her face. "I was. Structures, needles, the whole deal. What's going on?" "I also said I lost control of the spell. That's why it shredded in the first place. Anytime I try anything difficult with my magic my flow breaks off or goes crazy and something stupid always happens. I can't get anything right!" She raised her foot to stomp the ground but somewhere inside she abandoned the notion, plopped forward onto the bed and Azodald walked after her, ready to jump on. He stopped, realizing he would have landed directly on top of her, a thought that begat other thoughts. On four paws he could only see her legs dangling, leading into her the rest of her form. He stood up against the side of the bed to let his eyes roam her. He imagined leaping on top of her unnoticed, able to sniff her hair or lick her neck with his long tongue. His large frame pressing down on hers, he would feel golden hair brush against his fur and snout. Her ass, the shape of which grew obvious in her skinny jeans, rubbing against his crotch, would begin to move back and forth, urging him to rub his erect dick across it. Clothes would quickly become a hindrance and he would shred them himself with his teeth, pulling them off like meat on a carcass, watching her body drop down from the strength as the fabric thinned. He forced reality to flood back into his mind and jumped onto the spot next to her, leaving another fantasy to die into the air like a smoke ring. Lucy's face was buried into the blanket. "This stuff takes practice, you know that. You're not going to be the mistress of the technicolor coat in thirty minutes." She rolled over, her breasts freed from the blankets underneath and sticking out like hills against his personal horizon. Azodald watched her carefully as he stole glimpses despite her gaze towards the roof and soon, her own hands. "I know that but it feels like this has been the problem forever. Concentration. Broken flow. There's witches who can cast magic in their sleep. How would I ever defend myself against trolls or gel cubes if the slightest panic messes me up? How am I supposed to be a great witch?" "Trolls and gel cubes? What kind of dungeons and or dragons adventures are you planning? And a great witch? I'm not saying you can't do it, I believe in you and I know you have the potential to, but I never knew that was a goal of yours." "What else should I be? What else am I doing with my life?" A dog's bitch. He was glad that thought stayed in his head but like the first cold breeze of the day, it stole his focus from the conversation. "Well...I don't know." he said. "That's kind of a hard question, likely one of those Only You Can Know kinds of questions. You don't have to be a great witch. Many witches and warlocks live great lives here without any contact from the Other Realm and just using basic cantrips." "I want more than what they have. I wasn't given these powers to do nothing with them. I'd be missing so much if I just stayed here." "Like what? You want to meet the queen of the harpies or something?" "Sounds great and amazing! Sounds like something a witch would do." she said, waving her arms in a welcoming spread. "Why are you so concerned about what a witch would do? What would a Lucy Silvet do?" The witch rose from the bed and headed towards the door, her intention obvious. "You're going to talk to Adelaide?" Azodald asked, joining her side in the hall. "Yeah. I'm going to get better at magic and then I can figure out what I want to do with my life." "So that's what this is all about." Lucy stopped on the third step of the stairs and looked back at the bloodhound. "Don't make it sound like I'm just being stupid." "Lucy, I'm not saying that." She stared into his eyes with a hot anger, her sight pressed down on him as if the judgmental light of God was raining down on man. He stood there, baffled, waiting for something else to happen. Lucy sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry." she quietly said, continuing her descent down the stairs. "I know you don't mean it like that. I'm just...confused. I really don't know what I'm doing with my life and there doesn't seem to be any answers anywhere." "That's okay, I understand. I've been there, or I was there for a short while. Then I got my life focused on one absolute goal and now I'm here." They stopped in front of the kitchen where they could see Adelaide reading a newspaper, resting her forehead in her palm as if she had a headache. "Well, go see what Adelaide can do for you. I'll wait right here." "Thanks." Lucy stepped into the kitchen, cautious to introduce herself into Adelaide's sight. The temptation to walk back struck her as she saw the older woman's red shirt straps around her elbows, her creamy upper chest in the open, showing her collar bone as it curved around her neck and chest, melting into her soft shoulders. Her breasts freely hung downwards, spilling over the table surface. When she first came into Adelaide's care she was too young to think negatively about the casual half nakedness of her guardian. As she grew older she wondered if Adelaide was a prostitute or any one of the jobs associated negatively with the female form. The thoughts vanished quickly as her maturity led her to admiration. Adelaide was beautiful and carried the refined essence of herself into every action she performed, making Lucy find some greater theme even in the casual presentation of the woman's cleavage and freestyle sexuality. "Um...Adelaide?" "Hmm? Oh, yes child? Is this about...is something wrong?" she said. Adelaide had learned Lucy's behavioral patterns early, finding them rather obvious and simple enough to guide. The mastery of another person led her to often cutting matters short and after a few arguments with Lucy that grew louder than she expected, she realized it was better to allow the child to speak her mind fully and then comment rather than dominate the discussion. Older company was more her flavor but remembering the young and restless mind made matters simple. "I've been trying to fix my flow when I cast spells, you know, like focusing it and launching energy out. I mean, I'm good at simple spells like with all my clothes but once I need any sort of concentration I always mess it up." "You can stop calling it the flow, Lucy. The proper term is channels. It gives less of the image of monthly bleeding." The correction came with a warm smile as she caressed the side of the young blonde's face. Her touching used to send the girl into flutters and murmurs but Lucy soon found it generous, becoming butter in Adelaide's hands. The change in reaction piqued Adelaide's curiosity but she thought it better to leave Lucy alone to her thoughts. "Your channels can grow and change with use, similar to your muscles and mind. One thing to remember is to exercise them properly. The traditional method is sense deprivation and sense drowning." Lucy replied back with a blank-faced silence. "Deprivation allows you to focus solely on your channels, it lets them grow stronger with nothing to stop them. Many witches usually find new ways to channel their magic. It's an all around good way of going about things." Adelaide pointed to her head next, gliding her hand across her body to show the flow of energy. "Sense drowning works on your concentration, lets you work on controlling your channels while experiencing outside influences. This is the more difficult part so I'll tell you something that will save you some time. The point of sensual drowning isn't always resisting the world, you should embrace it and channel alongside it." "So do I get a blindfold or hold my breath or..." "You use the multimedium room. Here, I'll show you how to work the chamber control." Lucy followed as Adelaide fixed her straps and headed into the living room. Next to the staircase, hiding in the shade of the wall and roof, was a door to the 'basement', access voided by magic to the rest of the physical realm. With a custom locking spell and an even more customized unlocking spell, Adelaide held onto the doorknob as the lining of its metal glowed red and symbols scratched into the door in a wave. The scratches became holes, releasing a heavier red that ran across their gaps from the other side. Adelaide attempted to explain the details of the door recently but found it too early for Lucy to take in all the concepts. She opened the door and a blackness, glittered with perpetual sparks and colorful blurs and waves ran over her body. "Azodald." "Yes, madam?" he said with a cocked brow. "Lucy will need somebody to watch over her. The limitations of this room were designed for myself and Lucy won't be able to handle anything too extreme. I need you to watch over the child, please, and help her in case anything happens." Lucy would have felt condescension had the statement came from anyone else but Adelaide's clear face and inactivity to the living night sky wrapping itself around her produced an undeniable sincerity. "Come with me." Lucy and the bloodhound followed her, feeling the breeze of the shutting door behind them. The nightly aura retreated to the sides, returning to its wall form. As a child, Lucy loved to stick her hands into the liquid feel of the wall, moving the sparks and nebulas around and nothing has changed since then. The first time Adelaide showed her the passage she felt her identity as a witch solidify, that these wonders were meant for her and that there would be someone to help her achieve them. The room was still much too chilly and she didn't bother to ask how Adelaide could move comfortably through it with nothing but a top and a knee length skirt. The white marble door to the multimedium jutted out in the colorful blackness, growing to twice Lucy's height by the time she reached the entrance, feeling like a room itself as it filled her mind and surrounded her vision. Adelaide rested her forehead against the door and chanted without sound. The marble within the framed cracked into large chunks, revealing a bonding force humming between each piece. "Any attempt to open the door from the outside without this chant will curse you with a day-long stasis. Don't forget this, Lucy. This place is more than just a training room, it's a stronghold for you in case anything happens." Lucy felt her legs shake. She fought off Adelaide's grimace and examined the door again. A long breath came from her nostrils. "From what?" "Anything. You may know about Azodald's past but you don't know about mine. Even the Other Government missed several details when they made me your guardian." "Adelaide." Her voice cracked. She was beginning to realize she was likely no longer on Earth. The cosmic walls became suffocating, rushing closer to her in her mind, and she was ready to forgot about her channels. "Don't worry, child. You know the chants, you just don't know that you know them. I've taken every measure to protect you in the rare case something does happen, enough so that you can live without worry. In my design, your safety is above my own so do and think no differently than you always have." "Ok." "Do you understand?" "Yes." Adelaide didn't move. "I understand." "I'm glad. You're safe, Lucy. Have more faith in that than anything else. However, it might be time you learn to use this room to its fullest. For today, sense training will do. Step by step. Follow me." Lucy watched the door as she walked through before turning to Adelaide, watching the loose strands move from her bun. Azodald was a killer, Lucy knew that. An attempt on a Councilman's life, a convincing court case, and an ultimate judgment against vigilantism, all leading to his curse while the case was decided. She knew he was assigned to Adelaide who apparently was reformed from whatever life she led before, trusted enough to keep an eye on a killer. Lucy spent many nights in bed wondering the situation she was, the people who lived with her, and where she would be if her parents were still around. She spent the time walking realizing anything could happen to her now in this disconnected realm. The cosmic walls along the stairs began to make sense. The room they led to looked as if it belonged to an alien hive, stitched together by an organic wall of brown flesh with ribbed pillars dividing each section, curving towards the center of the roof. They rose from small ponds of bubbling black ooze. Yellow sack lanterns hung from the roof, held by thick muscles but Lucy could only see them as twitching pimples. Across from the entrance was a cylinder with the same brown skin as the walls, except pipes and wires stuck in and out of it like a hernia. Adelaide examined the controls and began to adjust it, awaiting Lucy's inevitable questions in the meantime. Every puff of gas and popping sound sent the girl jumping. Lucy was beginning to regret ever asking for help. "So, Adelaide...where exactly are we?" Adelaide looked across the room, ready to tell Lucy the only place she was, was too far from her. The room was expansive and circular, small steps rimming the white brick floor. Lucy took a step back, almost against the door. "I'll tell you when you're ready, Lucy. Just feel comfort in that you can control every aspect of this room from this pedestal. Come." Lucy ran over and immediately noticed the labyrinth of levers, lights, buttons, and movable parts. If Adelaide designed this, she added every means of operation to it. "Come, stand at Urethnok." "Is that the name of the thing?" "The control device, yes." Adelaide stepped aside, allowing the blonde to lean her hands against the machine. As soon as Lucy gazed upon the madness of signals, Adelaide pressed herself against her and held her tightly by the stomach, nearly forcing Lucy to step forward. "Ade-" "Shh. These controls are sensitive and their effects change with how you move them. I'll guide you through carefully so you don't forget." "Okay." Lucy whispered. "Your, your breasts are up against my back." "Are you uncomfortable?" "No, not really." "Then hush." Lucy felt her thoughts blurring already and her legs and arms trembling. Adelaide's body took away the cold of the stairs and her breasts filled every crevice of the young witch's back. "Relax. You have me here, in every possible way." She squeezed Lucy tighter and began to sway side to side, cradling the girl. "I'm not going to let anything cruel happen to you when we're like this." "Are you going to touch me?" "Oh, I'm sorry, this isn't enough?" Adelaide playfully asked. "Do you want me to get you...right here?" Lucy jumped up the moment she felt Adelaide's hands zoom up her chest and grope her breasts. It was a light handle, hardly a grip, the way one would let their hand rest on a bed except adding a squeeze from the fingertips. Adelaide laughed. "Ade-" Lucy was turned sideways and pulled into the woman's chest, cheek pressed against a deep softness that covered half of her face. Adelaide's leg emerged from her heavy skirt and wrapped around the teenager. She loosened her bun and black hair fell from above and surrounded Lucy, leaving only silence. The popping and boiling of the room was all that remained, no longer sending shocks to the young witch's mind. Lucy tried to fight against the binding, to gain footing and escape. Adelaide continued her hold, keeping her grace and silence. Lucy desperately tried to conjure a reasoning for all this, readying any spell that leapt to mind, failing to form a proper question. "Lucy." Adelaide whispered. "Hush." Lucy understood. She felt a pleasant weariness pick at her mind as Adelaide held her close. She felt every wall in her mind fade away as the binding softened and she wanted to cry, not in pain but as a release of everything unnecessary in her life, a cry she felt would be accepted in Adelaide's cradle. Adelaide rested her head atop Lucy's, who calmed her magic and nuzzled into her neck and hugged back. "Do you believe what I've told you, Lucy?" "Yes." "You're safe. You only have me to fear more than anything else and I wouldn't hurt you. Quite the opposite, Lucy. So everything you feel right now, with your fears gone and your imagination calmed...take what you feel and embrace it. You, nestled in my arms and resting against me. Try to know my form and don't resist. I want you to use me and remember I love you." "Okay." Lucy said softly in the high of the moment. Adelaide pushed Lucy's head to the side and whispered into her ear a spell. Lucy soaked in every word, feeling it travel from her head and throughout her body, closing her eyes in pleasure as if they caressed her. Her heart pumped with excitement as it felt a spark of power within. Adelaide raised Lucy's arm, straightening it and pointing it towards the machine. In this pose the two were intimate dancers, Adelaide leading every move, being the wind carrying her partner. "Do it." Lucy whispered the words and the power surged calmly through her. The spell never needed cycling or balancing in her palms. The power flowed through her without interruption, streaming from her channels and into the air until the misty incantation faded away atop the machine. Humming erupted throughout the room and the black water boiled. She could feel energy moving throughout the pillars and walls. Adelaide lifted Lucy, enough to force the girl on the tips of her toes, and swiped away her hair. She kissed Lucy's neck, pressing her lips along the sides and below the chin. She could feel Lucy loosening in her grip and wrapped her lips around the girl's earlobes, pulling gently. Between them, her plentiful breasts encompassed Lucy's perky chest. "Adelaide." Lucy moaned. "You're a good girl, Lucy. I wanted to reward you for performing sense drowning." Lucy's eyes flickered away from the addictive warmth and back into the room around her, with Adelaide watching her. "Sensory drowning? I did it? Was that when you were holding my arm?" "Yes. You performed excellently. The device working is proof, though there is a handle on the side to turn it on without the spell." "But I know sensory drowning now." Adelaide ran her hand through the Lucy's hair before she stepped away. "That's the proper mindset. You've gotten only a taste of sensory drowning. For every sensation, emotion, and entity you can feel, you can have entirely different experiences. You must learn to function within several moods and modes if you want to master it. This room can be prepared to test you." "Adelaide...why did you kiss me like that? On the neck? And my ear?" she said, touching each part as she recalled it, silently caressing her chest as it felt lonely in the air without Adelaide's fullness. "There's one thing I've learned in life and that is affection is a wealth of its own. All wealth needs to be shared and if I can touch you and bring you comfort, I'm more than happy to do so. It's fair to say you're a beautiful young woman and perhaps I was just tired of never feeling you against me. Do you want me to mind myself better with your personal space?" "No!" The cry, though nowhere near a shout, echoed throughout the room. "I mean...no. I li...I liked it. I'm just not sure, not just about that but about everything, probably my entire life." "In boldness you can find certainty but in the dark, taking any passage can lead to suffering. Be careful how you navigate through this uncertainty. Truth is the greatest thing you can have so don't be afraid to confess anything to me. My arms are open for you and I would take pleasure in feeling you again." "Ok." Lucy snorted as she smiled. "Thank you, Adelaide." "Now, speaking of uncertainty, you're going to have to undress. Completely." "Huh?" Azodald sat against the wall, realizing how easily women ignored his presence when they became intimate.