Chapter Text
Greg woke up in Helen's arms. His head resting on her massive tit*. They were on the sofa, turned around to face the television. Helen was leaning against the tall armrest, subconsciously stroking his hair, like a pet. Stella and Hanna were mirroring them at the opposite end of the sofa. Hanna in Stella's arms. Their faces interlocked in a slow lingering kiss. They were all dressed in black robes. Greg had been dressed in very comfortable pants in addition to a robe. He finally recognized the fabric; linen.
“You're up?” Helen said and hugged him close.
Greg hugged back his arms heavy from exhaustion. “Was I out long?”
Helen shrugged. “About thirty minutes. You were actually asleep. It's good for your recovery, so we let you rest.”
Mina put a huge steel pot of hot popcorn on the coffee table, along with two glass pitchers of Ice tea. “Nice timing Greg.” She ran a hand through his hair and kissed his cheek.
Sofia put down a large tray of vegetable sticks and dip, and a tray of drinking glasses. “Hey sleepy head.” She leaned over Mina and kissed Greg’s forehead, in the same motion; she picked up Mina and carried her to a lounge chair. Mina curled up on Sofia's lap, settling in to watch the movie.
Everybody was partnered up in pairs of those who had seen and not seen Pulp Fiction. Greg could just barely remember the movie, it was a nice jog for his brain, to see something he was familiar with, it reconnected a few gaps in his memory. Murk coven had seen it before. But rather than being bored, they enjoyed Black coven’s reaction to the plot twists. Mina even managed to say: "Watch where you point that." Before Vincent accidentally discharged his gun.
As the credits rolled Helen spoke in a stunned voice. “Well Marie you’re right; It leaves an impression.”
Her phone rang. “Hey Erica.” She laughed “No Billy is not our associate. But you may have to fight Murk Coven for the claim.”
Greg waved at her. They had switched places so she was on his lap, he could hear both sides of the conversation. “Erica, it's Greg, mind if we put you on speaker. We're all here.”
“Go ahead.”
Greg pointed out which icon Helen needed to press.
Marie spoke. “How's Billy?”
Erica laughed. “Hanna all but carried him in from the car. I think they had stopped several times for a rest. We straightened his back out and put him to bed.
“His back?” Helen asked. “That's right, the seat is isometric and he's almost too tall for the low roof.” She rolled her eyes.
“Right,” Erica said, “How about we lend him another car, for the drive home?”
Helen blinked. “Sure that's very generous of you.”
“Not really,” Erica confessed. “We need his advice on buying new cars. Ours are also getting old.”
“If Hanna doesn't mind.” Helen said, “He needs to be back at school Monday morning.”
“Perfect.” Erica said “Oh yeah, Hanna will be staying here for a day, to test out the chelation therapy we're putting together. Murk coven tested positive for cadmium. Actually Sofia tested positive for a lot of heavy metals. We had to dilute her sample several times. She has so much cadmium in her blood, it made a lot of false positives.”
Sofia was blushing furiously. “How bad is it?”
"Sofia, are you cognisant!?” Erica’s voice was shocked.
“Erica, it's Stella. Sofia is cognisant and functioning normally. Why?”
“Because she has enough cadmium in her; to kill an elephant... OK, a small elephant.”
“Sofia, are you there?”
Sofia was sweating and looking very nervous. “Yes Erica.”
“Do not use magic! Your Penta-cells are the only thing keeping you alive. And for the love of god; don't let anyone ingest your seed. Not orally or anally, you'll pass it on to your partner. vagin*l only!”
“Yes Erica.” She put her face in her hands in embarrassment. She had not only poisoned herself. But also her daughter and granddaughter by her ignorance.
Mina hugged the large muscular witch trying to comfort her.
“Erica, it’s Greg. Is there anything we can do to help?”
“You already did it. You and Stella injected her with more cells. Just keep doing that, while we run some tests on Mina and make a custom treatment. Just keep Sofia hydrated, most heavy metals leave the body through urine and sweat. So heat, hydration and exercise.”
Marie frowned. “What tests are you running?”
“We want to make sure Chelation therapy doesn't reduce the penta-cell count.” Erica said in a severe tone. “Normal Chelation therapy is good enough for you and Hanna. But we've never seen the effects of heavy metal or chelation on a witch. If the Chelation reduces the cell count on Sofia, it will kill her before it cures her.”
Marie paled and Sofia was shaking with a mixture of fear and shock, she hugged Mina like a teddy bear.
Helen answered. “I think I speak for everybody here. Thank you Erica. Thank you very much.”
“Not a problem Helen. We finally have something interesting to take care of.”
That reminded Greg: “Erica, Can you do a cell count on Billy? He might have dormant cells waking up.”
All the witches stared at him.
“What makes you think that?” Erica asked. in a stunned voice
“Me and Billy were born less than a year apart. I suspect we were exposed to penta-cells prenatally because our mothers worked here. We might have been born Warlocks.”
“Holy f*cking sh*t Greg, jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, I'll test him right now. I got to go, Greg, you're a treasure.”
She hung up before Greg could stop her. He gave an annoyed sound wondering if he should call her back, then thought better. “Stella, could you send her a text, with Billy's cell count from earlier today?”
“Of course.” Stella said, grabbing her phone. “She Should also know about the filters on our microscopes.”
“Greg,” Helen said, “What makes you think you were born a warlock?”
Greg shrugged. “You said I have a large aura and my body is responding really well to penta-cells, I'm growing a little too fast. And I think; I saw something when you adjusted the stealth of the car.”
Helen thought about it. “Well none of those things is abnormal.”
“Oh.” Greg blushed slightly.
Helen continued: “For a second year warlock.”
Stella swore: “Jesus Christ, Greg. You've got so many cells I can see them clearly.”
Greg was shocked Stella would blaspheme. Then he noticed she was looking at him with closed eyes.
Greg closed his eyes. Noticing the vague outlines of the witches through his eyelids. “sh*t I can see you... This seems vaguely familiar. I remember being able to do this as a kid. I Couldn’t do it for more than a minute or so.”
“Greg stop.” Stella said. “You're burning through cells.”
Greg opened his eyes. “It's still on." Stella's glowing outline was on top of his normal vision.
Helen Grabbed his hands. “Sweetie, close your eyes and focus on Stella, as hard as you can. So you can see as many details as possible.”
Greg nodded and did as he was told. He could swear he could see Stella’s individual blood cells.
Helen continued the lesson. “Now close your eyes and defocus, until she disappears from your vision.”
Stella's image disappeared from behind his eyelids. He remembered he'd done it before as a child. He played with it a little, switching his supernatural vision on and off. “I’ve done this before. Before I started school." He opened his eyes, "I barely remember."
“Before...” Stella stammered. All the witches looked at him. “Why did you stop?”
“It’s like x-ray vision, I kept winning at cards, and hide and seek. It wasn't fun, and my playmates got pissed when I kept finding them.” Greg frowned. “Everybody except Billy... He somehow figured out how to hide himself.” Greg blinked as he realized He and Billy had been doing magic as children.
Stella recovered first. “Greg, you probably used all your cells as a child, the minute you used it. Try to use it only in bursts.
“Yeah, I figured that out, right before I stopped.”
Marie laughed at him. “Were winning at hide and seek really that bad?”
“No but I could really ruin a good game, so my classmates wouldn't play with me. So I stopped trying to win.”
Helen hugged him. “You stopped using magic to fit in?”
“Yes.” They scared him a little, because they all lunged in for a hug. “What?” They were drowning him in arms, legs and tit*. His body was enveloped in their soft mounds.
Stella kissed him on the cheek. “Greg, we've all suppressed our abilities at one time or another, to fit in.”
Sofia added; “Or keep from getting burned at the stake.”
“Oh right.” Greg hugged them back as well as he could. He thought about it. All of them except Mina and Hanna had been at risk of being burnt alive. He hugged them even harder realizing how stressing that would have been. No wonder Stella had Post Traumatic Stress. “I hate to ask, but when did witch burnings actually stop?”
Sofia actually laughed. “We still burn witches in Denmark.”
“What!?” Greg stared at her.
Marie giggled. “She is making a joke. Every midsummer's eve most towns and farms have a bonfire. The witch is made from old hay, a Christmas tree and old clothing. Usually it has a few screeching fireworks in its pockets.”
Greg chewed on it. “How nice.” He said sarcastically.
They laughed at him.
Sofia stroked his hair. “Actually it's very nice, it's a very traditional social event. With no malice of intent. It's only disturbing if you are an actual witch. Attending every year has helped me deal with my Post Traumatic Stress.” She sighed. “Speaking of tradition, I guess I can't adopt you into Murk coven, in the foreseeable future.”
Greg frowned. “I was expecting to join Black coven.” He thought about it. “Not that I would mind spending more time with you. Why can't you adopt me now?”
Sofia gave Helen an embarrassed look.
Helen gave her a resigned look. “You may as well tell him now Sofia. He'll figure it out if you don’t.”
Sofia blushed. “Traditionally you're a part of a coven once you've received a large direct shot of cells.” She paused for breath. “Erica just told me; no anal or oral sex so...”
Greg finally got it. “I have to take a shot of sem*n. To be a member?” He looked at Stella.
Stella looked embarrassed at not having told him sooner. “It’s more of a ritual. With the amount of cells you have you don't really need it to become a warlock.” She was looking carefully at Greg for signs of panic.
Greg remained calm. “What's the advantages of joining a coven?”
“Oh.” Stella was surprised. “Political protection from the church. That's not a concern here because you know Father John. But if you travel to other countries you can get in trouble. The coven that makes a warlock is of course responsible for teaching and training him.” She hesitated. “I guess; that's us anyway, since I exposed your mother. So the act isn't strictly necessary, it's a Formality.
Marie cleared her throat. “Actually Stella, it's important. It is like having an unconsummated marriage. It can be annulled any time.”
Stella blushed. “Right.” She looked at Greg. “It’s my turn to sleep in your bed. But we don't have to do that... yet.”
Greg blushed furiously. “Can I think about it?”
Stella felt very little resistance in his aura. “Absolutely Greg. We're not going anywhere and you can stay here for as long as you want.”
