"So have you learned anything today?" Trace asks.

Alyssa sits up with excitement. "Most of the spells require some special ingredients and stuff, but I learned fun facts that will be even more fun to test out. There's a spell that allows a person to be able to read minds. Granted, its for a limited time, but I'm interested in trying that one out. See what its like to be Olivia for a day." Alyssa smiles. 

"How hard does it look? Are the spells difficult?" The question is from Rachel this time.

"There are a few that look easy enough, plus Olivia promised to help me out on a few, until I get the hang of it. I saw a few that looked simple," replies Alyssa. "I saw a few shallow spells like changing my hair color or making small things appear and so on. I'm looking forward to learning how to do the bigs ones like reading thoughts, making a nice car appear, and even creating the perfect man."

"Don't you think you should try to keep the spells to a minimum. I'm sure they will have their repercussions. Also, I thought Justin told us that Olivia wouldn't read our minds and now you want to cast a spell so you can?" Cara speaks up.

"Its no big deal. Its all in good fun. I won't be able to do it for awhile I'm sure." Alyssa shrugs. About to add more, she is stopped by a loud crash in the basement. "Seems Olivia and Justin are at it again. I really wish we could be down there and wash those two go at it."

"I wish those two would just go at it for real." Rachel wiggles her eyebrows making the others laugh.

"Why don't we go down there? Its obviously loud enough that we can quietly sneak down and sit on the chairs to watch." Cara's suggestion shocks everyone and excites them at the same time.

The group rushes over to the door, but stops to make sure everyone is quiet so they can ease down the stairs. Alyssa makes sure the door is closed in silence and they all post themselves at the top of the stairs. At first it seems boring. Justin is throwing punches as Olivia quickly dodges them. It is amazing how fast the two could move, but no contact is being made. 

"This sucks!" Rachel exclaims in a whisper.

"How did this causes all that noise?" Trace rolls his eyes.

"I'm sure that helped." Alyssa points, directing everyone's attention to Justin just as he raises his arms and a flash lights up the room.

Olivia has no problem catching the ball of light and throws it back like a baseball. Justin ducks and a pile of boxes blows up. Justin tries again and this time, Olivia hits him on the throwback. The power behind it causes him to jolt a bit..

"That was so cool!" Trace exclaims, forgetting to be quiet.

Justin, being startled, whips around and finds himself throwing his arms towards the steps. Fear covers the faces of the four on the stairs and Justin who is watching as if in slow motion as he realizes what he has done. Just before the light hits the four, something causes it to change in path and hit the wall just beside the stairs.

Olivia falls to her knees in as if she had lost her strength. Justin fights his shock and rushes over to her. "Oh shit. Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine. It took a bit of energy from me to push that much power away. I guess I'm not as strong at I thought, but then again you have been working me like a slave driver." She jokes with him. "You're getting really good with that power. Now we obviously need to work on your nerves, too easy to startle."

"No, please don't worry about us. The defenseless humans over here that almost got blown up by their friend." Trace is sarcastic, standing from the stairs, in a bit of shock.

"I'm so sorry!" Justin rushes over to them now. "You startled me, and it was pure reflex. We were in a zone." Justin apologizes and then stops and glares at the four. "Why are you down here in the first place? Now you know why I told you that you do not need to be down here." 

"We wanted to see what all the ruckus was about, literally." Cara tells him. "It was interesting to watch."

"Yeah! So you can catch his electricity and literally hurl it back at him? That's so cool!" Justin has to wonder if Rachel will ever not be amazed and/or excited about this stuff.

"You should see what else she can do." Justin's declaration catches Olivia by surprise. "She can definitely make you jealous, Rachel." 

"What can you do?!"

Olivia looks over at the four that are staring at her, waiting for whatever it is that she is about to do. She looks over at Justin, questioning him and he answers in a nod. She raises an eyebrow at him. She looks like she's waiting for Justin to admit its a setup. As soon as she portrays her recently demonstrated ability, he will be mad at her for dragging his friends into this world even more.

She waits a moment to see if Justin will choose to back out, but when he doesn't she turns back to the other four. She closes her eyes and when she reopens them, not only are they a bright purple again, but her hair is long and purple also. All four jaws drop to the ground and their owner continue to watch in pure amazement as her hair changes in length, color, and style. Her eyes change in color just as fast. After a few minutes of ridiculous hairstyles, Olivia goes back to her original hairstyle and eye color. 

"Oh my god. That would save so much time in the morning, getting ready, not to mention help a lot when getting ready for a date. If you don't like your hair, just change it. I'm so jealous!" Rachel confesses with a huge smile on her face. "Is there anywhere in your books that can give me that ability?" Rachel asks Alyssa.

"I feel like I'm in a Harry Potter book," Cara says, "but in a really cool kind of way. I never imagined this stuff could be real." She turns to look at Olivia directly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still not sure about all of this. I just don't know how to feel about people being able to mess with other's lives, but for now, I'm going to trust Justin and trust that if he thinks you can be good, then I'll give you the benefit of the doubt until you prove otherwise." Saving her from the electric ball of death must have helped Cara soften up to Olivia.

"That's all I can ask for. Thank you." Olivia is sincerely thankful to hear this.

"Enough of the touchy-feely stuff. Let's see some more cool stuff between you and Justin." Trace speaks out.

"Actually, as fun as that would be," Olivia straightens up, "I'm going to head out. I'm a little worn out from today's workout. I, also, promised Alyssa I would teach her a few things out of her new books." This got Alyssa practically jumping up and down. "Justin, I'll see you tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll see you three tomorrow too since you seem to not go away." The smile is big on her face.

Alyssa quickly says her byes as Olivia climbs the stares. It does not take the duo long to make it to the car and then to the house. Alyssa is eager to learn everything she can, as fast as she can.

"You need to be patient. As a magic being, you will catch on fast but you must not take that for granted." Olivia tells her. "I do need to let you know a few things. Please, please, do not take advantage of this. I looked through the books myself and I know there are tempting spells in them. There are some for conjuring items that you desire, love spells, and so on. Be careful with these. They may seem simple but too much can cause problems. You'll start to want more and more and then the magic will take over, and you'll have no control and thats not fun. Trust me." Sher warns Alyssa, hoping that she takes it seriously.

"I promise I will do everything I can to control my impulses. Now what can we start with?"

Olivia has her start with simple spells. 

***

A couple of days pass before Olivia sees Justin again. Justin had decided he needed a couple days to rest up, and he had work he needed to get done. Olivia didn't object because she could use the rest and use the time to help Alyssa with some of her spells, and with her at work during the day, the evening/night time is the only time they have.

Alyssa makes her way through the door after a long day at work. She groans as she trudges through the living room to drop a box on the floor beside her couch and to drop herself on the couch. 

"Long day?" Olivia chuckles at Alyssa's dramatics.

"You could say that." She sits up and looks over at Olivia, and then as if out of nowhere, her energy comes back. "Can we work on a big spell today? I'm thinking possibly the astral projection spell." The smile on her face cut it in half.

"I'm not so sure about that one." Olivia stands up to go retrieve the books from her room, where she was studying them while Alyssa was at work. "I'm thinking something not so body/mind splitting." She has the book open and is looking through the spells. She thumbs through the pages to choose one that she approves of but stops her actions when there is a knock on the door.

Alyssa groans as she moves to stand up, but Olivia stops her. She swings the door open to see Justin standing there with two pizzas in his hands. "So, I was thinking, tonight I could come over here and maybe help you all out. I could simply watch a movie with you two or I could maybe help with any spells you may need helping with." He walks into the kitchen and sets the pizza boxes on the counter. 

Justin starts to look through the cabinets for plates and glasses. Just as he finds them and reaches for them, Olivia stops him and grabs the box. "Just bring the box in here." She brings the box into the living room and places the box on the coffee table then goes back into the kitchen and grabs three beers out of the fridge. Handing one to the other two, she sits down and grabs a slice out of the box and shoves it into her mouth. "You can help me choose a spell for Alyssa."

"Sounds fun!" Justin's face lights up as he sits down beside Olivia and reaches forward to grab a slice himself. He leans over and looks at the pages of the book as she flipped through them. "So what have you learned so far? Can you control things with your mind?" Alyssa huffs. "Read people's minds?" Another huff. "Conjure anything cool?" A loud huff. "Okay. What can you do?"

"I can change water into Kool-aid." Alyssa's sarcastic remark amuses Justin and makes Olivia roll her eyes.

"What a nice skill." Justin laughs.

"Fuck off. This is bullshit. I just recently found out that I have magical powers and have the ability to become a powerful witch and this one promised to help." She aggressively points towards Olivia. "Instead I've learned to change water into a different type of liquid. What's the point?!" Her feelings are very clear.

"I just think you need to take it slow. Perfect your craft while learning the limitations, so you aren't easily taken in by the power. It can and will happen if you aren't careful, especially since you are just now learning it." Olivia shows that she is unwilling to budge on the matter, which only receives another, once again, loud huff from Alyssa.

Justin sits and watches the interaction between the two siblings, and he understands both sides. Olivia only wants to keep Alyssa safe. She knows the dark side and wants to do everything she can from keeping Alyssa from that life. She wants to keep Alyssa safe from any spells that could go wrong, but coming from Alyssa's side, it is a little unfair. Sometimes the best way to learn is through personal experience. A spell gone wrong may be what teaches Alyssa to be safe. Also, Alyssa will never learn if she's not allowed to or taught. Olivia is experienced in the magic world, and can be what Alyssa needs to learn her craft but only if Olivia pushes her to do her best.

Justin stands up and asks Olivia to join him out on the balcony for a little fresh air. Alyssa looks up at him with a hopeful look as Olivia gives him a suspicious look but she joins him nonetheless. The two stand on the balcony, overlooking a lovely courtyard area. Justin shuts the door to give them privacy from Alyssa's eavesdropping and joins Olivia, who is looking out into the courtyard. He places his arms on the railing and silently joins her in her observations. There's a couple who is walking hand-in-hand whispering to each other as they smile with love, oblivious to anyone else that might be around. There's a young woman who holds her head down as she walks slowly back to her apartment. Justin reads heartbreak in her motions as Olivia reads boredom. They watch in silence for a few minutes until Olivia finally turns, facing Justin to ask what he wanted her out here for.

"I wanted to talk to you about Alyssa." He tells her honestly. "I know what its like to have an ability, a power, and not truly know about it. You have agreed to help me, and you have in so many ways. I'm truly grateful, but you are teaching me in a way where you really don't hold back. You push me to my limit even if I don't want to be, sometimes in way that really piss me off." He remembers when she uses Trace as a ploy to get him to use his powers against her. "You told me that the only way I'll learn is through pushing me and making me use my powers. Why are you not doing that for Alyssa? Don't you think she deserves to be able to see what she's really capable of?"

"Its just that very thing that scares me. If she is pushed too far too fast, it may very well push her into a place that none of us will wish for her. This magic can consume a person whole and I don't want that to happen to her." Olivia confesses as she stares down over the balcony.

Justin moves closer and turns her so she will look at him. "I believe that you will do everything in you own power to keep that from happening. She's not learning this on her own. She's asking for your help; she trust that you will lead her to where she should be. What are you afraid of?" He asks her, holding her hand, rubbing soothing circles over the back of it.

"I'm afraid that if I teach her this, she'll take advantage of it, and it could possibly cost her a life, her life." Olivia bites her bottom lip, fighting back emotions that she is unsure of. She's not familiar with these unselfish feelings and they tend to overwhelm her at times. "The use of magic may attract unwanted attention from the wrong kind of people. What if other demons catch on and try to take advantage of her?"

"Not to pick at a sore spot, but this 'unwanted attention' may come around anyway. You said yourself that you are being searched for by your family's soldiers and that you are usually moving around a lot, but you have decided to stay here. Who's to say that they won't find you? They will see you around us and use us whether you like it or not?" Justin tells her. She tries to look away in guilt, but he reaches up with his free hand to hold her in place, so he can continue to look into her eyes. "I'm not saying this so you will run. I want the opposite; I want you to stay. I've become quite fond of you." He smiles at her which relieves some tension in her. "If its possible that these 'soldiers' will show up, don't you think you owe it to Alyssa to teach her everything that she can use. You don't want her to use big spell, but don't you think they will help? Astral projection can help her fool the enemy enough to get away. Conjuring can help her get something to help fight them off. A shield can help keep her safe and maybe even others, like Rachel, Trace, and Cara. I may not be able to protect them at all times, so I would like to think that if I'm not around, someone else will be able to keep them safe. Please if for no other reason, help Alyssa for me, for the others who are helpless." Justin pleads with her.

Olivia stares into his eyes and gets lost in his gentleness, his unselfishness, the sincerity of his words. She closes her eyes as she sighs in defeat. "I see what you are saying, and I guess I do owe it to her. Spells and potions, here we come." She shakes her head and moves to go back inside to share the news with Alyssa, who is overjoyed.

Alyssa hugs Justin tightly to show her appreciation. She was unable to hear what was said, but its obvious that it worked and thats all that mattered to her. She was going to learn her craft and she was going to own it. She couldn't wait.