Damien's pov

I leaned on the door frame and watched Mirabel gaze on my kitchen in wonder, but sigh dejectedly. 

"Miss Mirabel? Are you okay?"

"Oh, Damien! I'm sorry, I'll leave."

"No, no. Please stay. I'd enjoy some quieter company. Care for some more rose milk?"

"If it's no trouble."

I made two mugs and shrunk the extra chairs and vanished them back upstairs. I sat across from her. 

"Did you know, rose milk, while tasty, is also a remedy for acne and nasty poisons?"

"No, that's amazing."

"I know. It was the first thing Mama Sofia taught me to make when I started potion crafting."

"This is a potion?"

"Technically yes, Mama Sofia made it herself. She was the top with in her coven back in the day. However it more used as a tasty drink to soothe a troubled mind."

We sat in a peaceful silence for a few minutes until I waved my hand and a small plate of snickerdoodles came over from the cupboard. 

"Would you like to learn witchcraft?"

She gave a small start and coking a bit on a cookie as I sipped from my mug, hiding my laugh.

"I noticed you not doing much at dinner. Do you not have a gift?"

"Nope. I'm the only ordinary person in the family Madrigal."

"I thought not. I can teach you basic spells and potion making, but only if you actually put the effort into it. Most unwilling the student, less effective are thy lessons and thine core's damage will take."

"What does that mean?"

"When a witch is teaching their craft to a willing student, those lessons are bound with the teacher's magic essence. An unwilling student will repel the magic, resulting in excruciating pain for the teacher. It's why there aren't that many witches anymore. Humans gave witchhood a bad reputation. Parents tell stories about evil witches coming to cook and eat the children if their not well behaved. As such, witches are a bit of a rarity nowadays."

"If you are willing to teach me, I am willing to learn. I'm fed up being labeled as the "Useless Madrigal."

"Alright, but there is a small caveat. If at any time you kill another witch, you will be stripped of your magic. It is a painful process and could kill you."

"Oh. Well you said that witches are rare, so I don't think that would be a problem."

"Good. We'll perform the teacher student bonding ritual tomorrow in your bedroom. Tonight, I need to rest. I recommend you do the same. Would you like to sleep in the guest room for tonight? It's fully furnished and clean, save for a dusty shelf or too, but a quick rinse will get that."

I go to look at her and she is knocked out, face first on the table. 

"What the- "

"Master!"

Selkie hugged my leg with a proud grin on her face. 

"Selkie put sleeping potion in her milk!"

"Selkie, that's a no no." 

"Selkie is sorry."

She look down, but she still hugged me. I lifted Mirabel into my arms and carried her to the guest room. I set her carefully in the air and set a jet of water over the room and banished all the dirty water outside. After the room was dry, I laid Mirabel on the bed and covered her up. I went to my room and went to sleep.

<~>

I woke up to violent shaking and I nearly throat punched poor Mirabel. 

" My Mama says it's time for breakfast. Hurry up!"

I shoo her gently out of my bedroom and banished my dirty, torn up clothing to the real void and submerged my entire body in a sphere of swirling water. The previous day's grime washed off of me. I changed into a white button down, black jeans, and a pair of brown sandals. I walked out of my room and toward the door to the Madrigal house. I followed Mirabel to the table and sat next to Camilo, who seemed happy to see me. I felt my core singing at the sight of his smile. 

"Is Selkie not joining?"

"No. Her kind can't be around humans for more than a couple hours before needing to return to the water, and she especially doesn't like super loud environments."

"Oh no did we upset her?"

"Not to worry Miss Pepa she's fine. Since she's still young she just get little temper tantrums."

"Luisa the donkeys got out again, Isabella the wedding down the couple down the street would like some new flowers, Pepa the fields -"

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you helping the people like that?"

"Because that's our job?"

"The donkey person cant herd their donkeys' back themselves? The couple can plant their own garden?"

"We are the Madrigals. We help the village with our gifts."

"So you people do this every day?"

"Yes."

"When do you take breaks?"

"When we are done our chores."

I shook my head and stood up. 

"Where are you going young man? You didn't get your chores today."

"I am not your nieto. You may be an Abuela, you are not mine so don't try to assign stupid tasks to me too help people who can't even help themselves."

I fume my way out of the house and roam about the village. Some children were playing with a hacky sack. I smiled at their pure innocent aura. 

"Damien?"

Camilo stood behind me with a confused look. I felt upset at the worried look his his eyes.

"Why don't you want to help the villagers?"

"Mama Sofia and I helped the people of a village for days upon days on end. We rarely stopped and when we stopped for my sixteenth birthday they killed her. So if these people get too dependent on you and your family, I fear you'll suffer the same fate my Mama did."

He gave me a hug and went to help a mother. Mirabel ran over to me and gave me a sympathetic smile. I returned it and followed her to her room. A faded blue door that was horrendous to look at. I waved my hand and it had turn a lovely navy blue with golden accents. I was shown inside and I nearly gouged out my eyes. 

"This room is too small."

I waved my hand and the door shut and locked itself. I sat Mirabel on a stool and got to work.

The wallpaper was more suited to toddlers, so I changed that into a to a forest scenery. The roof will correspond to the day night cycle with bright sunny skies and clear moonlit nights. The ground changed to a plush grassy field. I expanded the room and cracked my knuckles.

"This is the fun part."

I conjured a cauldron, shelves, a trunk, and a cupboard in one corner for her potion making. Her small cot bed became an elegant queen sized mattress with a navy blue bedspread with glittering stars. I made the pillow cases match the bedspread, only without the stars and the sheets were a lighter blue with even light blue stripes. 

In another corner a desk and a bookcase for lessons. A small stove in another corner for cooking lessons, and in the final corner...

"Mirabel, what do you like to do in you free time?"

"I like to sew, but why is -"

In the final corner I conjured shelves with needles, fabrics, spools of thread, pins, a couple thimbles, a butterfly shaped pincushion, sturdy fabric shears, and a measuring tape. I also conjured a male, female, and child sized mannequins. I placed a comfy armchair there too. I stood back to admire my handiwork.

"Is Casita able to do anything in here?"

"Is Casita the name of the house?"

"Yeah!"

I smiled and gestured to the walls. A bunch of animals moved rapidly. 

"Your Casita manifests in your room through the animals on the wall. I was going to bar her from the room completely since it seems like she can't enter the other bedrooms, but I saw how she dotes on you so I made sure she would still be able to watch over you."

She launched herself at me to hug me, but I quickly sidestepped. 

"Sorry, I'm not a fan of hugs."

"Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it."

I patted her head and gestured for her to sit down. 

"Time to start the ritual."

She plopped down and I grasped her hands. I started pushing my magic into her to bind her to me. 

"Mirabel Madrigal do you swear to uphold to Calderis teachings?"

"I do."

Wind swirling around us, with flickers of pure, golden magical energy. 

"Do you swear to work hard to learn the teachings of witchcraft?"

"I swear."

I smiled and my eyes turned white. A dagger appear out of nowhere. 

"Choose your symbol."

"A butterfly."

I carved an intricate butterfly into the back of her right hand.

"With the carving of the symbol the binding is complete."

I slammed my head into her head and it faded to black.

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