I walked in. She led me to the living room. She gestured to the couch.
"Sit."
She stayed standing for a second, poured herself a cup of tea, then sat across from me.
"I first met your mother on a rainy day, it was March 13th, nineteen years ago."
She looked at her tea.
"She wasn't from here. Said she came outta New Orleans. I'm assumed from the Tremé coven, as that's where my daughter met her."
She took a sip.
"But when she met your father, she left all that. Settled down in Mystic Falls."
I frowned."But she doesn't.."
She cut me off." Look her age? Right. Let's say your mother had a knack for sacrificial magic. While not immortality, she stretched her time. And got freakishly good at it."
She paused, looked up.
"But when she had you, she stopped. Changed. Maybe for the better. That kind of magic leaves a mark."
She drank again.
I didn't speak. Just took it in. Even with the accumulation of memories, this hit different. Just knowing this new facet of information satiated the person I was before. While I couldn't explain it, it just made sense. Yet that also led me to another trail of thought as I soaked up the information.
Just because I had a few memories from the shows, skimmed a few wikis before I ended up here, didn't mean I knew everything. I didn't, especially not in the magic department. There were gaps in my knowledge, and I'm not ashamed to admit that.
I then finally looked up at Sheila.
"What kind of mark?"
She didn't blink, most likely already assuming I would ask more about her.
"Residual energy. Side effects. Some physical, however, it's mostly spiritual. It warps your aura. Makes people feel off around you, kinda like a smell that isn't there, but worst of all, it can warp one's worldview on how they perceive things."
She paused as if contemplating how to put it.
"She had it. I not only saw it when we first met, but many times since, one of the many reasons my daughter and I relationship soured. But when I finally saw her again, many years later, around the time you took place within her, it was like it had faded somewhat. While not completely gone, it had certainly smoothed out."
I tapped my finger on the armrest."What did she exactly give up when she had me?"
"She never said it out loud. But with any witch that has decent magical knowledge, magic like that demands payment. Years, soul fragments, bindings. Whatever kept her alive before? She cut it off. And I think by now you know the reason for that."
I sat with that.
Then, "And while I know you said it has various different effects, how did it actually warp her perception of certain things?"
She gained an inquisitive look and nodded. "She stopped being hungry."
I raised an eyebrow.
"That constant itch in the back of the head? The craving to know more, to have more, to do more? That hunger for control? That's what dark magic is. She got quiet. Lighter. You can't fake that. She wasn't acting, she was really trying to live."
I leaned forward slightly. "Couldn't that also be confused for overambition?"
She chuckled. Soft, like she'd heard the thought before.
"Some might see it that way. But dark magic's tricky. Full of illusions. And not just the kind that fool others."
Her face shifted. Eyes sharpened. Tone dropped low.
"It confuses the user. Twists what you want into something else. Always takes more than it gives. Warps your reasons until you don't even know why you started. If you don't control it, or have the right outlet, it'll run through you like rot."
I sat there, soaking it all in, and decided not to to contradict her, as I truly don't know if this world was a one-to-one copy of the world from the series
I nodded once. "Thank you."
She smiled, faintly.
"You're welcome. We witches gotta stick together."
I hesitated. "Is Bonnie?"
"She doesn't know much," Sheila cut in, sharp but calm. "And I would prefer it stays that way."
I gave her a half-grim look, not all the way real, but just enough, time to lie like a mother fucker.
"I'm afraid you might be too late."
The air shifted.
Lights above us flickered. Once. Twice. Then steadied.
She leaned back slowly.
I looked at her, voice low.
"Explain."
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PowerStones!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know i'm a lazy bastard, procrastination hit me like a mother fucker. P.S hope you like the set up I did within this chapter stay turned for the next chapter as that's when things start to heat up.