“Are you gonna take this seriously or not, Junie?” Magnolia asked in exasperation, hands tightly gripping the blanket she’d ripped off of her sister.

“Maggie…” Juniper groaned, “It's too early in the morning for this. Give me back my blanket.” Her sister dribbled out the rest of her sentence in a curled ball, shielding her eyes from the sunlight streaming through their dorm room.

“Just because you don’t have classes yet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be waking up at a reasonable time. It was hard enough for me to manage these last two weeks with you coming in late and disappearing throughout the day.” Magnolia’s voice betrayed a hiccup and a crack.

Dammit. She told herself she wouldn’t do this.

What gears were operational in her sister's drowsy gaze worked to meet Magnolia’s request.

“Five more minutes and I’ll be up and out, Maggie.” Juniper pleaded with her.

She took a deep breath and gently threw the blanket back on her sister.

“Fine. If you’re not done getting your last minute sleep by the time I’m done reading through this passage, you’re gonna wake up to a cold bath.” Magnolia mustered the breadth of her annoyance but that well was shallow and her sister tried her best to do right by her.

Today’s lesson was all about slotting and inscribing, much to her excitement. It was hard enough trying to fall asleep without thinking about the extent of the lesson they were going to receive. The history of Incants and the Schism and its impact on society as a whole was interesting but tangential to what Magnolia cared about, and although her texts were extensive in covering the topic of Spells and their impact within Incant bodies, the visual demonstrations that the professor provided were admittedly effective in helping her grasp the topics.

She reread the passage on spell slotting and aftereffects again. The ramifications of carving out a slot within one’s very being to house a spell; from the levels of exhaustion that came from doing such a thing and the vulnerabilities involved with the process to the physical and mental alterations the spell made when overwriting ones being…

Magnolia looked back at Juniper.

After Mr. Isaac revealed the kind of quirks he was stuck with from slotting the spells he had in his body, Magnolia kept pestering her sister for an answer on what changed about the both of them from then to now.

As far as Junie was aware, they got off easy with slight physical and mental changes.

Juniper found it hard to pay attention to peripheral matters without extensive effort. A hyperfixation on a select number of tasks that were tied to the objects she’d tethered to.

For Magnolia, well, her changes stared back at her each time she looked at herself in the mirror. They’d be beautiful to her if they didn’t cause her sister such obvious pain, however hard she tried to hide it.

“Current scholars suggest that this overwriting of physical and mental characteristics on the part of the spell towards the Incant is their method of assimilation and the source of the variance that comes from slotting a spell within one’s body. Incants that have cooperated with their insights on the text of this material state a growing dissociation of one's identity as their being becomes increasingly saturated with various spells.” Magnolia read.

By the time she finished the rest of the passage, Juniper dragged herself out of bed and shambled towards her dresser.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Magnolia said, tongue in cheek.

Juniper narrowed her eyes at her but said nothing as she undressed herself from her scant sleeping clothes into a black faded t-shirt and jeans.

“What’s the scoop on today's class, Maggie?” Juniper rested her head on Magnolia’s shoulder.

The warmth felt wonderful.

“The topic for the month is all about spell slotting and inscribing and the distinctions between Incants and the rest of the magical oddities of the world.” Magnolia repeated the words Del Marin gave her class at the end of last week's lecture. She suppressed her giggles as Juniper's breath tickled her collarbone.

“Wow,” Juniper didn’t seem impressed, “I get they’re teaching you the fundamentals but they better be responsible about all of that.”

Magnolia frowned, “June. Running around on the other side isn’t going to substitute the collective experience found in these books.” She held the hard covers around her tightly. “I’m sure they’ll act responsibly while teaching us about this topic and I’ll be able to come home here to teach you all about it.”

If you’re around.

Juniper pulled away from her sister and held her hands up, “I’m not going against collective experiences or whatever but spell slotting is serious business. I doubt the book covers the aftermath of those who succeed.”

She paused, a shudder running up her spine.

“And the poor fucks who fail.”

“I’ll bring it up in class with the professor then.”

“Oh don’t look at me that way, Maggie. I’m happy that you’re learning all of this stuff. They wouldn’t have considered us if we didn’t have anything of value to get from the program.”

Magnolia raised an eyebrow, “But?”

“What? What but?” Juniper stammered.

“There’s always a but and I can see it on your face, Junie. The coven is offering me a quality education but they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t expect some form of recompense?”

“They got their stars, Maggie, and just by being here, we give them the credulity of being a worthwhile institution. But there’s no ‘but’ that I have.”

She gave Magnolia a goofy smile.

“Except there.”

Magnolia relented, giving her own silly smile, “Fine, okay.”

Juniper leaned back in towards her sister and wrapped her arms around her neck. Magnolia’s heart fluttered with warmth and affection.

“I’m sorry I’ve been gone so often. I want to hear all about what you learn, okay? I’m proud of you and can tell from the stacks of books all over the place that you’re taking this seriously.” Juniper whispered.

Magnolia’s mood was dampened despite the compliment.

“I just want my sister around more. Willow thinks I’ve made you up.”

“Is she a friend of yours?”

“Yeah. The only one I’ve been able to make in class. The rest of the class is… complicated. Willow and I are in similar boats but she knows more about how the school operates than I do.”

“Sounds like a lot of drama but I’m sure you can handle it.”

She could, but that wasn’t the point.

“Just… just be around more often. I’d like you to at least meet Willow this week and join us for dinner? She’s been dying to meet someone with outside experience and I want to prove I’m not a crazy person pretending to have a sister.”

Juniper pulled away from Magnolia, kissing the top of her head.

“I’ll meet her tonight if the both of you would have me.” Juniper promised as she walked towards the door.

“Heading out already? I thought you didn’t have stuff to do until later?” Magnolia asked.

“Yeah but I think I can get some of that stuff done now and free up my night that way.” Juniper replied.

“Okay. Thank you Junie, I appreciate it.”

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to do this all the time, but you mean the world to me, Mags. I think I can do right by you at least today.”

The two smiled at one another before Juniper turned the knob and walked out of the door.

If her sister was attending to her responsibilities ahead of time, then so could she.

Magnolia puffed her chest and drew strength from her sister's promise, excited to learn about the world her sister interacted with for a living.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magnolia sat next to Willow, staring intently at the chalkboard and the manicured beige three-piece suit Professor Del Marin was pacing around. She restrained herself from looking at the gaggle of women to her right, their leader delivering wordless waves of contempt with a sneer and a gaze.

Written in bold letters was the topic of today's discussion; the basics of spell slotting, its difficulties, and the differences between Incants and the rest of the magic population.

“Good morning, class. Although I believe that the passages I’ve had you read should be rife with information on the subject of today's lesson, the assessments I’ve been conducting suggest more than a few of you require my verbal guidance.” The professor paused and gave the room an easy smile. “My reputation cannot be tarnished by dullards and thus it is up to me to teach you with a more defined touch.”

Magnolia saw Willow roll her eyes as her pencil absentmindedly sketched a simple flower on the margins of her notebook.

“I’ll begin by asking the class, what is a spell?”

Another pause. No one dared raise their hands to answer the question. A calculated measure as the students scanned one another for the brave soul willing to stand out.

“That question is too broad.” One of the girls pierced the silence from behind Magnolia.

Del Marin’s eye twitched before returning to an easy demeanor, “Then I will specify for your sake. What differentiates a spell from another denizen of the Astral and to that end, why are spells so important to the Incant?”

This time, the class churned their gears for answers.

“There isn’t a clear delineation between a spell and a denizen of the Astral from what the text suggests. The parameters we have to make a distinction is the capacity for these creatures to offer their ability to an Incant by way of slotting or inscription.” Willow delivered her answer with middling confidence.

Not her fault, Magnolia thought. All eyes on her and a want to prove her worth would make anyone nervous.

Del Marin smiled, “I appreciate your input, fledgling. As a freelance Incant, it is a common misconception from our clients that there’s a distinction between the creatures we house in our bodies and the ones we remove from our ailing society. Demons, devils, fey, these are all distinctions we’ve brought into our interactions with these creatures and they reflect these biases as a result.”

Magnolia raised her hand and waited for the professor to nod in her direction.

“You mentioned just now that we house spells in our bodies. My sister informed me that the process of slotting a new spell was quite dangerous so I’d like to know how that process plays out exactly.” Magnolia jabbed her friend lightly in the ribs when she heard a faint snicker from her direction.

Del Marin considered the question, “Your sister is correct in the danger that spell slotting poses. Not even considering the kind of spell you’re attempting to subjugate and the methods by which that subjugation occurs, once you’ve carved out a place in your soul for the creature, you risk the physical and mental manifestations of their being on your own as well as the instability in casting spells to defend yourself. Incants are left incredibly vulnerable during this process.”

“Can’t you just defend yourself with an inscribed object or grimoire? You’d have to be a fucking idiot to leave yourself exposed like that.” Bianca gestured at her statement like it was the most obvious conclusion in the world.

“Well, señora, an Incant is certainly capable of using an inscribed object to defend themselves but when you start hitting slots four and above, something as milquetoast as a dagger with a burning edge isn’t going to stop anything. Grimoires require the body to act as a conduit for the power and with the state your body would be in immediately after slotting a spell, good luck getting something as simple as a shield out.” Del Marin did his best to shut down the rude girl but Bianca was unphased.

She scoffed, “If not your own defenses, employing the defense of your consort would be trivial. I understand your experience might not preclude you to have any subjects to take on the duty, Professor, but this is just a gross representation of danger on our behalf to take the power that’s rightfully ours.”

Eyes casted back to the professor, silence so oppressive that one could hear the anticipating heartbeats of their neighbors.

“Oh, señorita,” He clicked his tongue and shook his head with disapproval, “I can only teach you what my experience and the collective efforts of selfless Incants have on the matter. It is up to you if you’re willing to shirk pride for understanding. Ours is a dangerous profession and it is quite understandable why working with others during our most vulnerable moments would be equal to giving a coworker a loaded gun and asking them politely not to shoot.”

He clapped his hands and like that, the tension was dispersed.

“Speaking of Incants, we are at the top of the pyramid insofar as the magical community is concerned. The ability to inscribe and slot spells to objects and ourselves respectively is ours and ours alone. There are those below us.”

Professor Del Marin walked to the chalkboard and drew out a pyramid, writing ‘Incants’ at the tip. Below that was a thin layer.

“Below us are the pitiable Incompletes. This is a label I’ve given them. Few scholars in our field care much at all for their development and fewer still have existed in our profession to find one in the wild but nonetheless we know of their existence by the knotting that occurs in the astral. These folk wish so desperately to match our blessed gifts that they wish to the Weave for just an ounce of our abilities.”

He paused and nodded at a veiled student.

She cleared her throat and spoke with a peculiar distance, “I thought this was a rumor that went around during the age of the schism?”

The professor chuckled, “You would be wrong. We were defined by our greed before and that remains even with what the world’s become today. The variations of this group are wide and vast but the constant is that the Weave will answer your prayers whether you have a million stars or a mere one. Anything after that is subject to the laws of chaos.”

He marked a wide section on the pyramid and wrote within the space.

“And below even those pitiable above are the warlocks and hunters. The warlock, so desperate for power yet so cowardly or calculating as they’d place it, that they bargain contracts with those more sentient spells to harness their strength. Warlocks are blunt force instruments with their spells serving to solve all problems should they find a way.”

There was a narrative element to what she was being told but Magnolia wrote down the information all the same. The fact that there was an entire class of people in magic society that research wasn’t even looking at lit her mind like a wildfire. Regardless of her professors' conception of their group, she’d grown up around Juniper’s work circle to know the contempt that even freelancing Incants held for their own kind. Those falling behind that standard were more likely to be misunderstood than anything else.

“I lump the hunters with the warlocks because they are an equal force functioning from an opposite motive. With the displacement of power came those stubborn lot that wished to reinstate order where it no longer belongs. Hunters reject Incants, regrettably at the behest of the AWW, using their magical toys to attempt takedowns of errant Incants. Where the warlock is envious of our powers, the hunter is an oppressive dullard, very willing to use our abilities against us so long as it's them wielding the power.”

Professor Del Marin let out a suffering sigh.

There was so much more that the world had to offer and her professor only hinted at the margins.

“Professor. Will we be covering the upcoming assignment?” Magnolia turned and locked eyes with the leader of the veiled group, the girl asking the question turning their watchful penetrating stare towards her.

A chill ran up her spine and she quickly pulled away from the gravity of it.

“I need no reminder, my dear student.” His voice was fraying at its breezy facade. “To end the lesson on the current hierarchy, below even the hunters and the warlocks are the rest of humanity, clinging to the benevolence of a bleeding heart here in the States for some measure of relevance. And even then, that isn’t always the case.”

Magnolia agreed, textbook accounts of survivors from what was formerly New York or the deep forested villages of Seattle discussing hell made manifest. The schism thinned the barrier between our world and the one of dreams and stars and it didn’t take much prodding at the thin film between it and us to get those terrors.

“We bring the conversation full circle to those at the top, the Incants. As our astute fledgling pointed out, an Incants arsenal is not just limited to the spells within us. I introduced myself not just with the number of slots in my soul but the number of spells bound to my grimoire.”

Professor Del Marin reached into his suit pocket and acted as a showman. Deftly, he pulled out a burgundy wooden box with golden edges sparkling under the light. With his thumb, he unhooked the clasp of the box and caught the deck of cards in his other hand.

Squinting at the cards, Magnolia identified that they weren’t made by cardboard or paper but carved wooden rectangles whose backing held elaborate sigils.

“Another misconception that our kind brings to this line of work is what exactly defines a grimoire. Our old tales might depict a wizard brandishing a book and casting spells that way, like the AWW harken to, but this is asinine for multiple reasons.” As he delivered the next section of his lecture, his hands idly shuffled the cards, increasing the speed of the shuffle until it was a clattering blur.

“The medium in which we bind a spell is important to the spell's delivery and function. With a book, you cast the spell while reciting a small incantation. For something like a deck of cards,” He stopped his shuffling and drew a card from the top of the deck, “Your delivery is very different.”

Professor Del Marin flung the card into the air and the enchanted piece of wood responded by bursting into a blinding white light.

Magnolia recoiled and she could hear a number of the other students mutter curses and pull away from their seats.

She blinked once, twice, to get the disks of light out of her eyes. With her eyes adjusting, Magnolia could see the silhouettes of her peers standing in readied positions. The gaggle to her right surrounded Bianca with their bodies and outstretched implements while the veiled group up above held their arms out in a combative stance.

Even Willow had taken a defensive measure, wielding a staff that had not been with her a moment ago.

Everyone else had taken precautions for a threat and here she was helpless to defend herself.

“You may settle down, fledglings. What spell comes out is for my luck to decide.” He laughed and laughed but none of the students returned to their seats.

“You mongrel! You could have harmed us!” A familiar voice that Magnolia recognized was part of the gaggle she’d followed on her first day yelled out her grievances in a shrill pitch. “Are you even capable of thinking?”

Professor Del Marin shrugged, “As your teacher, it is my responsibility to teach you these lessons how I see fit and the coven has given me free license to do so. If you have an issue with my methods, you are more than welcome to take it up with the matron of our fine institution.”

They all waited and waited until Bianca took her seat and like dominoes the rest of the students followed along. There was a satisfaction she took in leading the class to a sense of security, her grin wide as she stared Magnolia down.

Was there something else she wasn’t picking up on?

“Your upcoming assignment must be taken very seriously as it will define your capabilities as an Incant for the rest of your days. For the next few weeks, you will be preparing your own grimoire with all of the rituals that entails. You must have your grimoire prepared by the start of August or fail on the spot. Class is dismissed.”

Magnolia pushed the doubt aside.

What she needed now was a hardened resolve to bloom from inside her heart. Magnolia needed to redouble on her studies and apply the knowledge cracked open in dusty tomes to her outside world. She’d craft something all her own and prove to the world her mettle.

The two friends locked eyes with one another and wordlessly left the room, making their way to Magnolia’s dormitory for a long study session.