Strange Magic *Ambrose Spellman*

Life Within Stone

Freya's POV

I guess it wouldn't come as a surprise when I tell you that half of the coven is beyond pissed at Sabrina right now. After all, the Queen of Hell sits next to them in class. AND she's most likely the reason all of us are drained of our magic. 

After the crowd started to fade away, Lilith grabbed Sabrina and dragged her off somewhere. I went to follow but said something about only one person per time loop. Instead of confusing myself, I opted to listen and stay out of this one. 

"Freya- you knew?" Prudence asks as she and Ambrose walk up to me. I slowly nod. "You knew this whole time and you did nothing to help the coven?" She hisses under her breath. "Come on Prudence, you know it's not like that." I sigh. Now's really not the best time to pick a fight with me.

"You could have brought the coven back. My sisters-" "Are the whole reason you came to us. So if you want our help, I would recommend you stop throwing out accusations." Ambrose says as he grabs my elbow and guides me towards the library.

"Our help?" I ask. "Prudence here wants to try to establish a psychic connection with Agatha. To see what happened to her. I happen to know the spell, but I can't do it on my own right now. I need your help." Ambrose explains. 

"We are going to have a serious talk later, but I need your help. Please. My sisters need us." Prudence basically begs as she follows us. "You know I'd do anything for those girls. We have to stick together not more than ever." I say over my shoulder to her. She gives a small nod. 

"Just tell me what you need me to do." I say as we walk through the shelves towards the back of the library where Agatha is gagged and tied to a chair. "I need you to restrain Agatha." Ambrose says motioning to her. "Oh, is that all?" I half joke. Ambrose just shoots my a glare and I walk over to Agatha and stand behind her. I wrap my arms around her and the back of the chair, as if I was giving them both a big hug. Please don't hurt me and I'll try not to hurt you.

"Are you sure you're up to this? Establishing this connection while she's in the middle of a mania?" Ambrose warns. "My will is stronger than hers. Besides, how else will we know what happened?" Prudence says with a sigh. Prudence sits down in a chair across from Agatha while Ambrose stands in between them. 

"Ready?" Ambrose asks. "Ready." Prudence says as she reaches forward and puts her hands on Agatha's temples. Ambrose looks to me and I nod. "Ready." Ambrose holds his hands in front of him and before I can even blink, Agatha starts thrashing. I have to drop to my knees and hold her to me as tightly as I can. 

"Her mind-" Prudence gasps. "It's like a raging storm. I cannot focus her thoughts!" Prudence says as she gets more and more upset. "It's too difficult!" Prudence says as her eyes start to well up in tears. "Her brainwaves are like a tsunami." Prudence croaks out. "Moves like one too." I hiss as Agatha rocks back and her head slams into my jaw. Most likely going to have a bruise there.

"Don't try and re-order them. Just slow them if possible." Ambrose warns. Prudence nods and squeezes her eyes tight. The two girls groan and thrash for a moment before everything is still. "What is it? What do you see?" Ambrose asks quietly.

"The great-" Prudence says. "The great what?" I ask. Ambrose shoots me a look to shut me up. Rude. "The great...... god....... PAN!" Prudence basically screams. She gasps and pushes herself away from Agatha as she tries to catch her breath. Agatha slumps over in the chair, held up by her restraints. 

"Is it over?" I ask as I slowly let go of Agatha. Ambrose nods. "It was Pan. Agatha was driven insane by his very gaze. "Pan." Ambrose repeats slowly, as if he was trying to make sense of everything in his head. "He's moonlighting as that carnival barker." Prudence adds. 

"The pagans have an actual god on their side?" I ask. "In that case, things are rather more dire than we've been imagining. Pan is amongst the oldest of the pagan monsters. He is madness personified. His very gaze engenders insanity in witched and mortals alike." Ambrose explains, mostly to himself. 

"We," he says as he offers his hand to me to help my up from my kneeling position. "Need go tell Auntie Zee. Then we can ascertain what secrets Dorcas might be hiding in her stone form. Prudence just nods and stares as her sister. Ambrose gently pulls on my hand to follow him. 

I give one last look at the two broken sisters before following Ambrose out of the room. We are so incredibly fucked. We are nothing against a god. 

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Freya's POV

To say Aunt Zelda didn't take the news well would be an understatement. She went into full panic mode and started gathering up all the remaining members of the coven. It's one thing to be hunted. It's an entirely different thing to be hunted by a God. 

Ambrose, Prudence, and I regroup in the library. Agatha is tied up next to the fire, her mania still in full swing, but she seems more calm. A few feet away from Agatha is Dorcas. Well, kinda. Stone Dorcas. How is it that she still manages to look beautiful in stone form. I look between Dorcas and Agatha with a heavy heart. Two of my friends... basically gone. Not dead but not themselves. This blows.

"What are you doing? What is that?" Prudence asks as Ambrose approaches Dorcas with a long metal rod. I can tell that she is just barely hanging on. She's scared. We all are.

"It's a tuning fork. Capable of detecting even the faintest of energies." He explains as he begins tapping the tuning fork on different areas of Dorcas's stone limbs. Once on her arm. Just a thud. On her leg. Thud. But when Ambrose strikes the tuning fork over where Dorcas's heart is, there is a soft vibration. 

"What does it mean?" I ask as I search his face for any sign of anything. "It means that there's hope." He says with a slight smile. Something I haven't seen in what feels like years. "Deep within Dorcas there is life." Ambrose explains to Dorcas.

"Life within stone?" I ask. Ambrose jerks his head in my direction. "Life within stone?" He repeats slowly. His eyes widen and he rushes over to the table with stacks of books we had pulled for research. "Life within the stone!" He says again.

"Yup that's what I said. Does it mean anything?" I ask as he flips through one of the books. "Is my sister alive?!" Prudence asks panicked. "She could be, and she has just given us a tip." Ambrose says as he finally finds what he's looking for. 

"Our energies are depleted to almost nothing, are they not? Then we must find a way to amplify what we already have and there may be a way in our own backyard." Ambrose rambles as he thrusts a book into Prudence's hands.

"Stonehenge?" She asks. "A circle of ancient stones that have been used to collect and amplify energy for millennia." Ambrose says with a smile. "So we're going to Europe?" I ask as I try to catch up with him. 

"Don't have to. There's a circle of stones in our woods around the altar we use for all of our rituals." It clicks in Prudence's and my mind almost at the same time. Prudence rushes forward to Dorcas's stone stature and gives her a hug.

"Thank you." Ambrose whispers as he pulls me in and gives me a soft and sweet kiss. It's over entirely too quickly, but there's lives at stake. Guess that's more important. "As much as 
I loved that, thanking me for what exactly?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow.

"Life within stone." He tells me. "Ah, yes. Life within stone."