Damien's pov

I woke up to sunshine, rainbows, the light chirping of birds, and mi Vita Socium standing clearly in front of me with sweet nothings coming from his mouth. Then I woke up. 

"Leave Master alone!"

"Selkie, we're just trying to help!"

I groaned and looked up from my floating position in the lake. Selkie projected an illusion of her self, massive, gnashing fangs, beady red eyes, a three meter tail and her front legs stomping around. I formed a bubble of water around Selkie and everyone looked toward the lake was I was floating a moment ago. I walked out of my cottage, yawning with a big mug a sugary sweet coffee. 

"Can't I exhaust my core in peace? I did not want to wake up to this. Selkie, why are you tormenting them? Just ask the Fae to temporarily banish them, not create a giant fuss."

I moved the bubble above the lake and dropped it, letting her swim around. 

"As for you."

I turned my attention to the Madrigals, save Camilo since he was sleeping on the ground with the Fae around him. I sighed and groggily walked over to them. I pinched Aphid's wings; the current Ring leader in charge at the moment. 

"Stop tormenting the boy and take him to the guest room."

"Yes sir."

Aphid gathered her friends and lifted Camilo to the guest room in the house. Before Pepa could open her mouth, I let out a shrill whistle. A small pack of Spriggans broke themselves off of trees and gathered behind me. 

"Please leave my room, or my companions will you."

"Why did you take Camilo?!"

I faced, surprisingly not Pepa, but Dolores. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Aphid!"

She manifested in front of me and bowed. 

"Yes Master?"

"How much magic did you use of this family?"

"Not much on the big female and tiny male, little above normal for the rest, but the human in the guest room, little less than two gigs."

I groaned. 

"Camilo will be out for at the very least two days. I can have him up and about today, but he does not leave this room without my strict supervision. You all need to leave for the time being.

"No!"

I snapped my fingers and the Spriggans started to shove them out of my room. Isabella sprouted flowers on them and they looked at her like she was a goddess. They looked to me, and I nodded laughing a bit. After binding the door in thorny vines, they took her to the lake and pampered her with flowers and small, harmless Fae insects. I started walking toward my cottage and I tripped over something. I twisted my arms and body so I wouldn't spill my precious coffee. 

"What in the nine hells?"

Selkie rushed over an undid an illusion over Mirabel. I choked a small bit on my coffee. 

"Mira?"

I pounded on my chest as Selkie patted my back. 

"Good job...on the potion."

I cleared my throat and got to my feet. 

"Mira, Isabella is over by the Spriggans. Keep her company, yeah?"

"Sure, no problem."

Selkie fretted about me, before I sent her to get fish for dinner. I walked inside my cottage and made my way inside the kitchen. I made three sunny eggs, four sausage links, a quarter of cantaloupe, and some toasted bread. I put the food on a tray and trudged upstairs to the guest room. I set the tray on the table and faced Camilo. I lifted my hand to his face. His skin was soft and he had freckles only noticeable in just the right lighting. I ran my fingers through his hair. The brown strands fell through my fingers like silk. 

"Okay, I gotta stop before I lose control. Aphid."

"Yes sir?"

"Please wake him."

"Of course."

She undid her magic and flew away, back to her colony. Camilo opened his eyes. He blinked confused, then shot straight up. He hunched over himself, in excruciating belly pain. 

"Careful, lay back down and try not to move around so much."

He looked at me as I gently pushed him back onto the bed. 

"Are you okay Damien?"

"I'm fine. You, on the other hand, are going to be stuck in this bed for a while. The Fae had to pump you with two whole gigs of magic to keep you down."

I snickered under my breath. I've been there, many times before.

"Gigs?"

"Magic is measured of a scale of gigs. Human measurement is a scale of drams, ounces, pounds, stones, quarters, and tons. A single gig of magic, sheesh; a single gig is no less than five quarters. You have a case of acute magic poisong, but that will go away with a hearty meal and a little potion. I'm gonna to have to feed you some, so you'll be able to move and eat on your own."

He looked dumbfounded, trying to process the info-dump I just dropped, and nodded stupidly. I fed him two eggs and the cantaloupe before he was able to eat on his own. 

"When you're finished eating that, you come downstairs and drink the potion I made."

In reality, it was a potion Mama Sofia made years ago. I got magic poisoning quite a bit from training my resistances to Fae magic, so she magic a crap ton Core Strengthening potions. Humans had magical cores, but typically they're not big enough to use magic. Now, the Madrigal family are human, but they have magic. 

Their core would have to be relatively larger than the average human, but smaller than the average witch, so the potion shouldn't hurt him if I'm wrong about his core size. Still though, if he took two full gigs of pure, concentrated magic, he should've died on the spot. Not even witches could withstand that much raw, unfiltered energy all at once. He's either incredibly lucky, or extremely powerful...

Camilo walked down the stairs and saw me prepare two glasses. He put his plate in the sink and stood next to me, as me.

"That's enough of that."

I waved my hand and he returned to his pretty little self again. 

"In this cottage, you are only allowed to look like yourself. If I wanted to see someone else, I'd go find them. Right now, I'm talking to, and only to, Camilo."

He blushed like a freshly pick tomato and I rubbed his cheek. 

"O-okay! The potion is in the orange glass. Then you drink the rose milk in the blue glass. I need to make more, but that can pushed off for later. Now drink."

He chugged the potion, gagged, and drank the rose milk.

"Good. Now  you should be fine, but I'm keeping you here under observation. It's not everyday a human gets Somnolienta Fae magic poisoning. You are very lucky I'm here."

"What would've happened?"

"Well, Somnolienta Fae are one of the most bloodthirsty Fae species out there for humans and witches alike. First, they put their victim to into a deep sleep. Then they put sweet dreams into their head to make them relax. They place those humans in their colony. They live for years on end with one human, just absorbing the body heat in the winter and energy during the summer. When the human eventually dies, they feast on their skin, organs, bones, and muscle for almost thirty years, then the cycle continues."

"H-how do they ke-keep them alive for so long with no food?"

"It's called a stasis charm. I use them to keep my ingredients and food fresh when I have to leave for a bit. Its most useful preserving potion long past their expiration date. Take on of your Tia's famous arepas. A stasis charm could keep that warm and fresh for, probably a hundred and fifty years, give or take. A human body, easily fifty years before it started to even feel hungry. If we're talking a dead body -"

"Okay! I don't need to know!"

"I wanna know! This is interesting!"

"Lady Mira! Master is busy with Vita Socium!" 

She went slack jawed and looked between my annoyed face and a really confused Camilo. 

"Mirabel~"

She looked at me, stiff as a board. I gave her a sinister smirk, before giving Camilo a sweet smile. 

"Give me one minute sweet thing. I need a word with Miss Mirabel. I have snacks in the top cupboard."

I walked over to her and gripped her shoulder and dragged her outside. 

"Selkie, sweetheart. I need a soundproof barrier around me and Miss Mirabel."

"Y-yes Master!"

After the barrier was set up yelling ensued.

"Mi primo is your Soulmate?!"

"Life Partner, but yes! All witches have one! You'll have one, and Mama Sofia had one! Why are you so shocked at that, it was in the book I gave you!"

"Because he's my cousin!"

"And?! I can't control who my Life Partner is going to be!"

I was near tears at this point.

"Okay. I'm sorry Damien. Just...just treat Camilo right. He may seem overly happy and mischievous all the time, but he has fears, he loves children, he loves food, and he is terrified people don't ever want him to be himself."

"I've noticed that last one. I told him I wanted to talk to him and nobody else, he seemed shocked. Does any of your family treat him like himself?"

"Of course. I do, but I'm not sure about others. Tia Pepa's favorite child is Antonio and Abuela's favorite is Isabella."

"Your Tio Felix?"

"Dolores."

"Your father?"

"Luisa."

"Your Mama?"

"Me, only cause I didn't get a gift."

She rolled her eyes. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Alright, back on subject, What did you read on Life Partners?"

"That we only get one per lifetime, and that we would get really territorial if there's another witch around. Is that what that was about?"

"Yes. I got irritated with you being around Camilo, but if you weren't my student and his relative, I probably would've drowned you on the spot."

She gave a little start and I laughed. 

"You should've seen Mama Sofia! Some guy tried talking up her Life Partner when I was nine! He was turned into plant fertilizer!"

"Was your Mama a nature witch?"

"Hmm? Nah. She was a Melody Witch. She made beautiful music and provided a peaceful environment for all of our Fae and Elven neighbors?"

I smiled back on the memories fondly. 

"Now Mira, I watch you to watch the Spriggans interact with Miss Isabella. Take notes and report back with your findings."

"Yeah, what are you going to be doing?"

"Tending to my sweet Camilo of course. Also, if you let my Life Partner's identity slip to anyone without my consent, I drown you and feed your body to the Somnolienta Fae."

 I left her standing and gave the signal to Selkie to removed the barrier. I bounced my way into the cottage to find my lovely Camilo.

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