The magical resonance chamber was an impregnable square construct connected to an array of liquid crystal monitors and a console filled with blinking lights. The perfect combination between magic and technology, it was used to monitor and analyze every source of supernatural power running through a witch’s - or a warlock’s - veins. The first attempts to do so dated back to the early 1900s, but the scanning procedures proved incomplete and unreliable. It took another one hundred and fifty years for some genuine breakthrough in the field but, even then, there were more bad news than good.

As Sarah had noted before, the process was quite painful. In human terms, it was like chemotherapy. By bombarding a body with massive doses of magically-infused radiation, one could get a complete mapping of the subject and screen possible irregularities. An unbalanced flow of magic was a dangerous thing both for the users and those around them. In extreme cases, it could lead to a complete unraveling of the subject’s psyche from the inside out, and without a sane mind the body would crumble as well. 

Over the centuries, only a hundred cases of total breakdown had been reported, a drop in the ocean of the magical creatures around the world but those numbers were underestimated. In the regions of the world where the power of the Congregatio Magica wasn’t as prominent, there were many sad tales that would never see the light of the day.

“Is it true that there are people who have imploded because the magic within them was out of control?” Lila asked as she stood outside the chamber.

“Yes,” Sarah replied, holding her hand. “But that’s the last thing you should be thinking about right now.”

“So what happens next?”

“You’ll need to take off all your clothes and step inside,” Fiadh said. “Don’t worry. We’ll have a modesty filter in place. A full mapping should take between one to two hours.”

“That long?”

“We need to be thorough and that means going through every single parameter. We’re not just testing for light and dark magic sources, but fire, water, air, and all the other elements. I’ll also be on the lookout for uncharacteristic mutations in the way your body processes them.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not as bad as it looks either,” Fiadh continued. “We all have basic fluctuations in our genome to allow us to tap into the natural world and create magic. Exceptional individuals have more. Most times, they’re benign.”

“And if they’re not?”

“There are treatments for certain imbalances that are harmless and non-intrusive. More delicate situations require specific methods. If need comes to be, we’ll be prepared to deal with them.”

“If you say so...” Lila shrugged, still not convinced. “You said something about minimizing my discomfort while the exam takes place...”

“Ah, yes, of course!” Fiadh produced a transparent box with two rainbow-colored pills inside. “Take these when you’re ready to begin. It’s a potent painkiller that will make the radiation bombardment more tolerable. It doesn’t negate all the effects, mind you, but it should protect you from the most adverse ones. A healing bath will be ready for you when we’re done as well as a fresh change of clothes.”

“Okay.”

“There’s still time to call this off if you want, Lila,” her mother declared. “You don’t need to rush into things.”

“I don’t want to wait,” Lila clenched her teeth. “Leaving that bitch unchecked for long will only make things worse for us all. I’m ready, Fiadh.”

“I’m activating the modesty filter now,” the resistance leader said. Lila snatched the box from her hands and took the pills. Then she entered the chamber, removed her clothes and tossed them outside. A transparent panel slid from top to bottom to seal her in.

“Fuck, it’s cold in here!” Lila said, covering her naked breasts with her hands. 

“That’s normal,” Fiadh noted as she started messing with the chamber’s control panel. “It will warm up as the radiation fills the chamber. Give it a few minutes and try to relax.”

“I don’t like this,” Sarah said, pacing back and forth in the room. She turned to Fiadh and said, “Promise me that at any sign of trouble, you pull the plug, okay?”

“I promise I will not harm her any more than necessary. Trust me.”

“Trusting people is getting harder and harder these days,” Sarah sighed. “Go on, then. The sooner we wrap this up the better.”

Lila watched her mother’s body language from inside the resonance chamber. It conveyed both apprehension and fear that something horrible might come out of it. The young witch wondered if there was something else she hadn’t told her, another secret hanging in the balance that would come back to haunt them before the end of the nightmare. Sarah’s ties to the Inquisition and her research on the sign of evil and its variants remained a thorn in their relationship and the wound was unlikely to heal anytime soon. If something else were to come between the two of them, her heart wouldn’t take it.

Lila took a deep breath and stared at the inside of the chamber. About ninety percent of it was transparent but with the modesty filter on, it was impossible for outsiders to peek in. Besides the crystal-like reflective surface, there was a metal ring around her dotted with small hexagonal lights and. The radiation poured inside from a metal grate at her feet. It came mixed with a solution of saline vapor, making the chamber look like the most uncomfortable sauna ever. The heat began to form at her toes and crept upwards. The vapor touched her thighs and wrapped around her pussy before continuing its rapid ascent towards her breasts and neck. Her eyes began to water.

“Is it okay to breathe this thing?” Lila asked, her arms trembling.

“Yes,” Fiadh replied, adjusting the radiation levels inside the chamber. Maintaining the proper ratio throughout the complete process was essential. Too little and the analysis would fail at the deepest levels; too much and Lila was going to need more than a healing bath to pick herself together again. “Don’t struggle. We’re almost at the optimal range.”

“Okay,” Lila coughed, the rising mist entering her mouth and nose. The chamber was almost entirely covered in it now and the temperature continued to rise. Magic sparks crawled up the walls and then the real torment began.

“FUCK!” Lila screamed. She was now enveloped in the burning vapor, her entire body being picked apart by the ferocious scan. One minute in and she was already questioning her resolve. Weren’t the goddamned pills supposed to make the pain easier to bear?

“Deep breaths, Lila,” Sarah said. “I know it hurts but your body will adjust if you remain calm.”

“I hate this! God, I hate this so much!” Lila sobbed.

“So do I, baby. So do I.” 

Fiadh continued to play with the control panel, making sure every parameter adjusted to perfection. On the monitor to her right, one could see the saturation levels and to the left stood a rudimentary 3D mapping of Lila’s body. The magic spectrum was beginning to form.

“The scan is underway,” she said. “For now, the base numbers are stable but we won’t get the full picture until the mapping is complete.”

“This is still fucking torture and she’s been through enough already! Ah, why did she have to be so stubborn?” Sarah mumbled.

“I can hear you,” Lila pressed her forehead against the chamber’s wall, a hint of pink flesh peeking through the vaporous bubble. “and I’m only half as stubborn as you.”

“I guess you’re right,” Sarah nodded as she observed every monitor with a keen eye. She could read basic info on them but the minutia of the various magic levels eluded her. Deep probing had never been a field of interest except for her research into the dark arts. The more she looked the less she understood what she was supposed on the lookout for.

“You look tired, Sarah,” Fiadh checked the temperature gauge and looked at her. “Why don’t I have someone prepare you a room and you get some rest while I continue to monitor things? I’ll let you know the moment the results are up.”

“Thank you, but I’m not leaving her. I won’t say no to a comfy chair, though.”

“That can be arranged, too.”

The submarine’s energy core started working again, rearranging the matter in the room to create a cushioned seat for Sarah to rest her weary legs. The trick remained as impressive as ever. 

“I need to get one of those for my house,” Sarah scoffed.

“Help us take care of Tabitha once and for all and I’ll be at your doorstep a.s.a.p.,” Fiadh said.

“I want one, too,” Lila laughed. Inside the chamber, the temperature was now stable and so was the radiation flow. She was still in pain but the pills’ effect had numbed her extremities, making the exam a bit more tolerable. Her breathing had slowed down and the fire in her lungs had turned into an almost pleasurable sensation. 

“All in good time, my dear,” Fiadh replied. “How are you holding up in there?”

“Never been better,” Lila coughed again. The chamber’s walls were covered in smoke and external visibility was non-existent now. Her head bobbed, mind clouded by the fumes and the lingering pain coursing through her body. Time became uncertain. She blinked twice, felt her center-of-gravity shift, and saw...

... Penelope’s vacant eyes staring back at her. The enthralled human had emaciated skin and almost cadaveric limbs, a shadow of her former self before the sign of evil had rewritten her thoughts. The ghastly vision opened her mouth to speak but it wasn’t her voice reaching out to the half-asleep witch. It was Tabitha’s, taunting her yet again. Lila knew what she was seeing wasn’t real, just her brain firing off random images in response to the heavy radiation exposure but that didn’t stop her from experiencing the same maddening rage threatening to consume her whole.

“I’m coming for you, Lila, but first, I’ll make your mother kneel and worship me. How will you feel when the sign of evil devours her, too?”

Lila clenched her fists, her heart rate spiking up. The radiation entered her bloodstream and the veins on her hands and feet began to blacken. The young witch hit head against the glass.

“What’s happening?” Sarah went into high alert mode.

“She’s hallucinating,” Fiadh replied. “Her brain activity is charting way above normal.”

“Is it a side effect of the exam?”

“Yes. Some of us are more susceptible than others to this sort of procedure, but it’s an easy fix. Let me...”

Fiadh decreased the radiation concentration in the chamber by five percent. It was still within the required parameters for a successful scan, and the relief was almost instantaneous. Lila shook her head to push away the nefarious imagery from her mind and muttered,

“I’m feeling dizzy now.”

“Give it a minute while the pressure stabilizes and we’ll be good to go again. What did you see?” Fiadh asked.

“The most horrible thing imaginable. I’m having a bad feeling.”

“The radiation is playing tricks on you, but you shouldn’t have any more problems now. Please conserve your strength and try not to speak until we’re done.”

“How long has it been?”

“Only twenty minutes, still a lot to go. Relax. Lila. You’re doing great.”

Fiadh checked every monitor to confirm the veracity of her words. The blood pressure was normal, and the brain activity was starting to return to the base parameters as well. The deep scan continued to not show any significant anomaly although there was something worthy of note.

“Interesting...” she said, pointing at a specific spot in the 3D image next to her.

“What is it?” Sarah squinted.

“There appears to be a cellular mutation right next to her heart but it’s too early to determine what it is and what’s causing it. I need more time.”

“Don’t we all?” Sarah leaned backwards on her new chair and exhaled.

Minutes continued to ebb away as the magical construct cruised underneath the cold dark waters of the Atlantic. Lila closed her eyes and dozed off, more and more secrets being unearthed with each scanning passage. When the exam concluded, a new certainty had risen. Unable to contain her excitement anymore, Fiadh’s eyes widened, and she exclaimed,

“I knew it! Oh my God! This is unbelievable!”

“What is it?” Sarah asked.

“The mutation... it’s real! Your daughter is special after all.”

“Special how?”

“Look.” Fiadh pulled up another three-dimensional image and compared it to Lila’s results. “Here on the left, you see a normal witch’s sequencing. This is what most of us have to distinguish us from humans, but Lila is on a different level. This cluster here regulates the flow of magic within and creates a barrier around her. It’s like a shield, but it’s not something she was born with. No, this is new!”

“What are you saying? What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing! This is a good thing. I’m not one hundred percent positive, but this mutation appears to have been triggered by Tabitha’s attacks. Lila absorbed some of the old hag’s energy and it started changing her.”

“Dark magic is growing inside my daughter?”

“No. Dark magic is being purified inside your daughter and the more the mutation evolves...”

“... the more resilient she gets?”

“Yes! No wonder she could resist the onslaught and live to tell the tale. It seems she’s becoming immune. Sarah, if these readings are correct, your daughter can withstand the power of the sign of evil!”

Sarah couldn’t believe her ears. “How is that even possible?” she gasped.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a defense mechanism as elaborate as this. Are you sure there’s nothing in your family history that can help explain this phenomenon?”

“My genealogy is clean. This is new to me, too.”

“This is a breakthrough, Sarah. I’m going to need blood samples and a magic transfer to be sure but Lila may have just changed our understanding of the dark arts forever!”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Why?”

“Because now she has another target on her back. If the enemy finds out about her true potential...”

“We won’t let her come to harm, I promise! I’ll mobilize every effort to protect her no matter what. I need to tell Derek. He’s not going to believe this!”

Fiadh ran out of the room but not before unlocking the resonance chamber. The tainted steam had already filtered out and Lila rested on the ground, unaware that her life had just changed forever. Sarah went to her and held her daughter’s weary body in her arms. 

The good witch still had her eyes closed when the entire submarine became alive with the screams of a frantic crew and a red alert reverberating through the hull. They were under attack!

((to be continued))