Chapter 1: The Witch

"Mama, why did we have to move again?" Peter asked for the tenth time from the backseat of the car.

Berwald gave a sideways glance to his "wife" in the passenger's seat.

"Peter, we already told you," Tino sighed. "We're moving for your Papa's job."

"But it looks like to middle of nowhere!" Peter complained looking out of the window at nothing but trees and forest.

"That's because your uncle doesn't like to live in the city."

"Why? And how come I've never met him before?"

Tino shrugged and looked at Berwald helplessly.

"Mathias is secretive an' he doesn't like ta leave his house… he's afrai' someone migh' break in while he's gone," Berwald answered.

"Is that because he's a witch?" Peter asked. He's known about his uncle's occupation for a while but he's never even met the guy. He's not supposed to even tell anybody about his mysterious Uncle Mathias, not that anybody will believe him anyway.

"That's right!" Tino said turning around in the car to face Peter. "Which means he's probably very busy and shouldn't be bothered. And especially don't touch anything that's not yours! Who knows what's in his house?" Tino glanced at Berwald who just shook his head. Berwald hasn't visited his brother in years. In fact, last year, they only talked to each other three times over the phone!

The rest of the car ride was in silence while Peter sulkily looked out of the window. Why did he have to leave behind his school and his friends to live with some uncle out in the middle of nowhere? He probably didn't even know any real magic… after all, it wasn't real… right?

The car took a right onto a dirt road into a denser part of the forest. Peter shrunk back from the window slightly and silently gasped. Even though it was the middle of the day, it suddenly got dark from the thickness of the trees. Just where were they anyway?

Like Peter, Tino was in a similar state of panic. He was extremely worried about meeting Mathias. Sure, he met him once at their wedding, but Mathias didn't say too much to him. He was especially worried about raising his son in such a place. Oh what was he thinking agreeing to Berwald's suggestion of living with his witch of a brother?

Berwald was driving along the winding path slowly. It was unfamiliar to him as he had never visited his brother before. He never knew his brother lived in such a creepy place. Mathias was never really into following the "witch stereotype", so he hadn't expected this.

Finally, the car broke out of the dense part of the forest revealing a quaint, two-story white house in a clearing. It looked well cared for since the hedges were neatly trimmed to perfection, not a leaf out of place. There was a red truck parked in the grass next the driveway and the dense forest surrounded the yard of the house.

Berwald pulled the car up to the house, next to the truck.

"Finally!" Peter cried jumping out of the car and stretching. He spun around in a slow circle looking around at the house and the forest and just taking in his new home. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of electric blue from one of the windows on the second-story, but when he turned his head, it was gone. Peter shivered. He could've sworn they were eyes…

"Peter!" Tino called. "Come help with the bags!"

"Coming Mama!"

Peter ran over to the trunk and Tino handed his son some of the lighter bags.

"Berwald!" came a voice as the screen door slammed shut. A tall, blonde man came out of the house wearing… normal clothes. In fact, he looked like a completely normal person. Then again, maybe that's how witches dressed these days?

"How ya been brother?" the man said excitedly as he swung his arms around Berwald for a tight hug.

Berwald coughed awkwardly as he was let go and Mathias continued smiling at the younger brother.

"Good. Thank ya fer lettin' us stay with ya, Mathias," Berwald said.

"It's not a problem! My house is plenty big enough! Too big actually!" Mathias added with a laugh then he looked at Tino and Peter.

"Mathias, ya remember Tino?" Berwald said nodding to his "wife".

"Course I do!" Mathias exclaimed. He grasped Tino's outstretched hand for an enthusiastic handshake.

"It's nice to see you again, Marthias," Tino said with a smile.

"Same," Mathias grinned. Then he turned to Peter.

"And this is our son, Peter," Berwald introduced. "Peter, this is yer Uncle Mathias."

"Nice ta meet ya kiddo!" Mathias said ruffling Peter's hair which almost felt like he was receiving tiny electric sparks. It didn't hurt, but it was just weird. It felt kind of like rubbing a balloon against your head. He felt statically charged.

Peter blinked in confusion as the feeling gradually went away when Mathias started to walk away.

"Come on in! Leave the bags! I'll get 'em later!" Mathias said with a dismissing wave and started to walk back into the house.

Tino and Peter looked at Berwald unsurely, who just shrugged and set down the bags on the ground.

"Come on, he'll ge' tha bags," Berwald repeated. The small family followed Mathias into his house.

The first thing they noticed was that the house smelled of cinnamon apples and freshly baked bread. The living room was very neat and homely. There weren't anything in the entire room that suggested that Mathias was a witch.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Mathias said stretching out his arms and walking into the middle of the living room.

"Humble? Yeah righ'," Berwald snorted and nodding towards to giant Viking axe hanging on the wall.

"Hey…" Mathias pouted. "That's been passed down in our family for generations! Gotta display it proudly!"

Berwald rolled his eyes and shook his head teasingly.

"Anyway! Who's ready for the grand tour?" Mathias said with a smile.

"Sure! Sounds great!" Tino said.

"What about you, kiddo?" Mathias asked Peter with a wink.

"Doesn't look like a witch's home," Peter said honestly (and a little bit disappointedly). Tino looked appalled at Peter's rudeness and Mathias threw back his head and laughed.

"Yeah, I'm not really into the whole cobwebs and sacrificing thing," Mathias joked with a wink. "But maybe I can find somethin' interestin' fer ya, hm?"

"Anyway, this is the dining room," Mathias said walking into the room that was open next to the living room. "And the kitchen." He nodded towards to the right. There were plants all over the kitchen that crowded the windowsill, hung from the ceiling, and were planted in pots by the door that led to the backyard. They looked like they were different herbs, but Peter and Tino couldn't make much out of it.

"Not sure if I'll have all of the fancy appliances you guys might be used to, but I try my best to keep up," Mathias said with a shrug. "And the bathroom is through that door on the right… there's a washer and dryer in there too, but I don't use it too much. You're welcome to of course."

He backtracked the family to the living room and stopped in front of some stairs leading to the second floor.

"Up there is the bedrooms. I'll show you that in a minute, but first…" Mathias went over to the door next to the stairs. He stood there for a moment, lightly caressing the doorknob. Finally, he turned around to face the family with a serious look.

"You must never set foot in here, understand?" Mathias said sternly.

Peter and Tino nodded obediently and Berwald just rolled his eyes.

"Good," Mathias said before his face broke out into a grin and he laughed. "I'm just kiddin'! I don't care if ya go in here!"

"What's in it?" Peter asked.

"Oh, it's where I do my spellwork," Mathias said with a shrug. "Honestly, I don't care if ya go in, but I'd prefer if you not touch anything, especially since you guys don't know what yer touchin'. I have ingredients an' stuff in there. If ya wanna borrow somethin', say eye of a newt or something, you can. Just so long as you replace it."

Tino made a face and Peter looked at Mathias with wide-eyes.

"Can I see?" he asked excitedly.

"Sure!" Mathias said opening the door revealing a set of stairs that led into the basement.

"Here's the light switch," Mathias said flipping on the switch that lit up the wooden staircase and the basement room. "Don't want anyone tripping and falling… it probably wouldn't be very fun."

The room was much brighter than what you'd envision for a "witch's room". There was a stack of books stacked haphazardly in one corner and multiple jars and boxes on the numerous shelves. Some had labels, others didn't. Tino definitely saw the "eye of newts" there though and paled considerably. There were multiple candles scattered throughout the room but were unlit, since the room was already lit up by the electric, hanging light. On one of the tables was a large book sitting by itself. And finally, in the middle of the room, on the wooded floor, was a painted white circle with several symbols next to it.

"Wow!" Peter breathed and tried to walk further into the room but his mama grabbed onto his shoulder tightly. Tino didn't want his son just walking into such a dangerous room, especially with that circle in the middle. Who knows what it'd do?

"Mama!" Peter complained.

"Just stay here Peter," Tino said quietly.

Mathias walked into the middle of the room looking around proudly at the room he's worked in for many years. He grinned back at the family who were staring in awe at his pride and joy. Well, not Berwald. He's seen this all before. Not this room, of course, but one just like it when they were kids.

"Well, whaddya think?" Mathias asked with a grin, especially to the boy who looked so excited to see it.

"Awesome!" Peter breathed. "What's that?" he asked pointing to the painted circle on the floor.

"That's my Sphere. It's a special way to channel my magical energy, making it easier for spellwork. I really only use it when I'm creating new spells anymore. I betcha remember this, huh Berwald?" Mathias gave a mischievous grin and Berwald frowned at his brother.

"It wasn't funny."

"You're right… it was hilarious!" Mathias laughed.

"What happened!?" Peter asked practically bouncing up and down in his spot.

"Nothin'," Berwald quickly said with a blush.

"Oh, well he was havin' trouble with a girl in his class, what's her name?" Mathias said finally after calming down. When Berwald stubbornly refused to answer, Mathias continued on with his story. "Anyway, he came to cryin', 'Mathias! Mathias! Ya gotta help me! There's this girl in my class an' she's reaaallly cute! What should I do?' So, I gave him a spell that would inspire confidence."

"Ya call tha' 'inspiring confidence'?" Berwald accused with a glare and Mathias gave an innocent smile back.

"Well, it did…"

"Ya dyed m' hair brigh' pink!"

"We were like 7, cut me some slack! Geez…"

"Ya knew exactly wha' ya were doin'!"

Mathias laughed slightly and wiped a stray tear from his eye. "Yeah, that was great…"

Berwald shook his head.

"Wow!" Peter cried. "Really? That happened!? Can you show me some magic, uncle?"

Mathias laughed slightly. "Sure, but maybe later. I still haveta show you guys the rest of the house!"

"Aw…" Peter pouted but followed the adults back upstairs anyway.

They went up to the second floor and Mathias pointed to the first room on the right. "This one's my room. And that one," he pointed to the door straight ahead. "Is Peter's, if he wants it…"

Peter looked at his parents questioningly and they nodded for him to go ahead. He ran over to the door and opened it.

Inside were his bags and boxes from the car already lying in the middle of the room next to the bed. Peter looked at Mathias who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I, uh, already brought up your bags. Hope ya didn't mind. Berwald, Tino, you guys' are already in yer room too." He pointed to the door to the left of Peter's.

"How'd you get it up here already?" Peter asked. Mathias was with them the entire time! And he was pretty sure nobody else lived in this house with him.

Mathias raised an eyebrow amused. "Magic," he laughed.

Peter gaped at him and then smiled. "You have to show me!"

Mathias laughed. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll see plenty of magic while you're living here with me."

Notes: Witches

There aren't very many witches in the world. Magic has to be in the blood in order for a person to wield its power, and this is hereditary. Often times, it skips generations as well. Berwald, for example, cannot use magic nor their parents, but Mathias and their grandma could. Most witches turn out to use their magic for practical things like good luck charms, warding, and on nature. There are a few witches who use their magic for killing and cursing. When they use dark magic like that, they become corrupt and their magic becomes uncontrollable and wild, and sometimes ends up turning on the witches themselves. Very few non-magical people know about the existence of witches and magic.

A/N

So, after each chapter I'm going to put a section of notes where I'll put information about a specific topic. Next chapter will be about magic. I do this because I put alot of thought into this story but I'm not able to put all the little technical details in. So if you're interested, there's a bit more at the end of each chapter :P

This story will mainly be a little silly and cute, but there will be some serious parts! So be warned! Nothing too horrible but with power comes a price.

There will be, for sure, six chapters total. I've already written up to 5, so the updates shouldn't be too far apart!

Hope you liked the story so far! It will get funnier with the next chapter! :D Tell me what you think!