Reading Hurts!
Marlow poured over the book she borrowed from Corey every chance she had, trying to read the handwritten pages until she gave herself a blazing headache. Her reading skills weren't the best. Her Latin was passable and she had a grounding in odd, sometimes alien languages found in magical texts she'd studied under Clea's tutelage in the Dark Dimension. She'd often had to puzzle through cramped handwriting, but this was becoming more than she could decipher on her own. English /was/ her first language, but it wasn't her strongest when it came to reading, and this didn't flow well enough to be understood. The drawings were distracting, too. Her non-traditional education emphasized controlling and redirecting energy, coaxing it into various forms and illusions, bending it to her will. After that, the three Rs just weren't all that interesting.

The writing would not bend no matter how she looked at it. It constantly changed styles and even languages, and in some places faded away completely. There were spells she could use to bring it out, but it was a borrowed book. Not the oldest she'd ever studied, but old enough that she was wary of damaging it. It might also be spelled for defense. It could hurt her if she tried to go that route.

She finally gave up and went to the main house to get something for her headache. She carried the book with her to see if Sydney or Dawn could help. Maybe they could help her read it, or at least tell her if she was on the right track. She left it on the table while she rummaged for something to drink and searched for a bottle of aspirin in the cupboards.