The Witch from The Human Realm

13 A Mother's Dilemma

Earlier…
As Crow led Maddie up to the guest room, Reina was left downstairs to clean up the useful junk.

She removed her cloak and hung it on a nearby coat rack. Then picked up the sword that Maddie had dropped and placed it in an umbrella holder. Alongside a bo staff, three broken umbrellas, one decent umbrella, and one toy sword.

The door then opened with a woosh.

She turned to the doorway with a smile, knowing who the person was.

Raven came in. Her hair was a mess with a mix of dove, pigeon, and eagle feathers sticking here and there. With her was a bag filled with potion ingredients that was slung on her shoulders.

Some were bottled. Some were put into separate jars. While others, like phoenix feathers and dragon scales, stuck out from the sides of the bag.

"I'm home," Raven declared in a tired tone, almost huffing out her words. She then held out the pack.

"How did your quest go?" Reina asked, taking the heavy bag and setting it to the side.

"If you mean quest as in ingredient gathering…" Raven began as she plucked out the feathers from her hair. "... It's fine, I guess."

But when the black haired teen tucked her hair behind her ear, Reina saw the elongated and flushed features of it.

"What happened to you?" Reina asked, her voice filled with concern.

"I stepped on some 'Inflamma-ear weed' on my way back," Raven responded nonchalantly, plucking the last feather from her tangled hair.

"Why are you acting like this is no big deal?" Reina questioned, alarmed of the manner of how her daughter responded. "Are you feeling alright?

The teen grumbled, clutching the feather tight. "Mom, I'm fine. And it's not even contagious. Just…"

She pursed her lips as if contemplating whether she should say what she wants to say or just drop it.

"... Just drop the act," Raven said a minute later.

Reina raised an eyebrow. "Drop the act? I'm not even acti--"

"No, you are," Raven snapped, her grip on the feather tightening.

"I--"

"Just stop mom," Raven said.

The teen's eyes started to glow. And purple flames of magic engulfed her fist, causing the feather to burn and turn into dust.

"I know that you never cared about me," Raven continued. "You only care about your magic. Your legacy. So, I know that this is just some trick you're doing to lure me into following your footsteps."

She then turned and walked away, her eyes returning to normal as she did. She unfurled her fist on her way up, letting go of the dust and scattering it on the floor.

"Hey, Ra--" Reina heard Crow greet her daughter.

And the woman can tell that her daughter only ignored the talking bird.

"What's up with her?" Crow asked Reina as he flew over.

The woman sighed as she picked up her staff. "You know… The usual," she responded.

Reina twirled the staff, making the pile of antiques glow and float towards a certain direction. With her following behind it.

She had somehow opened a door to the room in front of the stairs with her magic. The objects entered the room filled with other stuff and gathered themselves into a pile.