Hidden Magic

Chapter Twenty-Three

My friends were gathered before me, at least those in Sira branch, I wasn't sure I wanted to involve Amalia in this, it would no doubt be extremely dangerous and in truth she had nothing to lose in this situation, it wasn't her problem if Sira remained missing or not. Was it wise to exclude her from this, would our friendship suffer when she found out, I didn't know, I had never done anything like this before, it was only through trial and error that I would find the truth in what my actions would do to those around me.

"Okay, so what exactly did you need all of us to be here to talk about?" Rebecca looked at me with curiosity and annoyance, curious as to what I would say, and also annoyed because of what we had interrupted happening in her room, she was not alone or clothed, if that helps.

"You look different, better, less tense." Seth's words were quiet, but taken seriously as they also seemed to notice the difference in me, now that I knew I would be able to sleep in peace tonight, to not experience horrible pain again and again, I was relieved, even if what lay ahead of me was most likely even worse than the dreams. But right now, I was experiences the calm before the storm and I would damn well enjoy the peace while it lasted, even if I had to prepare for the trials during it as well.

"Yes, well there is a reason for that. I know all of you have noticed how tense I've been, snappish at the best of times, downright rude at the worst." Monica hums and nods her head rapidly, having most often taken the brunt of it in order to snap me out of a foul mood with her jokes or silly actions. "I've been having dreams since the first night in Sira branch, horrible dreams, nightmares really. Where I am tied to a post in the middle of a forest and a woman, slashes my wrists with a knife, forces me to drink something that burns my insides like acid, and eventually lights the post on fire so that I burn alive." Most of their mouths were parted in shock as they stared at me in horror, obviously they had not been anticipating me saying anything like that.

"No wonder you were in such a bad mood, to have that dream every night for the past week. To relive that every time you closed your eyes, I am surprised you've been doing as well as you have been in any of your classes, you must be downright exhausted." Astra's words were quiet, but they served to break the rest of them out of their shock.

"But I don't understand, why you wouldn't just tell us this? There are herbal tinctures that can help with bad dreams, we could have helped if you had told us sooner." Ariel seemed the most hurt by this news, as if I had purposely kept them in the dark.

"That's the thing, it wasn't that I didn't want to tell you, on the contrary I desperately wanted your help to get rid of the dreams, but I physically couldn't speak about my dreams, to anyone, something didn't allow me to." Rebecca stares at me seriously, realizing before the others what exactly my words meant.

"So, then they weren't just dreams, something else was happening." I nod easily enough, having already known one of them would clue in.

"Yes, they were the goddess Sira communicating with me. They weren't just dreams, but the memory of how she was made into what she is today." I wasn't sure who was the most surprised by my words, but I would guess it was Monica, her pupils had gotten drastically wide, and her jaw was dropped down in shock.

"You spoke to Sira?" Her words were softly spoken, a rarity for Monica, but they were also filled with awe, understandable considering Sira was the one who had granted us our control over shadow, even if she hadn't done it personally, shadow was her domain.

"Not at first, her consorts were the first to speak to me, I actually chose one of them during my mentor ceremony, not that any of you could see him, he was the one who so kindly decided to put my hand on Alyssa instead. After that they kept showing up in my rooms at random times, thankfully never at bad moments, like when I was changing or in the bathroom. Last night something was revealed to me, and I was led to the place or maybe it was a recreation of the place where Sira was made, I am not sure which, but where my dreams had been fragments of that memory, only giving me bits and pieces each night, when I touched one of the burnt posts, I saw the full memory, and then I spoke to Sira." Ariel stares at me with a furrowed brow, looking confused by what I had said.