Memories of SIGAL

MARZELLE

When I finally decided to leave the car and step into the Preparation Hall, Ovidia was already there, on the farthest corner of the place, alone.
Odd.
I could swear I saw her talking with her friends six seconds ago.
Very well.
I still have about twelve minutes, I mused. Why not look around some? I took in the room, an almost large hall with Mahican symbols of every kind etched into the gray stone walls. From the Zodiac signs to the symbols of Hecate, Greek triple goddess of magic, to the Roman, Celtic, Norse, French and Scottish gods, to the rangoli of the Hindu god Shiva, to the gleaming sun sigil of the Japanese Amaterasu, to the magic wrought in the more obscure parts of the world like Africa, the Carribean and Asia Minor. The gray walls would have been cold if they weren't throbbing and glowing with the magic of different regions. The air smelled faintly of sage and ginger. Strange, but not unpleasant. My nose twitched though, in an about-to-sneeze sort of way. Besides that, the Preparation Hall was beautiful.
It held art.
Sacred, magical, glorious art.
It wasn't this way in my time. Preparation Halls were hidden and young Mahicans were trained in secret, and sent into the Realm much earlier to protect them from the anti-Mahican police. Upon leaving the Realm, they did away with all things magic, to blend in with the rest of the world.
I sighed. Not me though. Or at least not for that reason.
Away from that...
Sidling to Ovidia, who was now in conversation withthe Unsealer, a rather non-descript creature whose slivern eyes brightened upon my arrival. "Lady Origon, it's...an absolute pleasure to meet you," she said, and then for whyever, her face shimmered and shifted, became quite arresting.

Snap out of it, you twat, she's charming you.

Thanks, Strelitzia, I thought. "The pleasure is all mine, miss..." "Alaiza Trelawny, but just call me Aiza." Her eyes glowed a brighter, warmer silver. "I like Miss Trelawny better." The ice in my tone ended any further banter.
Mentally laughing at Ovidia who kept on staring from one woman to another, I said: "I hope it's not weird for you, babe, that you're on the first stage of the preparations while...y'know..." "Mom, that never mattered, okay?"
I gave her a grin. "Awesome."
The Unsealer coughed mildly, gesturing Vee to sit on the mosaiced floor. "So, young Miss Origon, what did you say your plan was?" "Simple," she stated, "to get Mom to keep me in focus of my magic by talking."
Eyes slamming shut, headphones coming off, sitting in the Lotus position, she began the process of recall, remembered the events ending in her being endowed with the powers she was about to unlock.
I remembered it too, vividly. The day Leticia Alvarez, love child of Peruvian supermodel Amandla Alvarez, became Ovidia Origon...I felt a fist on my foot.
"Vee, listen. You have to focus. Your aim is to unlock your magic, not waste the energy you're building up in finding the source of a song, do you hear me? Focus." A faint blue glow surrounded her. "Focus. Focus..." I kept saying that one word for about thirty seconds because I got distracted by Marcell's and Xavia's arrival beside me, with Xavia whispering "Holy Sandstorms! This is so cool!" and Marcell shushing her. I knew I couldn't possibly stop talking now; she seemed so close, judging from the growing intensity of the glow around her.

"Keep your head clear, Ovidia Origon. The magic is yours. Just stay focused and claim--"

SNAP!

The glow around her finally erupted into sparks that illumined both her and the wall before her. Kids stared, and rightfully.
I was elated!
She did it!
My baby did it!
Eyes flying open, she unclenched her left fist, and blue sparks emanated from it. At first I thought the sparks were lightning, a theory that immediately got disproved. Lightning as a Mahican element was a deep indigo, but these sparks weren't, constantly changing from indigo to sky, to teal, to midnight shades. Besides, Raijins --still not sure she was that, but it seemed like it--never had elemental powers. This was purely a product of her own self, her own energy...and boy, did she have lots of it.
She looked a little dazed sitting there, so I extended my hand, but the speedy snatch of her headphones and the hurried wearing thereof  told me her words before she said them.
"This world just got a whole lot louder."