The Magic of Three

Chapter 9

When the train to the Mortal Realm finally arrived, Lucy and Erza went through the expected process of saying goodbye to their parents and the making of promises to call every night, remember to brush your teeth, don't fly off with strangers, and to listen to the person charged with their care. Once all was said and done, they picked up their bags and cages containing their familiars, and boarded the train. As the train was taking off, they looked out the windows and waved goodbye to to their parents until they were out of sight. Next they settle into their seats and made themselves comfortable for the long journey, ordering a snack and drink while going back and forth with conversation.

"What do you think our cousin will be like?" Lucy asked. "Do you suppose she'll be anything like us?"

"I doubt it." Erza said. "In her letters, Nanny has always described Juvia as a shy little dove. Someone gentle and sensitive yet not very confident in her talents and abilities."

"How can she not be confident? She's descended from the Fiore bloodline, one of the greatest magic using families there is."

"Well according to Nanny she's not aware of that part yet. For the last sixteen years she's never known that she's half witch, and even worse, our cousin has the ridiculous desire to live a normal life."

"Well what do you expect from a half mortal?"

"No don't start saying stuff like that very often. At least not around her or uncle or me. Mortals are no less special than we are. They just live differently than we do and have different abilities."

"Well I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that mortals typically prefer normalcy. Though why that is, I'll never know."

"Still better watch what you say. I've spent my entire life listening to both my parents speak ill of mortals and it disgusted me to no end. No one has the right to act like they're better than everybody else."

"You sound like Nanny."

"Good. I hope someday I can be just like her. Although you two could be twins. Both you and Aunt Layla took after her a great deal in the looks department."

"Yes but Mom and I were never as studious and gifted as she was. You're a prodigy  just like she was."

"Do you think Juvia could have inherited anything from her?"

"I don't know, but we're bound to find out very soon." Lucy said. "Still there's something I can't understand."

"What's that?"

"Why has Nanny Anna waited so long to tell Juvia that she's half witch?"

"Well you know how the witch's council feels about mortals finding out about us. Nanny probably felt it best to wait until she knew for sure that Juvia would have powers. If she turned out to have been born without magic like her father, the council would insist that she never know about her maternal side of the family."

"That's a bit much, don't you think?"

"I think so but the witch's council is paranoid about our secret getting out. After all, magic-users and mortals haven't always had the best relationship. In fact the town where we're going has a very ugly history of mortals and witches."

"Oh yeah, the Salem Witch Trials." Lucy shuddered.

"It was all the fault of the witch Kyoka you know? If she had never terrorized Salem the way she did, then the people wouldn't have been left wanting to hang anyone who had anything to do with magic."

"Well luckily for us, Kyoka's dead and nobody in The Mortal Realm hunts witches anymore. We should be perfectly safe here."

"I hope so." Erza said. "I really hope so."