The Witch's Express

3

   "It's.." The girl felt like she couldn't breathe. "It's what?"
"Fading." Celine repeated. "Your powers are fading."
Rue opened her mouth.
"The ones you were born with, not the ones you have now."
Rue closed her mouth.
The other witches around them stared at the two females, specifically at Rue. The brunette started to panic, feeling the heat of their stares. It was almost as if she could hear what they were all thinking. They were all talking bad about her. Judging her.
She's losing touch?
How is that possible?
What a joke.
She was never meant to be a witch.
She's such a burden.
Rue started to breathe heavily , feeling her heartbeat start to spike. Her vision became a bit blurry as the thoughts started to overwhelm her. Her clothes started to feel tight and itchy, everything was too loud to the point she covered her ears to drown out the words being thrown at her, but she couldn't save herself from them as they were all in her head.
The sound of her voice came muffled. Soon she felt a calming presence over her and the smell of lavender took over her senses. The scent started to calm her, her heart beat even starting to slow down. The voices seemed to stop, fading into the sounds of everything around her. The fire crackling, the crickets chirping, and sound of her voice being calmly spoken. When she felt herself back in the present, she moved her attention to where her name was coming from, seeing her aunt and lavender plants around her.
Eri Orlean. The herb witch. The twin or Rue's mom.
"Titi." Rue wrapped her arms around her aunt, the woman gladly returning the hug.
"Hola, querida," Eri spoke to her, rubbing her head as she embraced her niece. "Estás bien?"
"Sí." Rue replied, pushing her bangs out of her face and speaking Spanish back to her aunt. "Gracias."
Eri gave her a curt nod, a smile on her lips. The smile faded when they turned their attention back to Celine, who stood up. She patted her skirt to remove any dirt or dust on it, and Fang stared in awe. He found her the most mythical woman he had ever laid his eye on.
"Aphrodite," The woman started. "Do you understand the utter extent of the situation?"
Rue hesitated, not knowing how to respond. She knew it was bad, since she's supposedly "losing touch" with her witch heritage, but she didn't truly understand just how bad. Celine took her silence as the answer. The woman raised her hand, signaling Rue to rise. She did what she was silently commanded to do, and a hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Make a star."
Everyone stared, Eri moving to her daughters, Jenny and Abby, and even the little girl stopped making her dirt bear. Her mother held her close. All eyes were on Rue now, and it made her kind of nervous.
Rue took a deep breath, closing her eyes and putting her hands up. She started to move them as if holding a ball, an orange light appearing in the middle of them. Her fingers grazed the ball, making the light shine so bright it outshined the fireplace. Her hands kept moving, allowing the light to start taking the form of a star. Celine watched with no emotion as the light started to burn. Rue winced at the pain.
"Keep going," the voice of the syrup encouraged. She couldn't stop now, especially with everyone watching.
She released the light, it shooting up above her head. Rue opened her eyes, putting her hands up to the forming star. It burned. It started to burn through her gloves, but she kept pushing. The star took its shape, growing bigger and bigger. Whispers started to flow from the witches as it grew larger than it was supposed to. The wind around them started to pick up as the star was out of control, the children started to scream in fear, making the teen's eyes winded. The light started growing brighter to where it was blinding to look at, the wind felt like a tornado. Rue's hair whirled from the wind, the other witches put on their hats to protect themselves. When she grabbed it, the star exploded in every direction, and in its place was nothing but stardust falling from the sky.
Orange eyes stared at her creation. It was beautiful, but it wasn't what was asked for. The children started to smile and clap with joy at the beautiful dust, playing in it. It felt hot, but not hot enough to hurt. It made their hair glittery when their hats were removed, and the other women enjoyed the beauty. Yet, Rue didn't. She looked to Celine who was frowning now.
"I'm sorry." Was all Rue could say.
Celine sighed, placing her hand on Rue's head. "The reason you are losing your powers is because you are more focused on your human life. You are forgetting who you truly are."
She didn't have to say it. It was obvious.
A witch.
"So," Rue started. "Does this mean I'm not a witch anymore."
"No, you still are. You have the witch blood. You were born a witch." Celine stated. "But if you keep this up, you will never be able to use your powers again."
Rue felt her heart drop. Everyone around her was cheering and having fun, singing even started again, but Rue couldn't even grasp any amount of joy in the moment.
"What do I do then?" She asked in a begging tone. Celine stared down at her, her eyes narrowing. She grasped Rue's shoulder and signaled for one of the women to start passing out the stew. The woman took Rue out of the circle to talk to her in private. Fang walked behind them, jumping onto Rue's shoulders as they stopped behind one of the large redwoods.
"There is a train," She started. "You will be able to take it to find yourself again."
"Find myself?" The girl questioned.
"Yes," The woman responded. She put her hand up, swiping the air and showing what looked like a realistic hologram. In the hologram was a black train, the color fading in with purples and blues that resembled the night sky. White dots of stars were scattered around each of the cars while smoke came from the chimney near the front. Its wheels looked strong and powerful, the steels glowing through the dark colors of the train.
"You must find yourself. The witch part."
Rue stared at the train, taking in the new thing and seeing everything, even a small hole in one of the cars. The littlest things didn't go unseen by her. She saw every detail and put it in the back of her mind. "I see. So I have to get on the train and I'll find myself again?"
Celine replied with a chuckle, making Rue feel a bit stupid. Her hand swiped, and the hologram moved upwards into space. A nebula was present, the blues and pinks reflected off of the sky while  stars twinkled around the beautiful colors. The sound of singing and laughter was behind them, but quiet enough for Celine to speak without being overthrown.
"Take the train to space, and your destiny shall be placed."