Satiness

Chapter 9: Magical effects or No?

Chapter 9:
"Why do we have to find Breeze?" I asked. We were still sitting in the kitchen of Satiness' home.
"Breeze is the only one that knows Farleyca like the back of her hand. She has travelled all over our home and has memorised everything about it. If anyone can find where the evil queen will be hiding, it's her," Satiness said.

At her words a gentle breeze blew through the room,  and it seemed like an acknowledgement of the fact that Breeze's name had been spoken. I noted that the windows were all shut.

"Where's that wind coming from?" Minah asked, voicing my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. That would be one of my machines," Satiness said, jumping up towards a half-open cupboard in the corner of the room. She opened it all the way through, and inside was a black box with a fan fixed in the middle. The fan turned one slow clockwise rotation, generating a slight breeze in the kitchen.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's an air machine. It's part of my effects," Satiness replied.

"Effects?" asked both Ally and I,  bewildered.

"You heard me," replied Satiness. "Effects. You see, with all the stories about me flying around, I need to maintain my reputation so that I don't have people bothering me all the time. I don't like being bothered for every petty poblem someone has. So, when people came around, I give them a fright, like I did you."

"Hold on!" I exclaimed. "You used magic to scare me. But how could you, if you don't have your powers? Or was that just a lie so you didn't have to help me go back home?" I was starting to get mad. What if she really didn't want to help! Would I be stuck here for the rest of my life? I'm only sixteen!

"No,  no,  no. I want to help. I really do. Would you just listen?" Satiness said,  pleading. "I don't have my powers, Lulu. As I told you earlier, the evil queen stole them from me this morning."

"But then," I said, "how did you make the mirrors smash or the candle to float, if not with magic?"

"Initially," said Satiness,  "I used my magic for scaring people off. But that drained me unnecessarily. Sometimes it would even knock me out. In such a situation,  if I were to be attacked, or if someone broke into my house, I wouldn't be able to defend myself. Then, a long time ago, I met Breeze, the very same way I meet everyone. I tried scaring her when she decided to visit my home. But, Breeze was different from the others. She seemed unaffected,  as though she had seen it all before. I tried a harder act to scare her, using a lot more magic than I had practiced before. Back then I wasn't as exprienced as I am today. I was very young and foolish. By the time I finished trying to scare her I had exhausted myself. I could barely move. My musles felt numb and my eyelids heavy. And the next moment I passed out."

"Wait one moment," cried Ally,  looking, for some reason,  completely scandalized. "That's not what Breeze told me! She said you scared her so bad she nearly wet herself."

Satiness look down guiltily. "She said that so I wouldn't seem weak. She helped keep my reputation. So, where was I? Yes, I was passed out for three whole days," said Satiness, her mind apparently back to continuing her story. "That time it was longer than ever before. When I woke up, I thought I had been kidnapped, because my room didn't look like my room."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When I first discovered this house," Satiness explained,  "it was a wreck in the woods. It needed a significant makeover. It was roofless, windowless, and in dire need of a good paint job,"

"So that's where the story comes from!"  Minah exclaimed, jumping up suddenly. "I had heard you lived in a dump. I thought that was just a silly rumour, because when Ally and I came, it only looked rotten from the outside but not the inside."