Hidden Away

chapter 2- the legacy

"I'm stupid, I'm stupid, I'm so, so stupid " I was running through the woods behind my house at night barefoot. In my pajamas. Chasing a marble fox because he told me to "Are you insane Echo?! Yes, I'm shouting at myself because there's no one around to do it for me! Why am I doing this? Do I have a death wish? I'll die if I get lost here, what was I thinking-" I pause, "and god dammit, fox- or whatever the hell you are- will you slow down for a moment?!" I shout at the fox "you-!" I stop, we emerged into a clearing within the woods. It was filled with plants that I'd never seen before. The most striking of them was the circle of Giant, glowing, neon blue...fluffy trees? "Am I... still on earth?" In the middle of the giant fluff trees was... a cottage. I half expected it to be made out of candy and gingerbread, but nope. Just a really worn down, beautiful little cottage with flowers and vines overflowing everywhere. The little fox sauntered towards the from door, which was slightly ajar. As I watched, his ears twitched. And then he slipped inside. I stare blankly... "yep. I'm officially crazy." I tell myself. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the door. I half-expected some old hermit to start screaming at me for trespassing, but... "What... is this...?" The inside of the cottage looked like something I'd expect out of, well, Hansel and Gretel. In the corner was a fireplace with a cauldron in it, there were wooden benches and counters, herb racks and cupboards full of mysterious thingamabobs. I was positive that I saw a tentacle twitching out of the corner of my eye as I passed, as well as many, many other things, lurking half-seen in the shadows. With a flare, the fireplace lit up, and I couldn't help letting out a little gasp of surprise. The little fox was perched on a stool right in front of it. With a yawn, he stretches out his front paws and kept stretching...and stretching... and stretching.. his marble furry body became longer and longer, until...
The fox was gone. In his place, the boy from before was perched on the edge of the stool. His half-lidded eyes  were as mesmerizing as ever. I stared at him until he yawned behind his hand, knuckles barely visible under the sleeve. "Sorry, I don't go out of the forest often. Or, well, at all" he gives me a gentle smile, he sighs "I never realized it would be this tiring...you sure you don't want to just go back to bed? it would make this easier for everyone... trust me" I furrow my eyebrows at the damned fox "you... you have the audacity to say that after I've ran all the way out here?!" The boy grinned, his lips drawing back to reveal sharp little fangs, he really isn't...human "just kidding. It's far too late at this point. You're already brimming with Angela's power." I shake my head and look at him "wait. Angela? My great grandma?" I ask him, the boy snorted. It was a surprisingly indelicate sound, coming from such a graceful and attractive body. "What other Angela is there around here? That old hag... troublesome till the very end." He trails off, I was rather offended with his word choice "hag..? That's-" he looks at me "hey, I'm not stupid enough to insult Angela. I mean that she's literally a hag. You know, a witch? Do they even teach English in those human schools of yours?" He asks looking at me weirdly "wait. What?" I was far beyond confused at this point, "usually when a witch dies, her powers transfer to her closest successor through spirit" he explains to me then smiles a bit "it turned out to be you. Just as Angela predicted" he pauses and starts to clap "You're a witch. Angela's heir. Congratulations. Hurray. Whoo whoo" he cheers lacking excitement. I begin to panic "w-w-w-w-wait a moment! H-hold on! Y-you're saying that I'm a...witch?" 
"Yes. A magic user. Someone who uses magic. A mage. A hag. A sorceress. An occultist. An enchanter-" I cut him off "a magic girl with a super cool and flashy transformation sequence?!" I squeak in excitement, "uh." The fox boy was a little lost. "And you're the sexy mascot character who secretly wants to plunge me into the depths of despair?!" I yell clasping my hands together with a big smile. "I-" the boy was lost "oh. My god. Does this mean I don't even have to do my own homework anymore?!" I hop up and down excitedly, the boy stared at me slightly until the hype drained out of my body like a melting glacier. "Ah. Ahaha. S-sorry, I got a little carried away back there..." I scratch my neck in embarrassment. With a little shrug, he turned his face away from me. My throat suddenly felt tight and dry. "Glad that at least someone's getting a kick out of that old hag's death" the bitterness in his voice made my heart wrench. "Th-thats not at all what I...!" I start to panic "I, I was just e-excited because-" I drew in a shaky gasp of air, trying to calm the rising of wetness in my eyes. "It... it means great grandmama lives on in me, right?" I ask, a few tears spilled down my cheeks before I could wipe them away. "It means that she'll always be with me... right?" I ask as I pressed my palms against my eyes, I heard the boy let out a little sigh. "Her magic will be, at least" he went silent again after that. When my vision finally cleared, I realized that he'd moved closer to the fireplace... he pulled his legs up, hugging his knees tight to his chest. Shadows flickered around the edge of his face. His expression looked strangely hollow. "And... me too" I look at him "Huh?" I huff out, a bit confused. Shifting his head slightly, he fixes his gaze on my face. The crackling fire flecked his irises with amber, as bright and warm as damping fireflies.  Even if Angela won't be with you... I will" I look at him a bit shocked, "I owe Angela a life debt" he adds "to repay it, I promised that I would protect you- Angela's legacy- for as long as you want" he ends. I look at him "protect me? but from what?" I ask him, a grin creeped out from behind the boy's sleeve, like a crescent moon slicing through fog. "I see we have a smart one here, you should be able to figure it out yourself. Why did such a powerful witch spend her entire life hiding in the form of an ordinary woman?" I pause to think, "that's... because people wanted to steal her power?" I ask him, he smiles "Hah.  If it was that easy to steal a witch's power, I'd have done it already" he comments laughing then sighs "but it's true.. this place is a treasure trove, full of Angela's grimoires and tools of witchcraft. Of course, you'd need to be a witch to use them.. but Angela wasn't hiding from other witches. She didn't need to. She was hiding from witch hunters" he sighs "in this cottage-- the sanctuary she created all by herself, for herself." I furrow my eyebrows, "witch... hunters?"