I take a few steps forward. Looking down makes me feel dizzy. The adrenaline of standing so close to the edge of the hill makes my knees weak. I know it's dangerous, I know I shouldn't, but I still take one more step forward.
As I stand there balancing at the edge, I can practically hear the sisterhood rolling their eyes collectively and shout at me with their shallow mouths: What if somebody sees you?
Then I will make it worth their while, I think to myself as I take yet one more uneasy step forward.
Now it feels like I am standing on air. Like there is nothing holding me back.
I let the fear linger a bit more, close my eyes and jump.
I fall down rather fast.
Right when I am supposed to crash to the hard concrete ground I simply close my eyes and concentrate on what my imagination is already painting for me, all that is left for me to do is bring it to life. When I open them again I am about to land on sand.
There is a waterfall next to me but despite the harsh water hitting the sea, it doesn't make a sound.
The air is heavy and warm around me, the sweet taste lingers on my tongue for a moment like cotton candy.
Each new step tingles my feet, the flowers hug my legs and almost don't want to let go.
I breathe in, a smile starts to spread on my flushed face. I arrived.
"You certainly took your time," somebody speaks from behind me, startling me.
"I had to finish some business first," I reply, turning around.
"I'm sure you did," Anna says.
"Are you questioning my authenticity?" I ask, one eyebrow arched.
"I learned a long time ago to question everything that comes out of your mouth, dear," she dismisses me with a wave of her hand. "Now follow me, the others have been waiting."
I follow her down a narrow path until we arrive at the top of the small hill, I grew so attached to. So many lovely memories, so many successful nights celebrated with wistful words and hushed curses. I can't stop the smile from widening on my face.
The moon is shining just for this piece of land. The clouds made way for the light. The grass is shimmering for us. There is a huge fire in the middle, that's smells of old magic. The animals don't show themselves. In other words: we are reunited.
I walk over to my sisters and start hugging them one by one.
"How kind of you to finally join us," Rosalina says as soon as I walk over to hug her as well.
"I had something else to do," I explain through gritted teeth.
"Rosalina, we wouldn't have been able to start without the moon anyways," Anna explains, walking a few steps closer to me instinctively.
Everyone knows Rosalina and I have a feud we couldn't settle for some centuries now.
"Thank the goddess, that Luna is here to save the day then," Rosalina smiles, in that wrong, hateful, Rosalina-way.
"I would say we stop the bickering and start our ceremony before the moon goes down," Azura chimes in.
"Very well," Rosalina declares. "Let's get in formation then, shall we?"
So we gather around and stand in a perfect circle around the huge fire.
Although our eyes are closed I know instantly who is standing next to me. I can feel Anna's energy vibrate on the tip of my fingers. I smile again.
"Who wants to start?" Rosalina asks into the group, which is unusual because she is always the first one to speak.
I decide to just go for it. "I do."
There is a deafening silence for a moment and then I start to speak. "For the love of the moon, I seek knowledge on this holy night. I ask the spirits for the book of Oad and promise to use it for no good."
"May the spirits that live ever long, grand my sisters wish," the others chant together when I am done.
"I will go next," Anna says softly.
She too takes a moment to calm down and open her third eye as much as possible and then she whispers,
"For the love of nature, I seek power on this holy night. I ask the spirits for the souls of a hundred men and promise to make them suffer."
"May the spirits that live ever long, grand my sisters wish," we chant again.
I hear something strange erupt from my left side. "Will you ever wish for something other than men?" Rosalina asks, amused. It is then, that I understand what the strange noise was.. Rosalina laughed. It isn't that she never laughs. She just doesn't anymore.
"Now me," Azura says, changing the topic. "For the love of fire, I seek passion on this holy night. I ask the spirits for a companion that comes from the same ashes as I do and promise to use our joint power to serve the sisterhood."
"May the spirits that live ever long, grand my sisters wish."
"You go next, Vienna," Rosalina orders.
"For the love of animals, I seek love on this holy night. I ask the spirits to help not me but the man I adore, please make him live forever. I promise to never ask of anything again."
A sense of agitation goes through the circle.
I almost open my eyes but catch myself last minute. This is a very unusual thing. Witches never, ever, ask the spirits to help mortals. It is common knowledge. Every witch grows up with the story of Olivia, the last witch to ask the holy spirits in favor of a human man. When he found out what she did, he told the people of his village and let her burn at the stick for witchcraft. You do not trust humans, especially men, ever.
But there is nothing we can do now, she spoke her wish. The only thing left for us, is to chant the phrase and so I begin.
"May the spirits that live ever long, grand my sisters wish."
We are quiet after that for an aggravating second.
"What did you do, Vienna?" Anna asks in disbelief.
"I did what I had to do," she replies with a shaky voice.
"This is unacceptable," Anna breathes out. She is clearly touched the most by the sheer thought of a witch feeling anything other than playful attraction towards a mortal.
"I can beat that, I'm afraid," Rosalina says quietly. She sounds sad for some reason. This is already becoming the weirdest session we ever had, including the one where Anna made such a specific wish for a certain human, that said man fell from the clouds and crashed right into the fire in our middle. It took Azura two hours to heal him completely. By then I couldn't stop the moon from going down any more and none of the others could speak their wishes. Needles to say, I had to drag Anna out of there before she got murdered.
"For the love of the weather," Rosalina starts softly. "I seek rest on this holy night. I am asking the spirits to take me with them for I have seen everything there is to see and done everything I wished upon me in this long life. I promise to be of good use."
For a long moment nobody says anything.
Vienna is the first one to find her voice, "Rosalina-"
"Please don't," Rosalina interrupts her. "If my companionship ever meant anything for any of you, you will chant now and let me go in peace."
My heart beats at such a rate I feel the need to clutch my chest, for I am scared it will burst out of me any given second. This is so typical for her, not allowing anybody to say a proper goodbye. Forcing us to be a part of this, although on a second thought I can't really blame her. It is very rare that the spirits take a witch with them. Some would call it a curse, maybe that is true, either way we are doomed to stay on this earth for many moons, many more than any man before.
And that is why we all understand in the end.
And we obey.
"May the spirits that live ever long, grand my sisters wish," we chant with heavy hearts and shaky voices.
And then, the circle is incomplete. I know it, before I open my eyes. I feel it, before I understand how.
The moon is not in full display anymore, heavy clouds are throwing dark shadows onto the hill.
I immediately walk over to Vienna and hug her. She is shaking violently, I know this is the first time she is witnessing the end of a fellow witch.
"Why would she do that?" she whispers into my chest.
"Her time had come," Anna assures her.
We don't say anything after that. All just stand there close together, as if another one of us could suddenly vanish.
"I should head back," Azura whispers after a while.
"We all should," I say.
Azura nods at us one last time and then she takes a few steps to our left and jumps down the hill, but instead of falling down, she begins to float upwards. As soon as she's gone the fire goes out, the magic is broken and we are left alone in the cold night.
"Be well," Vienna says with a sad smile as she too floats up. Bugs and butterflies come out of everywhere, birds start flying from one tree to the other. And in the distance, I can hear a wolf howl.
"I will see you on the other side," Anna says and is about to take a step towards the cliff when I stop her.
"Are you aware that this is probably the last time we came here? For a long while anyways."
"Why?" Anna asks.
"Rosalina is gone," I explain. "Who will control the weather now? How long will it take to find somebody with a similar gift who shares the same beliefs as us?"
"Oh," Anna says softly as realization washes over her. "I didn't think of that."
"I love this place with all my old, dark heart but maybe it is time to say goodbye," I say.
Anna nods at me, "I agree."
"I already know how to make our last moment here, for now anyways, a special one."
"You do?" Anna asks.
I fish something out of my small black bag that I carry with me everywhere, for the sole reason that is expands and is bigger on the inside. "This one is for you," I explain, as I hand Anna a silver necklace with a white stone at the end.
A bit more grabbing and pulling and I find what I am looking for. "And this one is mine."
"What-what is this?" Anna asks.
"A piece of the moon."
Anna's eyes widen. "Are you serious?"
"I very much am, yes," I reply.
"But this is-"
"Against the rules. Technically, yes. It's taken me all day to prove my point to the council and now we're free to do whatever we want with our pieces."
"So that's why you've been late!" Anna exclaims.
I smile at her. "You should have seen their faces when they found out what I did!"
"How did you get out of this?" she asks.
"I simply told them that while I have powers concerning the moon, I do not see it as my property. And that this is why I didn't take or therefore stole anything, but I asked the moon for a gift and it rewarded my respect. So in conclusion, these are mine."
Anna smiles at me. "You're absolutely crazy."
"And you're absolutely welcome," I say.
"Thank you," Anna laughs. "I will wear it forever."
"You better do. I almost lost my powers because of this," I joke.
We both smile like little witches on our first day of wizarding school, as we put on our necklaces.
"I already feel your energy radiate from my piece," Anna states, a sense of astonishment flickering in her eyes.
"So do I," I whisper.
"Why for Merlin's sake didn't we do this earlier?" Anna asks. "I feel like we are three hundred years late."
"I agree wholeheartedly."
"I have a new grown respect for the moon," Anna admits, as her stone shimmers in the perfect mixture of white and blue, day and night if one will. "And for you," she adds.
"I think we sometimes forget how lucky we are to have each other. I even think-" I stop and gather my thoughts for a moment. "I even think, Rosalina wouldn't have left if she would have had what we do."
"I know and .. I will be reminded of that every time I look at this," she says as she takes her necklace into her palm.
I smile at her as the sudden rush of sadness slowly vanishes from my body. Rosalina is free now. That's all that matters.
"Now," Anna says finally. "I will see you on the other side."
She walks towards the cliff, falls for a second and then floats up as well. I watch her until she vanishes.
The sound of the waterfall comes crushing down and overshadows everything else. The grass beneath me instantly feels cold and lifeless. The flowers stop touching me and the air tastes of mud and salty water. I sigh as I walk towards the cliff. This place always comes to life with all of us in here. As much as we might fight, if even one of us is missing everything is off balance. There is no circle.
I say a silent goodbye to the hill and jump as well. I watch it all get smaller and smaller with every second I float up until I am at the edge of the hill again.
I can hear cars drive behind me. I stand still and look down, try to catch a glimpse of what had been just a few seconds ago as a car pulls up close to me.
"Is everything okay miss?" a strange voice shouts.
"Yes, thank you," I reply politely, while turning around. There are four pairs of eyes watching me with concerned looks on their faces. All of which are connected to bodies that dressed up in obscure ways. I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes at the lack of creativity and sensitivity with which these mortals celebrate this holy night. When they don't drive away, I decide to offer some sort of an explanation. "I was just admiring the view."
"Well, you better be careful." What a fool. "The forest down there is said to be haunted." Shame!
I force myself to not walk over and turn them all into frogs. If Anna would hear this they would all be doomed. These mortals have no respect for nature. How would they know what place is haunted anyhow? They see so little and know of nothing.
"Thank you," I say shortly. I don't know where my patience is coming from.
"Anyways, have a spooky night and I love your costume by the way!" The driver shouts as he finally drives his car away from me and back to the road.
Would have surprised me if these fools would know anything about fashion anyways. Oh how I dread being amongst mortals.
I shake the anger off me and simply touch my new necklace. Just to get a sense of what it feels like. Just to get used to doing it.
I smile as a new, shining energy enters my body and pushes away my dark thoughts.
I decide that I simply cannot waste my precious time worrying about the undeserving and so I grab into my bag once again and pull out my broom.
It's time to head back home. The ceremony was only one of the many rituals we have tonight and Anna is probably already at my house waiting for me.
I heave a deep sigh as I fly towards the full moon.
