Witch

7. Powers

When Eleanor woke up the sun was high in the sky and glimpses of light were searching for the way to enter through treetops to reach to the ground. The reason she woke up from her refreshing slumber was exactly one of those glimpses that reached her face tickling her. First, she was confused about where she is, what she was doing here but soon the backlash of the past days caught her sleeping mind and she stood up looking around the area she was in.

The small clearing in the middle of the circle made by trees was covered with withered leaves that fell from trees. It meant only one thing and she knew it. She bowed to each of the trees, whispering thank you for giving her their own life essence. She knew that most of the energy she got from fairy queen and her subjects but still seeing all those leaves meant that it wasn't enough and the forest decided to use its own life to replenish her. Taking nothing as granted from nature was common among all witches especially if they were taking from nature’s life itself.

Soon she headed to place from where she was hearing a laugh and commotion. After a little walk, she arrived at the edge of another this time bigger clearing yet the treetops were grown as a roof to provide shadow to inhabitants living here. From those branches covering the place were hanging small houses looking like a birds nests with one circled entrance. All with different colours and the small beams of lights that got through from this living ceiling were illuminating those nests letting them shine like jewels of every colour. The view was mesmerising and whenever Eleanor had the chance to see this fairy village it left her breathless.

On the ground below, she saw the source of most of the loudest giggle and laugh. Little Sybil was placed down on the grass carpet and dozens of fairies were playing with her using the beams of coloured lights to attract her attention. Others were wearing different shiny coloured dress trying to provoke Sybil to catch them. Another group was playing hide and seek, whispering into her ears or just poking her cheeks and nose. Sybil's attention was distracted by all of them, one second trying to catch a fairy, another second hiding her face from the beam of light, another catching fairy again or following the light on the ground. She loudly laughs with each poke or sound they made. Her tiny little hands tried to catch all of them at once and Eleanor saw that she is really enjoying her time with fairies and all the attention they are giving to her.

"Sneaking around you little thief?" Suddenly someone whispered into Eleanor's ear and she jumped up hitting her head by the branch that was growing just a few centimetres right above her hear.

"Aeriel, are you nuts?" She whined massaging the top of her head to subdue the pain from the impact giving Aeriel deadly gaze. "You almost stopped my heart you crazy."

Aeriel was laughing at the grumpy face of her friend. "Well. I am not the one hiding behind the tree sneaking around my forest. Am I?" She flew closer to Eleanor poking her nose.

Eleanor sighed seeing how amused her friend actually is. "Well, I am glad I amused you, you little devil." Softly poking the belly of her little friend carefully to not cause any injury before they both turned their gaze back to clearing in front of them.

Aeriel turned to look around her village pointing to the far end of the clearing where the group of tall flowers were growing beside the roots of the tree.

"You see those irises over there?" She asked Eleanor.

"Yes. Why?" Eleanor turned to Aeriel.

"Or those?" Pointing now to the left where was now few small bushes of Hibiscus.

"Mhmm" Eleanor confirmed.

Now she was pointing closer to them. Just to trees away from their position was Orchid growing directly from a tree trunk. "Or this."

"Yes Aeriel I see them all. Will you tell me why please?" Eleanor was confused and wanted to know the answer. Why is she pointing at the flowers growing around? There were always flowers around. Every place where the fairies were living was thriving with life.

"A few hours ago they weren't there. None of those " Was simple answer of the fairy queen. Now Eleanor was even more confused. What she was saying? What does she mean?. It took a little bit time for Eleanor to process the information she just got and made some conclusion out of it but once she realized what her friend meant she looked again carefully around the village and the clearing now focusing on the plants and flowers growing around.

Why she didn't realize it earlier. There were different kind of ivies growing from the branches ceiling down covering some of the fairies homes lianas that kept them in the air. A few months ago when she visited her friend those ivies weren't there. Others covered with Clematis. None of the houses was actually cover by flowers last time she was here.

There were orchids up growing on tree trunks everywhere. She saw at least five different species of them and maybe ten different colours. She saw Canna lilies, Candida’s or Salvias growing around the tree's roots. Asters creating colourful carpet islands around same as crocuses. Some other flowers she even didn't know nor see in anywhere she was before. They were completely new for her and sure she knew pretty much about almost every species in the world.

She remembers the village was always full of life. Flowers were growing everywhere in possible colours. But never like this. Now it was like an explosion of flowers but what about those new species? She was speechless. "How?" Was everything Eleanor could get out of her mind and put it into the words towards her friend.

Aeriel was quiet, staring at the view in front of her, admiring her newly decorated home but especially following the movements of the little witch in the middle of all of it. "Just watch Sybil's hands." She instructed after a few minutes of quietness not leaving the sight off of the child. Eleanor locked her gaze with her little protege and did exactly as Aeriel told her.

It didn't take long before Eleanor noticed small like dust looking particles of yellow colour appearing around those tiny hands when she was trying to catch the fairy with yellow dress flying very close to Sybil's face. Eleanor followed the trajectory of those particles until they hit the ground and after a few seconds around ten new flowers grew on that exact spot. She never saw this kind of flowers before but most importantly she never saw magic like this. She was starring at it with the words stacked in her mouth completely stunned.

"Just watch," Aeriel said again. The fairies playing with Sybil switched. It was a red dress fairy now playing with her, trying to provoke Sybil to catch her repeating the specific movements so the tiny hand was drawing an infinite circle in the air. It took around ten minutes before new dust appeared around the small hand a d this time it had the red colour. When the dust reached the ground red flowers grew instantly.

"That's not possible." Eleanor was shaking her head. "Is she giving her own essence?" She turned to the fairy queen.

Aeriel shakes her head still looking ahead "No. I am monitoring her life essence since we noticed this phenomenon. You were sleeping around eight hours and we play with her all that time. She is just eating every two-three hours but till now she is refusing to sleep." Aeriel paused thinking carefully about what she wants to say. "I don't know how she can create something from nothing. Especially new life. How she can create a new life from nothing. You can't just create a life essence. And she is even bringing the species that were long lost and gone. Some of those were gone for a thousand year. I guess she can't decide which one she let grow but as you can see the colour she sees in front of her is brought into her magic." She now turned to Eleanor with a serious face full of worries and doubts.

"El." Her voice shaking "She is only a few days old. Imagine her powers when she grows up." Aeriel saw the potential, the power that could restore both lands, both realms but also with such power there was a danger. If she can create, she can also destroy. Not like other magus when they get insane and burn the land. No. The life will spread again from ash.

She can create life from thin air which means, she can also let life disappear into thin air. That's how most of the magic works. You can let the flower grow after you plant the seed or you can let it withered but from the energy left by that withered flower a new one will eventually grow. The life essence with not disappear. Not unless it's corrupted and there is no one with enough dark magic to corrupt the life.

There was plenty of dark magus who's the mind where twisted, corrupted and in the end, they had to be killed to protect living but they never were too power to corrupt the core of other livings. Only demons had that power and those were gone. No one who ever lived or live had the power to create life. And that's leaving Aeriel completely terrified. The power of Goddesses is now among them.

Eleanor read all of that fear and worries in Aeriel's face, in her eyes. She was thinking about the same possibilities that this power can bring.

But she is a child, only a baby. She can teach her. They can teach her about her powers, teach her responsibility, to understand life and everything. It might work. If they want to protect this world and let it thrive again, they need it to work. They need to teach her. Maybe this is a plan of a Moon Goddess how to revive both realms. Both Goddesses are still weak from protecting and sustaining life on both realms and at the same time keeping realms closed from demons.

But to execute the plan that started to grow inside Eleanor's mind she needed to seal Sybil's powers. At least for now until she understands it fully and can control it. She locked her eyes with Aeriel explaining to her what they should do. Explaining her plan.