Casters

Chapter 15

Annalise went into Christen's room, carrying tea for Grace.

"We have two days until Charlotte's birthday,"  Annalise whispered, setting the tray down. "Charlotte still has not approached us," Grace continued.

"I have failed Charlotte, Ma," Grace whispered, holding her hand. "I wish I could turn back time and change things between us."

Christen slowly turned to her and smiled, "there are reasons why these things are happening. Give it some time."

"Ma, we do not have enough time," Annalise said, "We have not trained her to control her powers and she is still avoiding us."

"There will always be consequences in every decision you make," Christen nodded, "you just need to choose the right one.

No outcome will ever turn out fine, there is always something we need to pay."

Grace nodded and smiled, "I understand." She remembered the days when she had to make the hard choice- letting her live a normal life, being safe, or letting her grow up, figuring out her identity.

"I do not remember you telling how Charlotte got to forget," Annalise interrupted. Grace shook her head, "We figured it could be Matilda since she was two at the time. However, I think it was her father. I heard he could choose which memories a person could forget."

Annalise raised her brows in amusement, "interesting, that is."

"I agree," Grace said, "but we never knew. Lily never told us anything about this man."

"What do you mean?" Annalise asked in confusion, "He was never introduced?"

"He was," Grace said, standing up to open the windows, "but he was a private one. He was never fond of sharing, and always wanted to keep things private. He would only talk to Lily about matters, and Lily would be secretive of him, too."

"How did they meet, then?"  Annalise asked.

"Lily went to Spain for the Casters Tournament. I heard they met over there that time," Grace smiled, "Lily told me they met by having arguments on whose team would win at the time."

Annalise giggled, "That's the first I have heard of a not-so-romantic meeting."

"Are the girls back from Steven's?" Grace asked, "Blake will be coming home soon. He wants to speak to Charlotte."

"Is he sure about that?" Annalise asked, biting her lip. Grace nodded, "We need to persuade her since the claiming ceremony is two days away."

"Raven has been awfully busy," Annalise said, crossing her arms. "We do need him for the preparations."

"Maybe that is why he has been busy," Grace said.

"I miss the old decorations, though," Annalise grinned. "The ones we used when Charlotte was not aware of her powers."

"Well, Ma does need her comfortable space now." Grace picked up the tray and headed for the door, "let's leave ma to sleep."

Annalise kissed Christen to sleep and tucked her in. She then went out and something caught her attention in the bathroom. Did Charlotte leave her bracelet behind? Annalise thought. I could not see the necklace, though.

She closed the door, leaving it by the sink. She went downstairs and found Grace cleaning the kitchen. "Charlotte left her bracelet by the bathroom sink," Annalise said, grabbing the dirty tray.

"She did?" Grace sighed, "as long as she brought her necklace with her, everything is fine."

"Do not lose hope, sister," Annalise said, "she'll forgive you."

"Oh, I know," Grace smiled.

"I know you, Grace," Annalise giggled, "I know at some point, you are hurt, angry at yourself; you feel like you could never be forgiven. Don't worry, everything will be okay."

Grace looked at her and nodded, "I know..."

---

Nighttime came, Blake came home with their Uncle Raven. "Hi, Blake!" Matilda exclaimed.

"Hi, M!" He said, giving her a hug, "where is your sister?"

"She is upstairs, as always," she said. "Blake!" Bridget exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen.

"Ahh! Hello, love!" he smiled, kissing her on the forehead. "How was your day?" Bridget looked at him and smiled, "the same as usual. I was just helping your aunts prepare dinner. "

"What about Sheena?" Blake asked. "She's with us as well," Bridget responded. He nodded and motioned for Matilda to go to the kitchen with them.

He went upstairs and knocked on Charlotte's room. "Cee?" he called out. There was no answer. He knocked again and called out her name. "If you won't answer, I will break this door down."

Suddenly, a loud thud could be heard in the room. He tried to turn the knob and realized the door was locked. "Charlotte?" he asked.

After a few turns and banging, the door suddenly shook.

"Leave me alone," Charlotte's voice shouted. "Couldn't you sense that I am busy?"

Steven suddenly floated to the air, he was being brought downstairs by the force that was pulling him. "Charlotte!" He exclaimed, "don't you dare use your powers on me!"

"What is all the commotion here?" Grace said as she enters the scene. She saw Blake floating down. "Charlotte is using her powers to send me away!"

Suddenly the house shook. They looked up and saw Charlotte's door was burning with purple flames. "What is your sister doing?" Grace asked, crossing her arms as she looked at Blake. Wings then appeared behind Blake's back. "I am coming in," he shouted. He flew upstairs into the room. The door crashed and he landed on the wall.

"You freaking broke down the door!" Charlotte exclaimed, standing up and walked towards the door.

"I will replace that with the spare door we have in the attic," Blake said, "but we need to talk first."

Charlotte shot him a terrifying glare, "and what part of 'I am busy' do you not understand?"

"You are never busy!"  Blake exclaimed, "you are just looking for things to do to avoid interaction!"

Charlotte crossed her arms. "I do not avoid interaction! I am filling up the entry form for IBS!" She pointed at the papers on top of her bed. Blake spotted a book about spells and curses on top of Charlotte's desk.

"Do that later. Let's have a proper conversation," he insisted.

"Why do you keep on insisting when I say I do not want to interact with you people?" Charlotte exclaimed, stomping her foot.

"Because your claiming ceremony is two days away!" he shouted, "because you need to train! Because you need to study, to learn, to read, to understand the situation you are in! The lives of thousands and more casters are depending on you! You, acting like a child, is not going to save us all!"

Charlotte's eyes lit up, "well, maybe all of you should never have lied if you want me to act like a more intelligent and matured person!" She punched a purple flame towards Blake, pushing him towards the wall.

"Blake?" a voice called, "Charlotte? What is all the ruckus?"

Her brother held out his hand, casting the light to lock them up in the room. While pinning Blake against the wall, Charlotte already had summoned barriers so no one could enter.

 "Are you two okay?" Annalise shouted, "Oh dear. Grace!" Her footsteps can be heard going downstairs.

"I will never act like this if only you all did your job perfectly!" Charlotte hissed. "I know what the freak I need to do. I know that I need to train, and I know I need to understand. Stop making things hard for me by pretending to care!"

Blake locked eyes with her, "we care, Cee!"

"If you cared, you never had to leave me behind just because I was too much during that incident!"

Blake was taken aback by this. He let out a huge sigh and gave up. He knew that was the truth. He convinced himself that he needs to leave Gatlin to take good care of his mental health after everything that happened. However, that was never the case. He left because he was afraid of Charlotte. Afraid that she might turn evil, he trained himself to be better and stronger.

"You liar!" Charlotte exclaimed and held out her hand, "leave!" cloaks of darkness began appearing behind her, motioned towards Blake. She wrapped him inside and threw him away from the room.

"Charlotte!" Grace shouted from below. The ladies ran upstairs to find Charlotte floating and looking at them.

"Charlotte?" Bridget asked.

"Leave me alone,"  Charlotte whispered. "I need to go to bed. Sheena and I need to train tomorrow."

She flipped her hand and formed a barrier again since the door couldn't be replaced that night. Bridget and Matilda went downstairs to Blake, where he sat down beside the staircase with a bump on his head.

"What about dinner?" Annalise asked, holding on to the barrier.

"Good night, Aunt Annalise," Charlotte said. Then silence overcame.

"I guess it's us again," Grace whispered, looking at Blake, who was being healed by Sheena.

---

The next day, Sheena woke up early and looked over at Charlotte. She remembered that they were supposed to practice that day.

"Good morning!" Sheena exclaimed, jumping over Charlotte. "Ow, hey!" She exclaimed.

"It's time to get to work!" she told Charlotte, "Steven will come by in an hour or two."

"Could he buy some coffee? I could pay him later?" Charlotte said, slowly getting up from her bed.

"He already has. He bought some sandwiches, too. I think he bought from a different café, so it would be a different type of sandwich," Sheena explained. Charlotte giggled, "obviously, Sheena."

"Get dressed!" she said, throwing Charlotte some jeans and a t-shirt, "we are going to practice hard."

---

"Girls! The boys are here!" Grace called.

"Oh, they are finally here!" Sheena exclaimed. They went downstairs and Charlotte sat by the living room, fixing herself.

Sheena opened the door and noticed Fred who was about to knock.

"How did you know we were here?" Fred asked. Sheena raised her eyebrow and Fred instantly understood. "Sorry, I have forgotten. Flowers?" He said, scratching his head. He lifts up his hand and handed Sheena roses. "Good morning to you, too!" She said as she hugged him.

"Charlotte?" Sheena called out. "They are here!"

Charlotte looked up and saw Steven standing by the door in front of her. "I used my money for our breakfast today," he said, handing her coffee, "I hope this is enough for today?"

Charlotte smiled and nodded, "this is enough."

They went to the fields and arranged their spot. "The town is a very breathtaking sight," Steven commented. Charlotte sipped on her coffee and took a bite.

"Shall we begin?" Charlotte said, standing up. "Shouldn't we at least enjoy the morning breeze first, ladies?" Fred laughed.

"Sorry love, Charlotte's right," Sheena said. "We need to start."

"Okay, why not enjoy this picnic with us first. Then, we could start your training without us being bothersome," Steven suggested.

Charlotte and Sheena looked at each other. "Agreed."

They sat down and took another bite. "Charlotte looks like she has not eaten for days," Fred commented. Steven shot him an expressionless face, "the comments are unnecessary, dude."

"Hey, it is true, though," Charlotte frowned, "I haven't eaten properly since that day."

"How was Blake's bump?" she asked, looking at Sheena. She put down her sandwich and shot Charlotte a glare, "that was a massive bump you gave him. What did he ever do to you?"

"I told him not to bother me!" Charlotte replied, raising her hands in surrender, "he really should consider approaching me since I still couldn't control my powers' strength."

"You're being mean, Charlotte," Sheena frowned. Charlotte let out a sigh, "I know."

"Wait, what happened?" Stevena asked.

"Your girlfriend had a fight with his brother last night," Sheena explained, sipping from her drink, "and left him a huge bump on his head."

"What?" Fred asked.  "I thought the Oracle told Charlotte to not use her powers yet since she couldn't control them? Moreover, use it against her family?"

 "I know. It's just that I couldn't stop myself!" Charlotte defended, "he was being arrogant and annoying! He broke down the door I locked by flying in with his massive wings!"

"Your brother has wings?" Steven's jaw dropped in amusement. "Tell me about it. I never knew about it either," Charlotte said.

"Really, though," Fred continued, "I think it is time to face them and forgive everything. I'm not saying I don't understand how you feel. I'm just saying you deserve peace from all of this. Holding on for so long can hurt you, you know?"

Charlotte looked at  Fred and turned to Sheena and nodded. "I guess, so."

Steven hugged her and whispered, "Fred is right. You deserve to rest from all of this."

Charlotte faced the three of them and smiled, "I am very lucky to be friends with you three."