Electric Blue (25 page)

"That is a very enviable trait. I like that in a person. What happened after Alicia?"

"Well, they ended up beating me up after I went a little nuts. I tried to get Alicia back and she wouldn't have me, so I went after Poppy."

"How quick you are to turn on your lady love."

"They left me unconscious. I had multiple fractures to my face. . .I was a mess. I went home when I woke and started thinking. If they would play magic Witches together, screwing each other, then I would play magic with them. I started learning what I could, listening to what people were saying. I found books, found a coven, but that wasn't for me. I'm too independent to let someone else do the magic. I wanted the power."

"Everyone must have their dreams. It is good that you chose to follow yours." Mistress wanted to keep LaWanda talking; she had to find out what she knew.

"I went to a Goth night at Zaphods one night and met these two guys. . .Lucas and Sean. They were part of a Coven that Poppy and Alicia belonged to. They told me the stories that surrounded Poppy, what she was. They told me about the Coven."

"Where are these boys now?" Mistress did not like others, especially men, knowing of the Coven's existence.

"They moved away to join another coven. I haven't seen them since. But they told me about you. . .they said that it was all just rumours, myths, legends of the city, but I knew better. There was a ring of truth to it."

"So how did you find me?"

"I looked up Katherine Hailstorm in the phonebook and found your ad for your antique business. I took a whim that it would be the same person Lucas and Sean had talked about."

Mistress laughed long and hard. Tears were streaming down her face and she patted LaWanda's cheek. "Such a simple way to find me!" She took LaWanda's hand. "You may call me Mistress. Come, we have much to talk about, you and I. I'll take you to my home."

"Like what?"

"Like how we are going to get inside the Coven House and make our little Shape Shifter sing," Mistress said.

Chapter Thirty Four

Towards Destiny

When Poppy awoke on their fifth day in the cave, her right hand was still throbbing where the crow wing mark was at the base of her thumb. She rubbed at it absently, feeling it pulse under her skin. She knew the sun now, had watched it rise almost every morning and watched it set each evening. She knew that they had to leave the cave before seven days was up. What would happen to them if they stayed in the cave longer than seven days, Poppy didn't know, but she had no desire to find out. When an entity that is the embodiment of a house tells you that you got to leave before seven days, you don't question her. Poppy got up and started a small fire. Soon, she had breakfast going and eggs and bacon cooking over the fire. Coffee was steeping in a pot. Alicia woke when the coffee was ready.

"Good timing," Poppy said, handing her a mug.

Alicia took a sip and muttered her thanks. "I'm getting a tense back from sleeping on a cave floor."

"I know what you mean. I had to dig rocks out of my hair this morning."

Alicia smiled. "What a glamorous way to live."

"Everyone should be envious!" Poppy said sarcastically.

They both laughed and Poppy kissed Alicia on the nose. "I'm so glad we're not fighting anymore."

Alicia nodded and kissed her back. "So am I. I'm glad we're together in this."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Poppy said. "I mean that." She straightened and picked up her plate, resuming her breakfast. "I think it's time we get out of here."

"Are you sure?" Alicia asked "We do have two more days."

"I know we do, it's just. . . ." She sighed, it was frustrating putting thing into words when she wasn't sure of anything herself. "I think my father is contacting me."

"That's great news!" Alicia said. "That's one of your tasks, isn't it? Finding him?"

"Yeah and I'm supposed to find out my second quest from him."

"How do you know that he's trying to get in touch with you?"

Poppy went inside herself. She remembered the dream she had had and the voice she had spoken to, that voice that came from the crow in her dream, but that sounded in her head. The dream flashed once again through her consciousness:

". . .I have made you into the stuff of dreams. . .and nightmares. . . ." it said.

"You've transformed me."

". . .Correct. . ."

"Why?"

". . .Because. . .it was your wish. . .by the sacrifice of your blood. . .you have become the stuff of shadows. . ." the crow said.

"But I didn't ask for this. . .why did you change me?" Red tears formed in the black feathers around her eyes. They fell to the floor to mingle with the blood that had slipped in amongst the cracks in the floorboards of her room.

“Through your blood, we are connected. . .change is necessary in life. . .but you will always remain what you were. . You were chosen. . . ."

"Poppy?"

Poppy snapped out of her reverie and looked at Alicia. "Sorry," she said. "I was far away. I dreamt of my father."

"Did you really?"

"Yeah, after I changed the last time." She related the story of the dream and showed Alicia the small black wing mark on her right hand. "I think he's trying to contact me."

"Does the vibe you're getting from your father tell you in which direction we should go?"

Poppy looked deep inside herself, she listened to her Crow Self, knowing that that was closer to her father. She felt the connection to her father again and he whispered to her in her head. She looked out at the great expanse of meadow that stretched before them. There were hills in the distance and she could see rocky mountains. There was a road that stretched into the distance. It was now or never, she thought. "We go north, right along the path," she said. "I feel like Dorothy in
The Wizard of Oz
."

"You're a hell of a lot more pretty though," Alicia said.

"Not true, no one touches the beauty of Judy Garland." She smiled. "Let's go find my father."

* * * * *

Poppy looked out at the great expanse of meadow that stretched before them. There were hills in the distance and she could see rocky mountains. There was a road that stretched into the distance. "Where do you think we should go?" Alicia asked.

Poppy scoffed. "You're the Guide, aren't you supposed to tell me?"

Alicia smiled. "I am your Guide in all things that have to do with Shape Shifting. This is your quest, you need to decide where to go. I can't make those choices for you." She shrugged. "It's the way these things work."

"You mean there are rules for quests?"

Alicia gave her a quizzical look. "Where have you been? Of
course
there are rules for quests. The basic one is that a Witch must decide her own direction, her own path. You have already made one for yourself." She pointed to the path under their feet that went into the distance. "The second is that I may not decide anything for you, you must decide everything. How you choose now can affect something in your quest later on." She paused to take a breath and continued. "The last rule is that there are no rules in the Otherworld." She laughed at Poppy's crestfallen look. "Don't look so sad, not all hope is lost. You already know where we need to go. Just look inside yourself."

Poppy closed her eyes. She felt her Crow Self right away, like a friend in the dark, a shadow that filled her body inside. She welcomed it and tried to sense which direction she should go in, towards what, she knew not. She heard her father's voice, deep and smoky, speak to her:
             
             
"You already know the way. Follow the path you have already chosen."

"We go that way," Poppy said when she opened her eyes. She pointed towards the mountains in the distance, the wing mark on her right hand throbbing softly under her skin.

Alicia walked in step beside her. "Don't be so nervous," she said. "You created this world, this world knows you. You have already chosen your path; it has been chosen since time began. Now all you have to do is follow it."

"It can't be as easy as all that?"

"No, these things rarely are." Alicia took her hand. "But at least you have a clear path to follow. Most Witches don't have that much luck. You seem to be full of it."

They walked in silence for a time, the sun hot on their heads, their packs a little heavy on their backs. The hills became rockier as they left their cave, the land around them a little more hilly than before. The meadow still stretched before them, a sea of green that whispered as the wind moved through the reeds.

"Will we be safe in Ashling, since I've created it?" Poppy asked.

"Nope," Alicia said. "Far from it. You have created this image for your part of the Otherworld, but it existed before you, has been here for all time and perhaps before that. You have given it shape, but that doesn't protect you."

"Then what does?"

"I do. The magic inside you. I will never leave your side, Poppy. You have my word on that. You were made for this, though; this was your destiny before you were even born. You have the strength inside you. Use it. You are vulnerable to the unknown, but not defenceless"

As they continued walking, Poppy tried to find the source of her fear. She knew she was afraid of the unknown, and that she would somehow fail on this quest, when she didn't even know what she was doing in the first place. She was working herself into a panic, so she made a deal with herself. She would focus on one thing at a time. The first order of business was to learn more about Shape Shifters. Alicia could teach her about those. The second was to find her father. After that was anyone's guess. She squared her shoulders and felt better, a plan had been made, another path to follow. She resolved to continue on from here without being afraid. After all, enough strange things had happened to her now to fill her entire life time. What were a few more at this point?

"Thanks," Poppy said.

"For what?"

"For the pep talk. I know I've been whining about all this, but it's a lot to take in. A lot to think about and I haven't really been given the chance to think about any of it."

"I know it's hard, but you can do this. The gods chose you, Poppy. They must have had a reason."

"That's one of the things I'm going to ask my father, when we find him. If we find him."

"Not if; when. It is only a matter of time."

Poppy nodded to herself. Time. That word again. It seemed that she would have to become close friends with time. Coming out of her reverie, she looked up the path and saw something that made her stop. "What's that?" she asked. Alicia turned to look where Poppy was pointing. A little distance down the path was a bush. It stood in the middle of the path, its roots deep in the soil. The bush wasn't what was weird, however. It was the light dancing around it in varying different colours. It looked like a rainbow fell around the bush, until Alicia and Poppy got closer. What they had mistaken for lights were really hundreds of tiny Fairies, all gossamer winged. Each wore leaves as clothes and has small toes and fingers, but it was their hair that was the real wonder. Each Fairy had different coloured hair that was ablaze with light. Blue, red, green, yellow, pink, sky blue, purple; every colour in the rainbow and more. "I have never seen such a thing," Alicia whispered. "Gee, that's funny," Poppy said sarcastically. "Neither have I." As they approached the Fairy bush, they heard the Fairies begin to sing. The melody was haunting and wonderful, frightening and beautiful, all at the same time. It chilled Poppy to the bone, but made her want to dance all the same. When one of the Fairies saw them, it leapt away from its friends and stood apart from them. It had no colour to its hair, instead it was a midnight black. It regarded Poppy with narrowed eyes. When it spoke, its voice was deeper than she had expected. "We have been waiting for you," it said.

Chapter Thirty Five

Another Quest Revealed

Poppy regarded the Fairy in front of her. The others were still making their humming music as they flitted and flew around the bush that was in the centre of the path. She had never seen the like of the Fairy creature before, though she knew they had to exist. Its black hair moved in a light breeze that flew across the grass. When the wind rattled his wings, they shimmered in the sunlight. "You have been waiting for me?" Poppy said.

"Indeed we have," said the Fairy man, "we want to know if you are her."

"Her, who?"

"The Shape Shifter. The lands have been full of talk of nothing else."

"I am a Shape Shifter," Poppy said.

"Then we are at your service, milady," he said. He flew to the ground at Poppy's feet. "I am Tholonious, I am at your service." He bowed until his head touched the ground.

Poppy felt uncomfortable. "Please," she said. "Don't bow, there's no need to bow. I'm just here to find my father."