Light and Dark

Chapter 23: Taylor

Taylor felt a little better when Celeste entered the room after a few hours had passed.
"How are you girls feeling?" Celeste asked.

"A little better..." Taylor replied, standing up.

"Good, now we should begin training..." Celeste said, smiling at the girls in an almost too happy tone.

"She must be really worried about Fey, but is there a ulterior motive to her concern than just that she was caught?" Taylor thought, connections beginning to form.

"Taylor?" Kira asked, concern emanating from her expression.

"Sorry, spaced out for a second there..." Taylor replied, shaking her head to try and get herself out of the clouds.

"Well, we should start training then..." Celeste suggested.

"Alright then... How do we start?" Hannah said, looking very confused.

"Well the first step is to see if any of you can channel the light energies inside of you into anything you can use, it doesn't matter what it is right now..." Celeste explained, putting her hands together and forming a staff about half her size with a shining ball on top made from what seemed to be a glowing substance.

"Wait... I think I've done something like that!" Kira yelled, closing her hand for a second before a knife looking object appered in her hand.

"You... made that before you came here? How long ago?" Celeste asked, obviously shocked.
"While we were in the forest a few days ago..." Kira said simply. 

"Did you happen to eat pink berries before it happened?" Celeste asked.

"Ya, but what does that have to do with it?" Kira replied.

"In a forest a couple day's walk from here there's a patch of trees that have magical berries. These berries have the power to expand the powers of the person who consumes them. Now, what did you make when it happened?" Celeste said, her posture becoming more impatient by the second.

"It was some kind of knife, but it only appeared in my hand long enough to cut a net I had been caught in..." Kira explained, stepping back slightly, almost in fear. Celeste seemed to calm herself down once she saw that Kira was beginning to grow nervous.

"Anyway, you girls should try and make something out of the light. Just focus on good memories and eventually you'll get it!" Celeste said, a fake determination filling her voice. Taylor closed her eyes and tried to picture a good memory when one popped into her head.

***

"Come on, Taylor, hurry up!"  A younger version of Fey called, rushing through the forest, though Taylor remembered she never went very far.

"Give me a second, geez..." Taylor whispered, trying to keep up. Taylor kept running until she saw that Fey had been distracted by something. "What is this?..." Fey whispered, staring at what looked like a pile of blankets. On closer observation, Taylor saw a face popping out, a warm, innocent smile accompanying a soft laughter that came from it.

"We better take them back to the house, maybe somebody will know who this is..." Taylor said, picking up the baby and walking toward the house.

***

Taylor felt a small smile slide up her face at the memory of finding Kira. That had been a very happy day for the two of them as well as their mother. A touch of warmth filled Taylor's hands and when she opened her eyes, a small golden key greeted her.