A strange darkness took over Beanni's vision as she stared into the prophetic smoke. At first she thought that there was something wrong, that something wasn't working. However, she could hear strange sounds that she knew did not come from the hut within Strelle Forest. There was a weird high-pitched beeping and something similar to breathing - steady breathing that inhaled and exhaled in a sequence that was too perfect to be real.
I can't move. Why can't I move? An outside thought penetrated the darkness.
"Oh Roger." Beanni heard a woman say in a sad whisper, towards her right. "You stupid, stupid man!" She heard anger lace its way into the woman's distraught voice. "Why did you not look where you were going? The driver said you stepped out in front of his car from nowhere. I told you, Roger. I told you. If you insist on wearing camouflage when you hunt you must take greater care..." Heavy sobs then took over, cutting the woman's words short. Beanni then heard a deep sigh and the woman continued through desperate bursts of sorrow. "What am I going to do? I can't live without you Roger..."
There is no time! A thought suddenly echoed in Beanni's mind. I must act now!
Sparkling white stars then appeared within her peripheral vision, they rapidly worked their way inwards and took over the darkness, until all she could see was white light. Seconds went by and the brightness dissolved. Beanni blinked her eyes a few times to make clear of what the smoke was now trying to show her. She was looking down at a hairy, bare chest, with strange looking tubes attached, they stretched out to the side towards a box displaying moving lines and changing numbers.
Suddenly, the moving lines flattened out and a long drawn out sound took over the steady beeping.
"Come on, Rachel." A deep, gentle voice made the vision turn away from Roger lying on the bed, and focus on a man standing in an open doorway. "It's time to go. Roger's gone."
The vision then clouded over and Beanni drew herself from the smoke. She looked up at Genelle who stood over her.
"Well?" she said as she towered above the teen that sat uncomfortably on the dusty ground. "What did you see?"
Beanni scrunched up her face and shook her head.
"Not much," she began. "Ethan just revealed more of his journey, I think. The magic ended up in a man lying on a strange white bed with tubes and bright lights. The man was dying, I think, and the magic moved into a crying woman, called Rachel..." Beanni finished her explanation with a shrug, then waited for Genelle to show a sign of disappointment, or to make her go back to gazing, but her Fiosolim mother did neither. Instead, she knelt down beside her and Beanni could see a light of wonder within her eyes.
"Rachel? Did you say, Rachel?"
"Yes, why?"
"James, Astrid the First's father, his wife from the non-magical realm was called Rachel..." Genelle said with a smile curving her lips as she stared deep into Beanni's soul.
"His wife that died?"
"Indeed, my sister has taught you Astrid the First's background well I see."
"Do you really think that the magic possessed James' late wife?" Beanni questioned and glanced at the smoke pillar as she contemplated such a thought. "I mean, what if it was somebody else with the same name?"
"I suppose that could be the case," Genelle responded through gritted teeth, but then jumped into further explaining the theory she preferred, "But what if the reason that James found Rachel - somebody to guide him within the non-magical realm, somebody to understand him despite being from another dimension, was more than just chance? What if the magic brought them together?" The look that Beanni gave in response wiped the smile from Genelle's face, she got to her feet without saying a word, then looked down her nose at her daughter. "Get back to gazing! You clearly have not got enough information yet!" she said in a strange, irritable tone then stood there with her arms crossed.
Beanni didn't dare argue, she turned towards the smoke, took in a deep breath and let her mind wander to a land far away.
Beanni found herself standing amongst countless, towering trees, in the forest that Ethan had shown her only a day or so ago.
She no longer knew what day it was, had no idea how long she had been away from her family and friends. Every waking hour she was forced to either gaze or speak about what she saw. She could feel the effects of gazing even at night, for what she saw in the smoke took over her dreams too. Every time she had a quiet moment to herself she could not switch off the smoke's influence on her mind. When she tried to think of anything else, anybody else, all she could see was Ethan's violet gaze. A heavy ache weighed on her chest as she longed to be found before she lost herself completely, for she was beginning to forget what those she truly cared about looked like. She struggled to summon their faces to her mind's eye.
"Beanni!" Ethan interrupted her spiralling thoughts.
"Hello, Ethan Robson..."
"You sound sad, what ails you Natanstrellean?" Ethan said in his usual all-knowing way.
"I feel trapped," Beanni answered, not feeling any need to be dishonest to the embodiment of the Troll Land's magic, however a thought then came to her mind, "I suppose you of all people would understand what it is to feel trapped."
"I do indeed, I have been trapped in this realm, for many many years. Forced to move from fragile body to fragile body until I can finally come home." Beanni was then made to focus on the trunk of a familiar tree. She watched Ethan's hand reach forward and caress the rough bark with the ends of his fingers. "I could've stayed inside this tree, lived a long life waiting for chances to stumble upon my roots. Instead, I decided to possess the moving and the speaking, then I could seek out answers for myself and speed along the process. I mean, who is willing to wait around for somebody else to come and save them? Are you?" This question struck Beanni hard in the chest, it made her feel sick to the stomach. She felt so foolish, for that's exactly what she had been doing. She hadn't even tried to escape her captors, such a thought hadn't even crossed her mind until now. What was wrong with her? Why hadn't she tried to escape?
"Beanni? Are you still there?"
"I am..."
"Sorry if I upset you."
"Oh no, you didn't. I just..." Beanni racked her brain for something to say, to get her mind off how stupid she felt, she decided to do exactly what Genelle sent her back into the smoke to do. "I just wanted to ask you some questions."
"Oh right, of course, what do you want to know?"
"You showed me how you moved from the hunter to the crying woman, to Rachel..." Beanni stopped as she struggled to think how to put her thoughts into a cohesive question. Each second of the silence that built up between them, as Ethan politely waited for her to finish her thought, clawed at her mind. She then jumped in before it could get too awkward. "W-Why did you show me that? Who is she?"
"Nobody really, she was just a vessel, like Ethan is now. A fragile human body that can only hold me for so long," Ethan explained, his tone sounded so cold it sent a shiver down Beanni's spine.
"So she died?"
"They all do. A mortal body dies and my immortal spores must attach to another. An ongoing, pointless, torturous cycle!" He spat out each word as if they were laced with poison.
"Was it Ethan that was with her when she died?"
"No," the magic responded, making Ethan let out a humourless laugh.
"What?" Beanni was not able to hide her discomfort as she interrupted his seemingly unwarranted outburst.
"The closest living thing to Rachel, the moment she died, was her cat," Ethan said with a tone that displayed contempt.
"A cat?" she asked, the short word feeling strange in her mouth.
Beanni waited patiently for an answer as she saw, through his eyes, him walk up towards a large, moss-covered log, turn around and sit down. She then followed his gaze as he focused on a bird fluttering its way between trees in the near distance.
"Yes," Ethan finally broke the silence. "A four legged, furry animal from this realm. Humans like to try and domesticate these creatures, with little to no success. All they end up with is a tiny tyrant taking over their household - demanding food, attention and it just comes and goes as it pleases. I suppose I couldn't have chosen a better animal to possess really. It was quite ideal coming to think about it." Confusion plagued Beanni's mind and clamped her mouth shut. Her lack of response didn't get past the possessed man however. "You've gone quiet again. Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes," Beanni stammered. "I...ugh..." She tried her hardest to think of what to say, what further questions to ask but she drew a blank.
"I'm confusing you, aren't I?" Ethan then asked, Beanni could hear the smirk that must have been etched on his face. She let out a sigh and nodded her head without thinking.
"Yes!" she rushed to voice her gesture.
"Easily remedied," Ethan said calmly. "If my words won't do, then I'll just show you."
The forest then disappeared, and Beanni found herself slumped in an armchair. She looked down at the body that belonged to the individual that she adopted the perspective of; rather than her oversized green jumper, a white, pink and green floral nightie graced her frame. She looked at her arms, which were skinny and frail looking. Deep laboured breaths interrupted the silence and the vision became dim and went dark at random intervals, as the eyes she looked through struggled to stay open.
"Rachel, my love, I'm back..." a faint voice, from outside the room, reached her ears.
"James..." a croaky whisper sounded between heavy gasps. "James?"
What is taking him so long? An echoey thought took over Beanni's mind. Time is running out, her vision then revealed the magic search the room, seemingly in a rushed panic, until its gaze fell upon a small, black and white fluffy creature.
"Purr-ow..." the creature let out a strange sound and jumped up onto Rachel's frail lap.
"Oh, Jeeves," Rachel's weak voice echoed and Beanni watched her shaking hand stroke down the length of its furry back as it vibrated peacefully. "You will have to do..."
Many white stars then took over Beanni's vision, just as they did before, and within a blink of an eye her perspective changed and she was looking up into Rachel's sleeping face from her lap. It was then that James entered the room, he rushed to Rachel's side and Beanni watched, through the cat's eyes, the room move around her as she was made to leap out of the way. From the carpeted ground, she focused on the grieving man breaking down into bitter sobs over the loss of his poor, departed wife.
Everything then clouded over, as Beanni was dragged away from the smoke.
"So?" Genelle questioned impatiently, as she clawed her long nails into the teen's shoulder.
"You were right," Beanni answered, flinching under her mother's grasp. "The woman from before was James' late wife, and not only that but Jeeves, from the non-magical tales, was a small, fuzzy creature." Genelle loosened her grip as Beanni rambled on. "I always thought that version of the story was untrue, that that was a silly addition that grown ups put in for children." The look in Genelle's eyes made Beanni's breath catch in her throat; she hated how she still found it difficult to read this woman.
"Well done, Beanni, very well done indeed. Now, head on through, I'll allow you to eat early today," Genelle said, pointing towards the closed, wooden door.
Beanni struggled to her feet, massaged her aching legs and headed out of the smoke room without turning back.