Despite Rebecca's apprehension and fear that things would be awkward and weird, breakfast with Lucille and the Padureanis was light and pleasant. Grandma Vai prepared pancakes with maple, chocolate and strawberry syrups. Lucille blended a wonderful mix of fresh fruits and made a delicious morning juice for everyone. Kaven didn't really spoke much but he no longer seemed abrasive towards Rebecca. Maybe it was because Jili, with her sweet and lovely stories about school, her blossoming garden and all other stuff, that even though it was quite obvious that everyone was skirting around a big issue, it didn't feel forced. There was palpable tension, but that morning, Rebecca felt accepted.
After the meal, she wanted to go back inside her room and shut the world out once again, but Jili insisted they go outside. "It's such a lovely day," she told Rebecca. "And I have a feeling you can teach me how to make a proper flower crown."
"But I..." Rebecca tried to argue. What could an amnesiac girl teach her, after all?
"It's a gypsy feeling," Jili said. "That's how I know I'm right."
Rebecca turned to Lucille and Grandma Vai. Surely, they won't let them go outside on their own. There were real, terrifying terrors out there. "Lucille..?"
The mother witch smiled warmly, but it was Grandma Vai who spoke, "Oh, go ahead, darlings. It is indeed a lovely day. Besides, you've been locked up too long inside that room of yours, your skin would appreciate the morning sunlight."
"Yay! Let's go!" Jili jumped and grabbed Rebecca's hand, pulling her out the front door. "We won't go too far, Grandma! And we'll be back before lunch, I promise!" she called back.
Kaven sighed and followed after them. "I'm gonna keep Jili out of trouble, Grandma. See you later," he begrudgingly walked out and slammed the front door shut.
"Is it right to do it today? Is she really ready for the Vision Quest?" Lucille asked Grandma Vai as she cleared the table and prepared to do the dishes.
"Lucille, I know you're nervous, as am I..." the elder woman said, taking Lucille's shaky hands.
"...but if our intuition is right, there's no other time to do this, I know." Lucille finished, and gave Grandma Vai's hands a knowing squeeze. "Still, I wish we knew more about what we're gonna do next."
***
"Just gently wrap the stems together," Rebecca told Jili, "like this, see?" Her fingers easily made the flowers they've collected into a small bough. "You don't want to squish the sap out of them and into your hair, do you?"
"No, I don't," Jili laughed and let Rebecca put the small flower crown on her head. "I could try again." She grasped at a bunch of stems and practiced weaving them together like Rebecca did.
The two girls sat on a lawn of freshly mowed grass not far behind the Padureani Manor. A huge oak tree provided shade from the ascending morning sun and on its branches, Kaven perched, on guard. He tried to appear like he wasn't interested with what the girls were talking about, but he could clearly hear their conversation.
Rebecca turned out to be a natural at making flower crowns. She didn't know how or why but she was able to tell how long stems should be cut, what kind of flowers looked good together, and her fingers seemed to be moving on its own.
"You're really good at this," Jili complimented her while still trying to put together the flowers they've picked. Rebecca was now braiding Jili's long, flowing hair.
"My body seems to remember an awful lot about me," Rebecca replied, "More than I can say for my actual memory, though."
"Oh, it's not muscle memory, I can assure you," Jili retorted. "It's all you, Rebecca."
"What do you mean?" Rebecca suspected her gypsy senses were up again. Or maybe it had something to do with Lilian/Masilda rightfully owning her body. Ever since they found out about the truth, Rebecca was bothered by it. She was most troubled about not having an identity solely as Rebecca. All she had was a name and foggy visions that didn't make sense.
"Well, my mother was a strong woman, but sometimes she was too strong," Jili explained. "I always go to Grandma if I needed to do my hair for school. Mother's always pulling them, even when she doesn't mean to," she giggled.
From the top of the branches, Kaven smiled at the memory of their mother. It was the first time he thought of his mother and didn't feel sad or angry. He thought maybe he was starting to accept her absence. It was easier to accept, despite the horrifying things they've seen in the Viewing Room. They still needed to rescue her, but without a concrete plan on how to do it, Kaven had to manage his emotions for the meantime.
"And it's not Lilian's memory, too, because the other day, I asked Lucille if she knew how to make flower crowns. She just shook her head and told me: "Lilian asked once in a picnic before, but the two of us couldn't make them stay in place. She managed to do one, but the moment it touched my head, the blossoms scattered all over my hair," Jili waved her hands down in the similar way Lucille told her. "It's all you, Rebecca."
Rebecca couldn't help but smile. It was nice to know Lucille was open to talk about Lilian in a lighter sense. Still, there was something heavy she carried inside of her. "I wish I knew more about Rebecca, about...me," she sighed.
"Don't worry. I know the Vision Quest will help." Jili gave her a soft pat on the shoulder.
***
Lunch was as equally pleasant as breakfast, if not more. The stroll outside did make Rebecca feel a lot better, but she couldn't shake the anxiety she felt towards what they were going to do in the afternoon.
When the table was cleared and the dishes were all washed and tucked away, the witches and gypsies went back to the Viewing Room one by one, Rebecca being the last one to enter.
The Scrying Ball was still inside, although the table it was put on was set a little towards the side to make room for other furniture Rebecca had not seen previously. There were a small coffee table, a few chairs and an odd looking-couch - with a backrest on just one end, with pillows and a blanket as if it were a cross between a sofa and a bed.
On the table laid a small cauldron, with something smoking and bubbling inside. Beside it was a ladle with a small spout Rebecca knew was for sipping. Grandma Vai sat at one chair and looked up at her with a warm smile.
Rebecca sat on the couch right beside Grandma Vai. Everyone else found a seat around the coffee table, and faced each other.
"Can you explain to me again exactly what we're gonna do here?" Rebecca asked the Gypsy Matriarch, her voice shook with the nerves.
Grandma Vai gently took Rebecca's hand. "Rebecca, we cannot claim to understand what you're going through right now, but we cannot deny the truths, nor can we ignore it any further."
"What do you mean?" asked the girl.
Grandma Vai and Lucille shared a look and then the mother witch spoke, "The fact is, Lilian is dead...."
"...and so is Masilda," continued Grandma Vai. "And we accept that. We want you to know that we loved our daughters so much, but it is time to move on now." Grandma's eyes started to water and her lips quivered ever so slightly.
Rebecca looked at the faces of people around her and saw in their expressions that indeed, the deaths of Lilian and Masilda had been lamented, grieved, and now accepted.
"And we don't want you to think that we're just here for you because we are still pining for the ones we've lost. We love you, Rebecca. We truly care for you. We accept you for whoever you are."
A single tear streaked down Rebecca's cheek. "Thank you. But I...I don't even know myself."
"Which is why we're gonna do a Vision Quest. Right, Kaven?"Jili spoke and nudged her big brother in the elbow,
"Huh? Right! Right."Kaven stammered. "We were, um, hoping that a Vision Quest would help show you what you can't remember."
"We also hope it could lead us to where your family might be and possibly a way to return to them. Surely, they're very worried about you." Lucille said.
"My family..." Rebecca repeated. "You'll help me...remember?"
"Yes." Lucille stood up and hugged Rebecca. She was sure the girl had a family waiting for her, but she didn't voice out her concerns with the possibility that The Necromancer might've hurt them, too. Rebecca needed confidence and courage now, They'd all just have to see what to do when the Quest was over.
"Okay. So how do I do the it?" Rebecca asked.
"Well, usually, the Viewing Room's Mistress prepares a concoction of different herbs for divination and drinks it in here. She doesn't have to say a spell or anything at all. The intention of her heart will take her to wherever is needed to see what she seeks." Grandma Vai explained.
"So I'm going to the past and relive it, like my clairvoyant visions?"
"Not relive it, only see it. You will be a viewer, and not just of the past. Time and space is irrelevant, child. For the duration of the Quest, you may go to the past, present or future, anywhere in the world. Like I said, wherever you are needed."
"But we were afraid your witch side might hold you back." Lucille chimed in. "Only Gypsies have the ability to go on Vision Quests. We tweaked the gypsy concoction a little bit, added and substituted some of the ingredients from the Grimoire. And we're going to invoke the Titan Goddess for help again."
"Mnemosyne, the one who gave me Masilda's crystal..."
"Right." Lucille agreed. Both her and Grandma Vai have not worked with other magical sects before, but Rebecca's current situation was also unique anywhere in their histories, too. Witches and Gypsies helped each other against dark forces, but they never meddled with each other's magical ways. "We will all be here for you, don't worry," she assured her.
"Alright, just make yourself comfortable in this fainting couch..."
"Fainting couch!?" Rebecca couldn't hide her surprise at Grandma Vai's words.
"Yes, dear," the Gypsy Matriarch answered. "You will be unconscious throughout the Quest. Your body will need to be in a comfortable position while your subconsciousness takes on its journey."
Alarm flashed through Rebecca's eyes. "How long does these Quests usually take?"
"You will come back as soon as you find what you're looking for, but not before."
"Lucille, Grandma Vai, I'm...I'm scared," Rebecca tried to stiffen her shaking by holding on to the two women. She could see in their eyes that they were nervous about it as well.
"I could go with you," Kaven suddenly offered. Everyone turned their attention to him. "I mean, it would be less scary if you weren't alone."
"Yes, it would be," Rebecca was surprised Kaven offered. He hardly talked to her in her entire stay here in their house. Then again, she did lock herself up inside the room for most of it. "Is that possible?" she asked Grandma Vai.
"I'm not very sure, dear. Only the Mistresses have been able to go on Vision Quests before," Grandma Vai expressed. "But frankly, we've never attempted to send a half-witch on a Quest, too. So everything is possible at this point."
With that, Rebecca propped herself on the fainting couch and watched as the others prepared themselves. Jili and Lucille lit candles around the room; Grandma Vai swirled and checked the consistency of the Vision Quest concoction; and Kaven laid a sleeping bag on the floor beside her. She was grateful to him for offering to come along, but there was a new fear creeping up to her.
Before Kaven volunteered, she didn't tell them that what she was really afraid of was the possibility of seeing things she didn't want to remember. She was worried that the reason the Titan Goddess didn't grant her her memory the first time was because it was too horrible to recall. Rebecca acknowledged that it was just paranoia crippling her, but she couldn't help it. And if her worries turned out to be true, she'd be dragging along Kaven in it, too.
"All set," Lucille declared and sat beside the fainting couch. Rebecca's hand instinctively reached out for hers.
"Okay, first, have a drink," Grandma Vai scooped up a spoonful of the concoction and gently let Rebecca sip through the small spout. When she finished, Grandma Vai did the same for Kaven.
The concoction didn't taste like anything, Rebecca noted. And though she found the thick consistency of it revolting, it did smell great. In a short while, she began to feel a warmth spread from her chest and a drowsiness coming over her. She laid her head on the pillows and pulled the covers over herself.
"It's time for the spell," Lucille instructed. All five of them started chanting in unison.
"From your pool we call to thee,
Titan Goddess Mnemosyne!
For now in darkness this girl treads
Without a clue inside her head.
Oh your pity we implore
Help her recall what was before!"
Winds of both Gypsy Magic and The Craft filled the room. Rebecca felt a sudden but strong pull yank her soul out of her body and then she was thrust into a swirl of bright lights. That's when she fell into a restless slumber in the fainting couch.
"Did it work?" Jili asked her Grandma after the winds died down.
"I guess so," Grandma Vai replied as both her and Lucille watched Rebecca's breathing stabilize.
"Um, I don't think it did for me," Kaven said and pushed himself up from the floor. "I'm still very much here."
"But Rebecca's unconscious." A slight worry came from inside Lucille and she tried to shake Rebecca awake but the girl didn't budge. "Do you think it worked well for her?"
As if to answer her question, the crystal around Rebecca's neck, Masilda's crystal, glowed a faint white light.
"She had to go through it alone," Grandma Vai said. "But Jili, could you be a darling and fetch me one of the divination books from the shelf? The one we were just reading this morning. I dont want to be complacent in just sending Rebecca alone. Maybe we can find another way to send Kaven to her."
Jili nodded and stood up. Lucille didn't let go of Rebecca's hand but she also summoned her book to her lap. "I'll search the Grimoire for anything, too."
She swept a lock of hair away from the girl's face and prayed in her heart that she was safe wherever the Vision Quest had taken her to.
***
"Hnngh..." Rebecca opened her eyes and found herself lying on the grass. "W-where am I?"
She pushed herself up with her elbows and then the noise came rushing to her ears. "Ugh! What is happening!? Kaven! Kaven, where are you?"
"That settles it! The girls of Mt. Claremont wins! Congratulations, champions!" Rebecca heard an announcer's voice blaring not far from her. She rubbed her eyes and realized she was lying on the grassy ground under the bleachers of some sort of playing field.
"Kaven!" she called out. "Kaven, I'm here! Where are you!?" she screamed but her voice could not compete with the crowd cheering above her. She heard drums banging, a victory song being played by a marching band and hoots and screams of a happy crowd.
"I need to get out of here,"
She made her way out of the playing field and into the hallways near its entrance. She wondered where Kaven might be, or if the spell really did work for both of them. Maybe it didn't, she thought. Grandma Vai did say only the Mistresses went on Quests. She wasn't cold but she hugged herself, stunned at the thought of her going through this alone. She reminded herself that this was necessary if she wanted to uncover her past.
Still, she didn't know where she ended up in, so she started to read through bulletin boards along the walls. "Caldecott Sports Stadium." The name was familiar to her, but she was drawing nothing. In the papers posted below it were lists of various matches and sports events and their corresponding schedules, but it didn't ring any bells to Rebecca. She spotted a cleaning lady on the other end of the hallway, so she ran towards her to ask her a question.
"Hi, lady. Could you tell me what day it is today?" She smiled and waited for the woman's response. She only ignored her.
"Lady?" Rebecca stood in front of the woman and waved her hand. "Hello, can you hear me?" She thought maybe the woman was wearing wireless headphones and could not hear her. The woman abruptly looked up and made Rebecca step back a little. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, but could you tell me what day today is?"
The woman just heaved a heavy sigh and then walked right through Rebecca.
"Whoa!" Rebecca turned around and watched as the cleaning lady went about with her business like nothing happened. Rebecca ran her hands on her chest, her stomach and arms to feel if she was okay. It didn't feel anything when the lady walked through her, but she still felt unnerved.
"Right. Grandma Vai said only my spirit would journey through. Basically I am like a ghost now," she mumbled to herself. "What was that other thing she said? I was here Not to relive it, only to see it. So what am I supposed to see now?"
The sound of people rushing from the field and into the hallway made her turn around.
"Oh my god, you were so great!" one girl in a soccer uniform shouted. "We thought we were goners when you fell down." another one in a similar uniform exclaimed. She recognized the colors and the school symbol printed on their shirts so she kept her eyes on them.
Behind the girls, she could see two paramedics wheeling in another kid in a stretcher. Rebecca gasped when they move past her, the girl lying in it was covered in blood. Her short, brown hair was drenched and her face was covered red. "Woohoo! I still can't believe I did it!" The girl said. It was only then that Rebecca saw that the girl didn't look like she was in pain. Her smile was wide and she was laughing and cheering triumphantly with her friends. "We finally won, guys! We finally did it!"
That was when Rebecca remembered the scar she was looking for in Lucille's bathroom not so long ago. By instinct, she raised her hand to her forehead, to where the scar was supposed to be when she was in her own body and vividly recalled the day she got it. That was today, she was watching her 8-year-old self getting wheeled away to the infirmary after she delivered the winning goal. She remembered the cut on her forehead was sore, but adrenaline in her veins didn't let her feel it until afterwards. Rebecca confirmed she had travelled into the past.
Everything clicked in her mind and the puzzle pieces started to fit. Mona and Daisy. Those were the names of the girls in walking in front. Mona was team leader and Daisy was my bestfriend back then, she thought. She then ran the names of her other teammates following the stretcher in her mind and was glad each name came with a memory associated with that person.
I went to Mt. Claremont's School for Girl until I was ten. We then moved someplace else and I lost connection to these girls. Along with the memories of the past came a pang of sadness as Rebecca realized not all friendships lasted forever. People change, and there was more to lose when people moved away.
Rebecca wanted to follow them, to see herself more and remember more, but before she could take a step, a voice called out from behind her.
"Rebecca!" A woman, slim and looked like she was in her late twenties, came from one of the doors and ran in the hall.
"Mother!" Rebecca gasped. She was too stunned to say anything more.
The woman had one hand against her face, holding something that looked like a huge black brick against her delicate fingers. "We won the game, but Rebecca got hurt. They're taking her to the infirmary and I'm running to it now. You need to get here as fast as you could," she spoke on her ancient cellphone.
She was running straight to Rebecca, but Rebecca was still too shocked to move away. "Oof!" Rebecca said as her young mother ran through her. It still didn't feel anything, but she still felt unnerved.
Rebecca's gaze followed her mother as the woman ran to her bleeding daughter. "It's my really mother...It's really her. It's my mother, Susannah."
A/N: I don't want to believe that Mercury in retrograde was somehow responsible for the high-strung weeks I was having because that would mean I still had to wait til the 22nd for things to fall into place. Psh, bullcrap. I'm solely in charge of my destiny and I just needed a break, that's all.
So, you know, instead of wallowing further in what is clearly early signs of yet another depressing episode, I picked myself up from the floor and decided to continue writing this. The heavens could all go berserk on me and whatever, but I think I've had enough of worrying about it too much.
And voila! Chapter || fourteen || y'all!
xoxo
-bentham