"What?"
Lillian sat up and took a look around her, she is in the garden. Rose and Jasmine stand in front of her, unaware of her presence. Jasmine looked incredibly worried and agitated while Rose tried to calm her down.
Lillian's head felt like a metal ball was bouncing from one corner to another. She rubbed her temples, attempting to ease the ringing and the pain seeping in.
"What the hell happened?"
She couldn't remember a thing except hearing voices. But she felt like she NEEDED to remember, something was urging her to do whatever it took to remember.
"Lillian!"
Through Lillian's blurred vision she could see that Jasmine had finally noticed and was running towards her, as fast as her dress allowed her to, Rose following close behind.
A scream from Lillian stopped them in their tracks. She fell back, her body convulsing on the ground.
The winds began to pick up speed, carrying her in the air and surrounding her like a force field. Rocks, leaves and everything in the garden, closest to her flew hither and thither.
The Old Sage grew exponentially taller and bigger. All the leaves came off the branches and swirled around her, reflecting off the sunlight, basking everything around her in rainbow light.
The flying rocks, branches and leaves with the reflecting lights from the crystal leaves makes for a very interesting scene.
Rose ran in front Jasmine just as fountain got uprooted and flew towards her direction. She drew her sword and sliced the fountain clean through.
"Nice job! Cover me!" Jasmine patted her back and ran closer to Lillian. The winds grew stronger and louder the closer she got. She was, however, unsuccessful at moving even an inch closer to her.
"What are you going to do!? What's happening!?" Rose asked, guarding Jasmine. They stood there, back to back.
"I don't know! But it doesn't seem like she has any control over what she's doing! I'll try to pull her back!"
"Do what you need to do! I'll cover you!"
Jasmine sat down right in front of the disaster of a disco ball, cross-legged. She closed her eyes, relaxing her body, bright purple threads emerged from her fingers. Passing through the barrier around her, they wrapped around Lillian's wrist and entered deep into her nerves. Connecting to them.
"Anything?!" Rose asked, holding her sword upright. A shield projected itself out of the tip, covering both of them. It remained in the centre, suspended in the air, even after Rose let go.
"She's incredibly tense."
"Isn't that really bad when you have to use magic?'
"Yes."
"Can't you do something about it? You're always so calm. Maybe rub that off on her or something."
"I'll try."
She penetrated deep into her mind, moving through her nerves.
*Lillian, calm down.
I . . . I can't. I ha-have no idea what's going on Jasmine.
It's ok, it's ok. Just calm down for now and everything will be ok.
I told you I can't!!*
Jasmine felt a force severing the ties she made with Lillian, shoving her back hard. Rose was there to catch her but they both slammed against the shield.
"Jasmine! It's getting worse! What happened?!?"
Jasmine rubbed her hands, they felt like they are on fire. "It's her powers. She must have started panicking somewhere and thus, making it hard to control. I couldn't calm her down."
The ground began to shake, a chasm opened up from the roots of the Old Sage. Summoning the threads, Jasmine touched the ground, letting them run through the open cracks, stitching it back in place.
"We have to distract her then. Got any ideas?"
More chasms formed as the earth continued to shake violently. Outside of the garden, nothing seems to have been affected, thanks to the runes Rose made while Jasmine was preoccupied. But they aren't going to hold on for long anymore.
"Just one. How long can you give me?"
Rose looked around them, calculating. "Thirty seconds. With the shield still up."
"That's more than enough time."
They got back up and Jasmine summoned the threads once again. The burning sensation in her hand continues to grow hotter.
"Say when!" Rose gripped the swords handle tight.
She re-established the connections with Lillian, entering her mind directly this time.
"Now!"
Rose muttered words from an unknown language under her breath, inscriptions on her sword glowed bright like ambers and in a split second, everything stood still. Time froze.
"Hurry!"
If this fails then nothing else will work.
*Lillian!
What?!?!
The man behind you is cute!*
Instantly the winds died down as Rose collapsed to the ground.
Everything moved again. Whatever had been suspended in the air all dropped to the ground at once. The outside world still remained untouched, oblivious what had just happened.
"Where is he?" Lillian's eyes sparkled as she looked all around her but there was no one. Seeing both of them, she gasped.
"Where did you guys come from? You guys look like sh**."
Jasmine lay sprawling on the ground while Rose leaned up on her sword, an exasperated expression on her face.
"I want to kill her. Can I just kill her?" She said through gritted teeth.
"What happened?" Lillian asked, genuinely confused.
"What happened, Lilly. Is that you didn't know how to control your new powers, nor did you calm down and almost killed everybody!" Rose walked towards her, one slow step at a time. Her white uniform now decorated with dirt, grass and leaves.
"Really?! I'm so sorry! I didn't know. Jasmine, are you ok?" She helped her stand, carefully pulling her up.
Jasmine flinched when their hands touched, the burning sensation is now beginning to hurt but she hid it.
"I'm alright, Lillian. Don't worry. I'm just glad you're safe now. So, since you got your powers now, that means that you, my dear, finally have a wish to fulfil." She said raising her eyebrows. Her usually neat hair, askew and dress covered in dirt. Exactly in the same condition as Rose.
"I do?" Lillian tilted her head to the side.
"Yes. That's why you suddenly got that burst of magic. Fairy Godmothers are awfully powerful when they get manna from their source. Look around you, you did this."
The garden lay in a disarray, bushes of flourishing plants now are scattered everywhere. It looked like a storm hit the garden, destroying everything in its path, leaving nothing unscathed. Though the castle and outside world remains untouched.
"What are we going to do? This is still the King's garden albeit, this section is for the public as well because of the Old Sage but what are we going to do?! The useless King may put us to death!" Lillian exclaimed panic filled her voice.
"How did you know that this garden belongs to the King? We never told you that."
"Wait. How did I know? Jasmine! I don't know what's wrong with me." Lillian threw herself at Jasmine. "Nothing's making sense, not what I say or what I'm doing. All I feel is confusion and panic, not like that's any different from what I feel daily but still."
"Oh, quit your whining. Give me your hand." Rose interjected.
"What?"
"Give me your damn hand, NOW."
Scared, Lillian gave her hand reluctantly. Rose grabbed it and held her palm open. She looked at the mark on her hand, tracing it with her finger. Unable to recognise the symbol.
"Don't be afraid. I will be borrowing some of your manna. Ok?" Rose changed the tone of her voice, willing herself to calm down.
"Ok."
The two interconnected their hands and with a snap of her fingers, the garden returned to its former state, with no sign that anything happened. Even Rose's and Lillian's clothes and hair got cleaned. The burning sensation died away instantly. Jasmine rubbed her hands, relieved.
"Woah !" Lillian gasped. "How did you do that? That's amazing." Her eyes held nothing but admiration.
Even Rose looked like she couldn't believe what had just happened. She continued to stare from her hands back to Lillian.
"Fairy Godmother manna is something else, isn't it?" Jasmine smiled.
"Sure is." She turned her full attention to Lillian. "Now. This chapter's been dragging on for too long. Tell us what the wish was."
"Before that, I have a question. So, I don't have powers of my own."
"No, not really. The Old Sage is your power source. Once someone makes a wish, they'll have to say a chant. I'd rather not say it though. Then they'll be judged on whether their wish is worth the Old Sage's time or not."
"I think I've heard the chant. Does it go "Old Sage, Old Sage, something something something."
"Yes, something like that."
"I think I remember something about it. It's slowly coming to me. Like a polaroid after the picture's taken. So, will they say their wish out loud, after the chant or . . . when?"
"The Old Sage just knows the wish. It comes from the deepest desires of the heart and will be granted accordingly."
"So far it's been rejecting everyone's wishes. I'm curious about this one."
"Me too, Rose. Now tell us, Lillian."
"It's still a little fuzzy- wait a minute. You said that I don't have powers of my own and that I have to rely on the tree for my powers. Am I just a vessel for its powers? I have to do all the work and it just has to 'give' me powers? That's not fair."
"Well life's not fair, kid. Just hurry up and tell us before I just end everything here."
"Hmmm . . . I think I remember a bedroom. A beautiful woman was leaning against the window, she looked so sad. I wanted to try and talk to her but she couldn't hear me. Then she said that chant. The moment she said it, everything became fuzzy but her eyes stayed steady. She looked so determined, I needed to know what she wished for. I said something about judging, then I collected her wish and before I know it, I'm here."
"How did the woman look like?"
"Long red hair; beautiful, sad green eyes. Soft expressions. She looked like an angel."
"Petite?"
"No. From what I could see, she had thighs for days. Hooo~ She could crush me with them and I'd say thank you."
". . . ok. Um. Did she have a crest?"
"She held a brooch. Peacock, green emerald eyes and red sapphires for the feathers."
Jasmine's eyes widened. "The Duchess of Lenhd? But why? She is known to have everything. Beauty, wealth, an extremely accomplished husband. . . But! She hasn't been able to have children of her own! Even after being married for seven years."
"I thought she had children. Four of them." Rose finally spoke.
"They were adopted. Every single one of them."
"So you think she wished to have children of her own?"
"That's the most plausible one. What do you think Lillian?"
Lillian was staring at the massive Old Sage with a blank expression. She did not look like she was even aware of anything around her. Her spirit must have flown away, leaving the body behind. They seemed to be sharing a conversation when Lillian burst out laughter.
She turned to them, "I was staring at it thinking something was missing but I just couldn't pinpoint it. Now I noticed. Where did all its leaves go? Oh, and the woman I saw is coming tomorrow. She's been summoned by the Old Sage."
"The leaves are now embedded onto you, the symbolism of the transfer of power. For now."
Jasmine was now beginning to feel the effects of the incident and by the looks of Rose, she was too. They needed to recharge and rest up, but before all that, she needed to know what the wish was about.
"Lillian. No more distractions. No more diverting the conversation. Just answer me this. Did the Duchess of Lenhd wish for a child of her own? Is that why she was desperate that she made a wish to the Old Sage?"
"No." Lillian looked down at her feet, unable to look them in the eyes. "She wished to have a miscarriage because she's currently pregnant . . . and she also wants to become barren."