Griselda took a deep breath as she blew out air from her mouth as in the same moment, a white mist started to come out from the cauldron as it gathered together and Annie looked at the mist as in the same moment, a moving image was being played in the midst of the mist.
Annie could see Maddie as she was talking to Matt and Katarina was sparring with Ollie, Annie was surprised to say the least, she was sure that this was what was truly happening right now over there.
"It actually works" said Annie in surprise.
"Yes it does my dear" said Griselda as she smiled and the mist disappeared in an instant.
"Now my dear, tell me, ask me the questions that you have on your mind, and I will give you the answers that I am provided with" said Griselda as she smiled, but Annie felt like testing this cauldron or whatever it was that was going on here, further.
"How many years have my parents been married?" asked Annie.
"20 years dear" replied Griselda almost instantly.
"How old was I when I broke my tooth?" asked Annie.
"7" replied Griselda as Annie was actually surprised.
"My dear, any question that you ask, I will have an answer to" replied Griselda.
"Griselda, can I see my parents?" asked Annie.
"I am afraid not dear" said Griselda.
"Why not?" asked Annie.
"Well my dear, I am restricted to the borders of Caligo, magic is forbidden here, it is a wonder that I can still practice here, maybe because my magic is the traditional sort, but Caligo will not allow me to see anything outside it's borders" said Griselda.
"Right now, I am only allowed to see things of the past, and answer definite questions" said Griselda.
"Alright then" said Annie as she nodded.
"Will I truly get my powers back here on Caligo?" asked Annie.
"Yes my dear, you will" said Griselda as she replied.
"How did I lose my powers?" asked Annie.
"You were involved in a battle with Azazel, in which you used a revive spell to bring back your spell book" replied Griselda.
"Why did I lose my powers?" asked Annie.
"Basic revive spell rules, you need something in exchange for another thing" said Griselda.
"But it was not supposed to take my powers away, not at all" said Annie as she shook her head.
"Well there is a first time for everything, the spell can do as it pleases, and at that time, it pleased it to take away your powers" said Griselda as she explained.
"Why?" asked Annie as it still did not make sense at all, she was not given a valid explanation.
"Because you are a Grey" said Griselda as Annie sighed, she was tired of hearing that, it was annoying, just because of her last name, she would be treated differently, It was just unfair.
"I am tired of hearing that" said Annie as she sighed.
"But it is the truth dear" said Griselda as she was prepared to tell Annie nothing but the truth.
"Alright, then why does Azazel hate me so much? Why does he hate my family? What did we ever do to him? I want to know the full truth" said Annie as the story that Curtis told her about her long great Grandfather Abraham and Azazel made sense at the time, but right now, after all that had happened, Annie felt it hard to believe that a man would dedicate his entire life to hunting the lives of all her family members for fun, it made no sense to her right now, she refused to believe that Azazel was that idle and petty that he had nothing to do than terrorize her entire family.
"My dear… you have asked a very… difficult question…" said Griselda as she took a pause.
"Why?? Why is it difficult?" asked Annie as she did not get it, was there something else that she did not know? That Curtis did not know? Because it would make sense, Curtis did not know it all, he was created after all this madness began, so it would make sense if he had some information omitted.
"It I difficult my dear because to answer that question, we have to dig deep, back to the beginning of it all" said Griselda.
"And can you do that?" asked Annie.
"I can my dear, but… are you sure that you want to go this far?" asked Griselda.
"I want to, I want to know everything from the beginning" said Annie as she nodded with determination.
"Alright my dear, whatever you say" said Griselda as she smiled and she dipped her hand in the cauldron as she stirred the contents in it with her hand as she removed her hand from the cauldron, and everything inside the cauldron turned into a deep dark green.
"What's wrong" asked Annie as she saw Griselda frown.
"Tell me first dear, do you hate Azazel?" asked Griselda as Annie was taken back by her question.
Did she hate Azazel? The sensible answer would be yes, she did hate Azazel, why wouldn't she when he killed all her family members, he terrorized them all and her as well, he was a tyrant.
"Yes, I hate Azazel, he is a horrible person" said Annie as she replied and Griselda frowned.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" asked Annie as she did not like the way that Griselda was frowning at her.
"My dear, there is a thin line between good and evil" said Griselda as she replied and she looked at Annie.
"What do you mean?" asked Annie.
"My dear, one cannot be truly classified as good or evil in this world that we live in… or at least, not in the flesh that we live in" said Griselda.
"The actions we make, determine whether we are good or bad, but sometimes, that is not the case at all" said Griselda as Annie felt like she was speaking in parables.
"Are you trying to say that Azazel is not evil or what?" asked Annie as that was what she could get from all Griselda was saying.
"My dear, I cannot say that, because that man's actions speak for themselves, he has done many wicked things in his lifetime… but have you ever stopped to think that maybe he has his reasons for what he did" said Griselda.
"Whatever his reasons are, they are not justified at all, there is not justifiable about killing innocent people" said Annie as she was angry.
"You are right my dear, very right, there is nothing justifiable about all the wicked things that Azazel has done, not only in our realm, but beyond as well" said Griselda.
"And your anger is justified, I just want you to know that, things are not always as they seem dear, they are far from it" said Griselda as Annie looked at her.
"You see dear, the world is not only in black and white, but in grey as well" said Griselda.
"What is evil to one person, may be considered good by another person, and some may not even care about what is regarded good or bad at all" said Griselda.
"We have to learn to see things in a grey area" said Griselda.
"Are you saying that because of Azazel or something else?" asked Annie.
"It is not only because of Azazel my dear, I mean in general, sometimes we have to stop and think on why some people do the things that they do" said Griselda.
"And the truth is harder than lies sometimes" said Griselda as Annie did not know what to think right now, she felt like Griselda was hiding something important from her right now, and she wanted to know what that was.
"But the truth remains the truth no matter what, no matter how much people trick to twist it, to turn it, to trick it, it still remains the truth" said Annie.
"You are right dear, and it is only a matter of time before the truth is revealed" said Griselda.
"Is there something about Azazel that I do not know?" asked Annie.
"There are many things about Azazel that you do not know dear" said Griselda.
"Then tell me, I want to know the source of his hate, and dislike for me and my family, why he is so bent on getting power" said Annie.
"My dear, no matter how many different ways people tell you the story of Azazel… there is only one truth, the only untainted story, not tainted from view of the teller of the story, not tainted from sentiment, nothing but the pure truth" said Griselda.
"Are you ready to know the truth my dear?" asked Griselda as Annie nodded.
"Yes, yes I am" said Annie as she was ready to know nothing but the truth.
"Alright my dear, listen very attentively" said Griselda as she waved her hands over the cauldron.