"Once upon a time, a very long time ago, far before now" said Griselda as she looked into the cauldron and she started to speak as her eyes glowed a bright white colour, the colour of her hair.
"There were two friends… they were the best of friends, they were inseparable" said Griselda.
"Their names were Azazel and Abraham" said Griselda as Annie continued to listen, she was aware that Azazel and her Grandfather were somewhat friends back then, Curtis did mention something about it.
"They promised to be friends forever, to always support one an another, no matter what" said Griselda.
"But then…" said Griselda as she paused.
"Then what?" asked Annie as Griselda looked up at her.
"Jealously and envy took root" said Griselda.
"One was jealous of the other, envious, feeling inferior to the achievements of the other" said Griselda.
"And that man happened to be Azazel" said Griselda as Annie knew that was the obvious person who was jealous.
"Back then, the dawn of magic had just began, and with it, came immense power and enchantment" said Griselda.
"Abraham was good in magic, far better than anyone else… and Azazel often found himself begin compared to his friend, if not by his own parents who expected too much from him, but from all his other friends as well" said Griselda.
"And that struck something within him" said Griselda.
"He knew that he was inferior to Abraham, that was very clear, he was better than him in anyway, and that just made Azazel's angry grow even more, and take more root in his soul" said Griselda.
"Abraham, feeling sorry for his friend, always did his best to cheer his friend up, telling him that he too could be powerful he just needed to put more effort into it" she said as she continued to explain.
"But the more Abraham said so, the angrier Azazel became, he felt betrayed by his friend, who considered him lesser than him a weaker being an inadequate vessel" said Griselda.
"But that of course was not the case at all, Abraham cared for his friend deeply, however, Azazel let his anger blind him, cloud his thoughts, the jealousy and envy he felt, grew around his heart, the sense of inferiority that he felt, grew into bitterness.
"Azazel went in search for power, raw, untainted power, that he wished to hold for himself to show Abraham and everyone else that he could be strong, he would be strong" said Griselda.
"But his determination got him trapped in the wrong hands" said Griselda as there came an fiery sound from inside the cauldron as the colour turned from dark green to bright red, almost the colour of blood as Annie focused on Griselda.
"In his pursuit for powers, he ended up going to the wrong place" said Griselda as she looked at Annie.
"What was the wrong place?" asked Annie.
"He went to ask for help from nothing but pure evil itself" said Griselda.
"Who are they?" asked Annie.
"The spirits of evil themselves, you see my dear, evil has long existed before any one of us came to this world" said Griselda.
"Some call them hoaxes, some call them folktales, but I can tell you dear that they are as real as day itself" said Griselda.
"The only difference is that they do not go looking for you, they are quietly on their own… that is until you cross their path" said Griselda.
"So Azazel went to these spirits for power?" asked Annie.
"He did, he asked them for immense power, and immense power they did give him, but at the cost of a price, a price that he himself was not ready to pay" said Griselda.
"And that price was blood, and not just any blood, but blood of someone that he truly cared about" said Griselda.
"You see he was to offer the blood to the spirits as a sacrifice, in exchange for them giving him power, he would have to give them blood every one hundred years or so" said Griselda.
"The space in which the spirits desired the blood differed" said Griselda.
"But to Azazel, there was only one person who he truly cared about, and that was Abraham" said Griselda.
"In all truth, Abraham left the witch realm for the human realm, but he realized that he was being hunted by his most trusted friend" said Griselda.
"Then what did he do?" asked Annie.
"He ran, leaving his family alone safely in the human realm as he came back to the witch realm" said Griselda.
"He ran for a long time, away from Azazel, who was bent on chasing him down" said Griselda.
"It was during the time that he was running away from Azazel that he created Curtis, as an helper, and out of forbidden magic, witch law at the time prohibited the creation of turning inanimate objects into sentient beings, but Abraham really had no choice, he knew that he did not have much time left, and he also knew that Azazel would soon kill him" said Abraham.
"Abraham also came to Caligo, where he did drink from the eternal waters" she said.
"But before long, he could not run anymore, and Azazel… well, I am sure that you are aware of the pattern that followed after that" said Griselda.
"Azazel thought that he was accomplished everything, that was now the most powerful, but he forgot one important thing… and that was evil can never be satisfied, it is insatiable" she said.
"The spirts demanded for more power, more blood, and that urged Azazel to go after more people, and shed more innocent blood, he needed to give the spirts more blood in exchange for more power" said Griselda.
"He did not realize then, but he was trapped in a cage, being subject a slave to those powers" said Griselda.
"And no matter how many people he killed, how much blood he shed, he did not feel satisfied… the spirits did not feel satisfied, there was something missing… the blood of all the other people who Azazel had killed was not enough, it did not quench anything, not his thirst for power, neither his thirst for blood" she said.
"It was then that he realized why that was so" said Griselda.
"There was only one man, whose blood tasted to sweet, whose blood was enough to grant him immense power" said Griselda.
"He came to the understanding that no amount of blood from people other than the Grey family could satisfy him and his masters who he made a deal with" said Griselda.
"So he decided to let the Grey family live… after all his power would be able to sustain him for a few years, until he needed to renew his agreement with the evil spirits" said Griselda.
"My dear, have you ever wondered why the power in your family skips every generation?" asked Griselda.
"Well no… I have not" said Annie as she shook her head.
"Well that is so my dear because it can be said that magic on its own is a living being, aware of its existence" said Griselda.
"I can believe that" said Annie as she nodded her head, after all, she had seen her own magic multiple times.
"You see my dear, the magic in your family is special, so much so that it realized what was going on, in the realm of magic, it could sense a disturbance, the true intention of Azazel, so it developed a resistance" said Griselda.
"In a bid to try to save itself, the magic hid itself away by skipping every generation, protecting those that were skipped" said Griselda.
"Azazel had no business with those who had no magic, it was magic and power that he was looking for, so it became like some sort of game to him, he would save the Grey family in order for them to continue to populate, and when he got what he wanted, he took the next Grey, while making sure to leave a child for the next generation" said Griselda.
"Azazel became dependent on your family, on the power that you gave him, and that is how this cycle has been moving for the past years" said Griselda as Annie sighed.
"My dear, you are even more special than that" said Griselda as she smiled.
"Your father, well he was treated like everyone else, when the High council learnt of the strange pattern occurring they decided to take measures against Azazel, while still keeping themselves safe" said Griselda.
"Your father's memories were sealed off, never to remember the realm of magic, but then you came along, you got all the magic" said Griselda as she smiled.
"Annie your magic is stronger than the rest, passed on from generation to generation, landing on you" said Griselda as she smiled.
"That does not make me feel any better Griselda, I was not able to do it, I wasn't able to defeat Azazel, I even ended up losing my powers" said Annie as she sighed.
"My dear you do not have to feel bad about that, you have a second chance to try again" said Griselda as she smiled.
"Everyone deserves a second chance dear… even those that we least expect" said Griselda as Annie looked at her.