"Alright, you all seem to be progressing well" said Katarina as she looked at Maddie, Matt and Curtis.
"Well I hope that means that we can move on from sticks to actual swords" said Maddie as she smiled sweetly.
"I am afraid not" replied Katarina as she smiled back sweetly at Maddie and Maddie scoffed as Katarina stopped smiling.
"Anyway, you can all go back early today, I have a meeting in the colony" said Katarina as she put her sword in her sheath.
"Ollie put the sword away where I usually keep them" said Katarina as she looked at Ollie.
"Okay" said Ollie as he smiled and he nodded his head.
"Aww what no fair, how come he gets to put the swords away?" asked Maddie as she looked at Katarina.
"He is someone I trust not to play around with swords, you on the other hand, I cannot account for" said Katarina as Maddie scoffed.
"Just relax Maddie, the swords are not running anywhere" said Katarina.
"But my patience is" replied Maddie.
"Anyway, I will see you all later" said Katarina.
"And tell Annie that I wish her a safe recovery" said Katarina as she did not waste any time as he walked in the opposite direction, she did not want to be late for her meeting.
Ollie did not waste any time as he started to put the swords away just as Katarina had asked him to.
"I wonder if Annie is back by now" said Maddie as she sighed.
"I think that she is" said Matt as he replied.
"Good, because if Katarina decided to go back home with us and Annie wasn't there, I don't know what we would have told her" said Maddie as Ollie carried the box of swords into the little shed beside the training ground as he locked the door.
"Come on, let's go now" said Ollie as he turned to look at them and he sighed.
"Oh look whose happy, of course he's happy, he gets to use a real sword, meanwhile we are stuck using these annoying sticks" said Maddie as she scoffed.
"You have to give it to the sticks Maddie, they are very strong to be able to withstand us using them like real swords" said Matt as he smiled.
"Yeah whatever, let's get out of here already" said Maddie in an annoyed tone as she dropped the stick on the ground without even caring at all as Ollie sighed and he shook his head as he picked up the stick, Maddie would never change now would she?
Ollie took the sticks from Matt and Curtis as he put them in the shed and they all followed after Maddie.
Maddie removed her hair from the ponytail that she had put it in and she looked at her nails, all the sword fighting had made the tips of her fingers sore, it was just annoying.
Maddie opened the door to the kitchen as she closed it behind her.
"Annie, Annie are you back?" called Maddie as she waited in the kitchen and Curtis, Ollie and Matt walked into the kitchen and Ollie closed the door.
"I am back" said Annie as she smiled and she walked into the kitchen.
"So… how was it?" asked Maddie as she looked at Annie and she smiled as the others nodded their heads, they wanted to know what happened.
"Well it was… good" said Annie.
"Why did you hesitate?" asked Curtis.
"Because I don't know what to think" said Annie as she sighed.
"How do you mean?" asked Matt.
"Alright, wait, I will explain It to you" said Annie.
"We are all ears" said Ollie as he smiled.
…
"And that's what happened" said Annie as she finished explaining everything to Maddie, Curtis, Ollie and Matt.
"Oh well that's all nonsense" said Maddie.
"Azazel… innocent?? That's nothing but pure nonsense" said Maddie as she scoffed.
"I have to agree" said Matt.
"I know right… but everything that Griselda told me is the truth" said Annie.
"Maddie, has Azazel ever told you the reason he hunts my family?" asked Annie as she looked at Maddie.
"Well I don't know, I think he mentioned it once… he did say something about power, I'm not really sure, I programmed my brain to forget anything that has to do with that man" said Maddie.
"I know, but it's weird to think that Azazel was friends with my great Grandfather" said Annie.
"That is true" said Matt.
"Prince Oliver, what are you thinking about?" asked Annie as she looked at Ollie who was quiet.
"It's Ollie…" said Ollie as he corrected.
"And also, I am thinking about what you said Griselda said about traditional magic, because she is right" said Ollie.
"I remember reading somewhere about the long lost practices of traditional magic, apparently magic started to evolve to how it is now, which is why we no longer rely on ingredients such as those" said Ollie.
"But there are still come members of the High Council that practice cleansing" said Ollie.
"That is true... " said Curtis as he spoke up.
"Captious actually studied how to do a cleansing" said Curtis.
"Wait, when you mean cleansing, you mean getting rid of evil spirits right?" asked Maddie as Ollie and Curtis nodded.
"Well that's very weird, if you ask me, I always thought that all that evil spirit nonsense were always hoaxes" said Maddie.
"I thought so too, but they are real too" said Annie.
"Curtis, if you are being honest how important do you think that cleansing techniques are?" asked Ollie as he looked at Curtis.
"Every part of magic is important, you cannot just use some parts and leave the other, you can use all aspects of magic" said Curtis.
"I thought so too, but anyway, Annie it seems that you had all your questions answered" said Ollie as he looked at Annie.
"Well yes… I did in a way" said Annie.
"So all we have to do now is wait for the storm to clear, and then… you will get your powers back" said Matt.
"I can't wait for that, and waiting is killing me so much" said Annie.
"Relax Annie, you will be fine, it won't take that long, time moves very fast" said Maddie as she smiled.
"True, which sometimes isn't a good thing" said Curtis.
"How do you mean Curtis?" asked Matt as he looked at Curtis.
"It's just that we have been up here for so long, we do not know what is going on down there" said Curtis.
"I know…" said Annie as she sighed, she was so worried about that, about what would happen when they returned back to the witch realm.
…
Griselda was organizing the different vials on her shelf when she heard a knock on her front door.
"Come in" said Griselda as the door opened.
"Tell me you saw about Annie" said Katarina as she walked into Griselda's cottage.
"Well she is a Grey, she is here on Caligo to get her powers back after she lost them while fighting Azazel" said Griselda as she explained.
"But you do not have to worry about her at all, she is a very nice girl, and don't treat her unfairly just because she is a Grey, you won't make her happy at all" said Griselda.
"I had no intention of doing that, I know better than to be that childish" said Katarina.
"That's good then dear" said Griselda as she smiled.
"But what I am worried about, is why you seem to be helping Annie, Seer aren't particularly nice, especially when it comes to people who can destroy what they can see" said Katarina.
"I do not know what you are talking about dear" said Griselda.
"if I chose to help Annie, it is because I like her, and I feel for the poor girl who has the weight of her supposed destiny all on her shoulders" said Griselda.
"You know something that you aren't telling her, or me" said Katarina.
"Let me guess, you saw beyond what you told her" said Katarina.
"Seer rules, there are some parts of information that I am not allowed divulge to you or anyone else, it is the seer's code, the seer's secret" said Griselda.
"You know, that makes me not able to trust you" said Katarina.
"You see, I don't like secrets, and I don't like all these seer rules of yours" said Katarina.
"Well sorry dear, there is nothing that I can do about it" said Katarina.
"May I ask why you are so concerned?" asked Griselda.
"Because I just care, and I do not want anything bad happening, there is a reason why Seers are a last resort" said Katarina.
"Well instead of worrying unnecessarily, you should try helping Annie as much as you can, because she really needs it" said Griselda.
"I have said what I have come here to say, I just warn you to be careful" said Katarina.
"I am always careful" said Griselda as Katarina shook her head and she walked out of Griselda's cottage.