After classes, Alice walked back straight to Nina's house after she was told what went down when she was dead. First of all, she never believed that she died, and even if she did well it all seemed dark and like nothing was there. Lunara made sure to wipe off her memories of the witch realm and all things they did over there.
She found Nina on a couch, healed and making silly jokes with Regina who at that time she didn't know who she was. She dropped her backpack and raced to her, Nina got up and they embraced themselves in a hug. Hawaii was present too and he was trying to avoid contact with Regina so as not to make things worse between him and Alice.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you" said Alice.
"Well, it's done now. Have a sit, this is Regina my old friend and a witch" Nina introduced them and Alice stretched her hand for a handshake.
"You are the one from Chicago?" Alice asked.
"One and only honey…"
"It's nice to finally meet you. I was making my way to Chi town before…"
She starters for a moment finding the right words, Regina notices and quickly change the topic.
"I have to say, the resemblance is uncanny. I mean, it's truly magic"
"To my predecessors?"
"Yes. I had an acquaintance with one, she was just like you, a ransom born in nature. when was it Julian?" She said and grabbed her attention to Hawaii.
Hawaii barged in, "Alright, I need a moment with my girlfriend. So, ladies...if ya'll excuse me" He said and swept Alice off her feet as he walked upstairs to his room laughing while kissing her.
Regina had such mixed emotions about all of it, jealousy even though she knew she can't be jealous and wanting to be Alice at that particular moment.
"Stop Gina" Nina said and then she sat on the couch, Regina joined her.
"What?"
"You know it. You guys will never make it. It's better if you stop having false hopes"
"Neither do they, I mean isn't that what makes it exciting? Knowing full well you shouldn't be doing it but still doing it?"
"Not when we are in the midst of war" She took a deep breath and smile, "Thank you for last night, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you"
"And, I told you he's the one who saved you. Antonio"
"But you reached out first, I know Gladys and I will never make amends. It's always been like that, a cat and mouse game"
"You two have history?"
"A very deep one, and I never knew she was Amiya's granny because when I got into town she wasn't here"
"Speaking of this Amiya, where is she?"
And right at that moment, reality hit. Where was Amiya? They hadn't seen her since it all went down crazy.
"I don't know…" said Nina "But, I may need you to perform a locator spell so we can find her"
"Do you have anything that belongs to her?"
"Yes, I have a necklace" Nina got up and walked few steps towards a cupboard and took out Amiya's necklace from a drawer. Then, she walked back to Regina.
"And salt…"
"Right"
Nina brought up the salt, Regina drew a large circle surrounding them and when they sat on a circle looking at each other, noises of laughter came from Hawaii's room but they ignored them.
"This circle seals us in, I will bind you to a magical tree which will be lethal to the spectators" said Regina finding perfect spells in her grimoire.
"How would you know it's lethal?"
"Because, in every spell there's a loop hole. Lunara will create the spectators by channeling all her power to this tree, it's called Mianzi tree"
"Is it on Earth?"
"Sadly not. Only in the witch realm and that is why they will be difficult to kill because only a stake made from Mianzi tree can kill a spectator and not anything less"
"Mmmh, interesting"
"Give me your hands"
Nina raised her hands to her and they interlocked them. The circle emerged into a fire and they smiled together, there was just something between them that was more than magic itself.
The power of true friendship that has lingered dating centuries back, Regina was the only friend that Nina managed not to piss off and she stood by her every time they came together.
"I am going to bind you now"
"Alright"
"Whatever happens, I want you to hold on to my hands"
Nina was curious "Something will happen?"
"Just hold to on me"
"Okay"
Regina shut her eyes and started chanting "duritiam incantatorum torum vehementem" and she repeated it nine times, during her tenth time Nina felt like she was being pulled backwards. The force was strong but she held it together, and then it was over.
"Done" said Regina and opened her eyes.
"Done? What was it…" They heard Hawaii's voice coming downstairs. He was only wearing a towel.
"A binding spell, you should get one" Nina said to him.
"Nah! I think the spell is bullshit, I have never heard of a binding spell on a vampire. What does it do exactly?"
He was pouring himself whiskey with his back turned against Nina and Regina, when he filled his glass he leaned a bit on the table and looked at Regina. "What does it do?" he asked again. Regina was holding a small knife, she threw it by force to him and it completely stabbed his heart.
He fell down to one knee, it shook him but he grunted the pain and came back up. He pulled the knife out of his heart and stared back at Regina as his body healed itself.
"Really, was that necessary?"
"Demonstrations are important"
He grunted and sighed, "You could've thrown it to her"
"Suck it Hawaii" Nina interrupted and cut the two exes off as they seemed they were about to erupt.
"She doesn't remember anything, Alice" said Hawaii in a whisper format and he cleared his throat "Something is going on"
Regina stood up, she wasn't so shocked by this "Of course something is going on, Antonio just woke up the hybrid Nazar and even though it'll take months for him to wake, he will come for her"
"For her?"
"Yes, he will come for Alice because he needs to tap out into his werewolf side which was suppressed by Lunara. She's the key to almost everything"
Alice walked downstairs in a white robe, and the conversations changed instead they talked about the weather with a fear of making her uncomfortable and scared. That day she spent the night at Nina's and she lied to her father she was staying at Amiya's because she was told her father knew about the vampires.
She had hard time absorbing all of bulk information which she had missed in a span of just twenty-four hours. Regina got too much distracted by Nina and all the dramas going on in Warlington and she had forgotten to cast a locator spell to look for Amiya who was punished by her grandmother for what she called arrogance and not listening.
There was a world called Jandara, and it was a hell for witches who abuse their magic. It was stuck on a span of one day repetitively, 15th June 1834. Gladys had sent her own granddaughter there because she thought Amiya had a lot to learn, and how to bend and follow orders without going against her. It was such a scary place, the sand was white and smooth like a powder.
There was neither a sun nor a moon, but just a giant red rock at the top which had some bit of light and figures which wore purple garments were praying in front of it tirelessly bowing every second. Amiya was amongst the newcomers, her hands were tied to her back and a chain linked her neck to others and form like a sort of linear straight line. She had just woken up and find herself in that line, she panicked looking back to see tired faces of swollen and bitten witches who could barely walk.
And to her front, there was a long line she couldn't even spot who's the first person linking them all. It felt like she was in a slavery movie, and suddenly a heavy blow of whip fell on her and she stumbled down in pain. "Hurry up Miya! Walk, walk" said a big man with beards holding a whip as he looked down at her. She tried to make it up but her back was already destroyed and she was bleeding.
"Where am I?" She asked in teary voice and closed her eyes, falling down again.
The second time she fell, it took forever for her to get down and she was falling in an endless hole which was dark and she couldn't see anything. Suddenly she dropped into some sort of a soft landing and quickly opened her eyes with fear of being stuck into that weird world. Gladys was beside her and she was the first thing she saw.
"Where'd you take me?" She asked panicking and wanting to get up, but Gladys calmed her down.
"Easy Miya, relax your soul"
"What did you do to me? How can you be this cruel? What in the…"
"I didn't do anything. It was your ancestors, they wanted you there"
"Where's there?"
"Jandara. A land of blood and torture, and…death"
"You would send me to a land of death?"
"Because of your ignorance of what life is about. You are just a sixteen-year-old who knows nothing about magic and yet thinks she can do it all, it doesn't work like that Amiya"
Amiya got up from the bed and wondered around looking for something, she was not herself. She didn't even know what exactly she was looking for.
"Listen Miya, I'm skipping town tonight" said Gladys.
"Why didn't you already? No one wants you here all you bring is troubles and killing people"
"Vampires are not people! How many times should I break that down to you? Looks like you'll never learn Miya"
"Get out" Amiya said staring at her granny with a straight face, she wasn't joking at all.
"Amiya…"
"Get out! You are not my grandmother, this isn't her body and not even her soul. I should've just moved on; I should've accepted that you were gone without constantly trying to bring you back"
Amiya stopped to catch her breath and Gladys slowly moved closer to her. She looked at her and said "I was never gone. I am immortal and the last of my kind. I can't be killed because I always find a way to come back, and that body of an old woman that you want so much it wasn't mine. I don't grow old, I don't get sick and most importantly I will keep roaming this Earth long after you die. Your mother left you in the woods because she couldn't see herself being a parent, I took you in. I raised you playing a grandmother role and this is what I get?"
"My mother? You are a liar, my mother may be dead but she didn't abandon me"
"Not that woman who I created her to play your mother. She's just a mixture of sand and some wine. Your real mother, she left you to die Amiya so next time you think about kicking me off, I suggest you know your story"
"I don't believe you"
"Find your truth for yourself"
Gladys grabbed Amiya's shoulders, shut her eyes close and chanted a spell. They were both silent as they traveled to another portal. Another time of Earth and that time it was sixteen years ago. They stood side by side in the woods waiting for something.
"What is this place?" Amiya asked looking around.
"Wait..."
There walked in a beautiful black young woman with a baby on her hands. She was scared and looking back as if she was running from something or someone. Then, she took the baby and placed her underneath the tree while tears ran down her cheeks. She kissed her goodbye and walked away without even turning back.
"That's my mother?" asked Amiya looking at her walking away in a hurry. Then Gladys appeared in a whole different body and she picked up the baby, covered her because it was cold. She then stretched her wings and flew away with her.
What felt like a dream ended and they were back to reality, standing across each other. The truth was revealed after a long time and it was hard for Amiya to suck it all in. Gladys took step backwards slowly, opened the door and walked away leaving Amiya stranded not believing what she had just found out.