'Like I said before; I'll pass.'
She walked back to her cauldron and put her fingers in the viscous liquid inside the cauldron then brought it into her mouth. She stood dreamily for a while, savoring the flavor. 'Still not good enough,' she said, 'maybe fermentation will do,' she resumed stirring.
'Back to business. Do you have any idea how your son might have accepted the Versatile gene and succeeded to retain control of his mind and body?' he asked her curiously.
'My first theory was that he stood up to it. The Versatile gene is a part of you. Pernicious was very violent and solitary, it might have been that when he had his vision, he used what you call, faith.'
'Faith..?'
'Yes, faith. He could have silenced the gene by standing up to it and telling it that it was just a dream.'
'But that's stupid, isn't it? The Versatile seems way too powerful for that; it would have just silenced him with one disciplinary clap in his face.'
'Maybe. My second theory is that he threatened suicide. The Versatile gene is like a virus, it's a conscious and self-aware life form; it needs to live too…'
'Wait a second…you said you sent your children to be trained by Girols, right..?'
'Yes…so..?'
'Aren't they our enemies?' he looked confused.
'My father once said to me, "Never believe everything you read in a book unless that book was written by you." David Bradwield was human and humans tend to get too fanatical and jump to conclusive statements. Not all Girols are our enemies. Jacquino is divided into two sides; Jac and Quino. The Jac are the ones who are more peaceful and quiet while the Quino are the opposite of anything "song-humming related." Craving only destruction, a higher form of technology and no sympathy for life, Quino are the ones responsible for unexplainable disasters and human abductions. They are also the ones that created the Dirty Fate sword, stirring up hatred and war between Girols and Versatiles.'
'Wait; "Quino", I read that in "MAGIC AND SCIENCE", what does it mean?'
'You will know soon enough…when you accept the Versatile gene of course.'
'I need to know now!' he insisted his voice losing its calm.
'Well, if you must. "Quino" is Girolian for "Aggressive" and Jac means "Partial".'
'So, Jacquino means…'
'Yes, "Partial Aggression" or "Partially Aggressive". I'm sure you know everything now, right?'
'No. Who's stronger between you and me?'
'Prophecies say the boy of legend is stronger than the Blind helper, but I've been known to break prophecies over the years so if you stand in my way, we're going to have to find out, aren't we, my love?' Her face turned solemn with wickedness. It was much more different than it had been earlier; much more terrifying.
'Who gave you the name Blind helper? Whoever did must have hated your guts.'
She chuckled and replied, 'It was this Christian. He was preaching in the forest and out of curiosity, I decided to join his crowd. After his little preaching sermon he called me over and he quoted something to me from his…What's the name of the book?' She tapped her knuckles on her head trying to jog back her memory, 'It's Beybel,' she said finally.
'You mean a Bible? It's pronounced "Bye-Bull".'
'Yes…that…whatever. It was something about the blind helping the blind and the conclusion being a ditch or a pond or something.'
'What did he mean?'
'He obviously thought or knew I was wicked. That I used "blind" methods to save confused people. I honestly don't know what he meant. And Now that we're on the topic of names, do you know what name prophecy has chosen for you?'
'Yeah…Marauder; Death's assassin.'
She gave him a wide grin, 'Do you know what it means though?' she asked him.
'No…what?' His expression was troubled.
She looked him straight in the eye, her grin broadening, 'I…I don't know either,' she said after keeping him in suspense. 'You'll have to find out for yourself. Anymore questions on your mind?'
'Yes; who taught you magic?'
'My love, magic isn't taught but it is learnt. Once you know the dark secrets of all the rare and available plants and herbs, you nurture that knowledge and create something inexhaustible… like science.'
'Speaking of which, why did you betray Jonas?'
She made a stiff expression on her face, 'He was slowing me down.'
'So stabbing him in the back was the only way to get your speed back up?'
'It's not personal, it's just business, my love,' she shrugged indifferently.
'Now you mark my words, Finch; I will avenge my grandfather!'
She moved closer to him until she was a hare's breath from his face. 'I may not be able to do some things like create a Versatile because of its incalculable power but..,' she moved her lips to his ear, 'I don't need to create a Versatile to stop you from meddling in my plans. I can do it with both hands tied behind my back,' she whispered.
'We'll see who prevails.'
She laughed calmly into his ear, 'This is just the calm before the storm.'
'What do you mean?' he asked her, his eyeballs frozen.
'Right now your friends are having fun mocking our existence, the mayor's going to tear down my home; that's fine, you don't have to panic because that's just the calm.'
'What's the storm?'
'The storm shall be upon your delicate human friends.'
'What's the storm?' He asked her again, his voice still trembling in terror.
'The holocaust.'