"When did we get stuck?" I ask.
"Hard to say." Asphodel replies.
"That's not good." I state.
We sit in the car for a few minutes silently as we both try to figure a way out of this. It seems we were trapped in an enchantment without knowing. We need to get to Europe and this already has put a wrench into our plans. Garth still has nowhere been seen or heard. It has me wondering if perhaps the man got taken.
"You think Garth's okay?" I ask.
"I hope. He'd know what to do here." Asphodel sighs.
"Are you and Garth together?" I ask.
"Annie, that's not your business to begin with." Asphodel says to me.
"So you like him." I tease.
"Oh shut up." Asphodel laughs.
"So, I guess we need to figure out how to leave this enchantment." I say.
"it could be any number of things..." Asphodel stares at the car radio.
"Like what?" I ask.
"Like music." She says. "Pop the hood."
I reach under the seat and pull the lever to release the hood. Asphodel gets out of the car and starts looking about the car's engine. She leans to see me and signals me to cut the car engine. I nod and turn the vehicle off. I hear some wires moving around. I sigh while I wait.
"Try turning the radio on." She says.
I cross the wires once more and the car roars with life. Every time makes it get easier it seems to me. We all know that in life, nothing is as it seems. I'm noticing it more frequently since discovering that I myself am a witch too. My mind keeps wandering.
"Earth to Annie, radio, try it." She stops twice just to emphasize my absentmindedness.
"Right." I reply as I slap the power button.
I am utterly shocked to hear the radio station on the system. I smile. Asphodel slams the hood and slips into the car. She even seems surprised she managed to make the thing work.
"So now what?" I ask.
"Blare something."
"Like what?"
"Something you like." Asphodel pressures.
"Well..." I pick up my phone and scroll through my playlist.
I grin when I can see metal head allegiance hit across my screen. The band was well known in the 1980s, but died out for some reason. I don't know many people who remember them at all. I press play on one of their album pictures. I turn the knob on the dash.
Asphodel looks at me strangely. The puzzled look on her face makes me curious. What could be making her seem wanting to be inquisitive?
"Alright then, I thought only witches knew of these guys," Asphodel admits.
I put the car into reverse and back my way out from the gas bars parking lot. I feel a little skeptical, but maybe Asphodel is right about the idea of noise. The car seems to be fine. I pull forward down the road like before. I feel like a bundle of nerves as I drive along.
"This might just work!" Asphodel shouts over the music.
I don't even want to be able to hear. I am not sure how much of this works or even why it may work. I trust Asphodel to guide me along this time. I can't help but feel like she is my teacher at this point.
We pull past a sign that points to the interstate. I veer right so I don't miss the one ramp. I sigh with relief as I slap the power button on the radio once more.
"It worked. Mind catching me up?" I ask.
"Ever heard of the 'Seven Hermetic Laws?" Asphodel asks me in return.
"No."
"The seven hermetic laws define everything in the living universe." She explains.
"So what are they?"
"Well, there is: Mentality, Correspondence, Polarity, Rhythm, Gender, Cause and Effect and Vibration." She lists the laws.
"Okay. I think I get some of them," I say. There is a lot to learn and we are going to be on the road for a while.
"Gender is obvious. Everything must be Male or female if it is living, it can't be always both or neither. Always one or the other. No in-between." She elaborates.
"Okay."
"Mentality is more about being able to control your mind to help with manifestation and other neat tricks." I listen the best I can to Asphodel while we drive.
"Okay. So, what's this about vibration?" I feel the compulsion to ask.
"Well, think of it this way. Everything is always moving. Even if we can't tell, it is. Everything that's still is actually moving. Oh! Fun fact: ninety-nine percent of what we see doesn't actually exist. It's empty space." She explains.
"That's absolutely nuts!" I say.
I never thought about it. Even in science class, they admit that ninety-nine percent of an atom is empty space. I can't help but wonder how we are held together at that point.
"Well, I guess that means I have a lot to learn." I sigh.
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it. We need to teach you sigils, protection spells, divination, and more. Not only that, but what kind of witch are you even?" Asphodel seems to have as many thoughts as I do. There certainly is a lot of catching up to do.
"How do we find out what kind of witch I am?" I ask.
"Well, we will see very soon. It shows with one's talents." She cracks her neck.
"Okay. so how do we find those?"
"Time." She says.
I feel a little uneasy. It seems all this leads to time being a factor, although I don't have a clue how much time I have to discover this stuff. I can feel nausea setting into my gut. I almost want to pull over to get sick.
"I see." I say.
"Sorry Annie, just how it is." Asphodel sighs.
'Your talents are grand, we just have to expose them.' Sven echoes into my mind.
'How do we do that?' I ask them in my mind.
'Well, with your journey I figure you'll discover quickly,' Sven replies.
I watch the wyvern fly low in front of us. Sven shines lightly in the sunlight. It's red scales look like rubies. They quickly take off towards the sky again.
"Your familiar is tracking us," Asphodel points out the obvious.
"Yeah. I kinda saw that." I laugh. I suppose she isn't used to seeing a wyvern either.
"I wonder why the Wyvern spirit chose you to give a wyvern." She thinks out loud.
"I wonder that myself, sis."
The sun is slowly getting closer to the horizon line. We have passed through a few cities, even though it feels we have so much farther to go. The ocean is a long way.
"Maybe we should pull over for the night?" Asphodel asks.
"Is there a spell to have the car drive itself?" I ask.
"No." Asphodel replies within an instant.
"Damn." I sigh. "Then yeah..." I yawn.
"Let's stop in Memphis." She says.
"Heard of the Peabody there. Supposed to be nice." I say.
"That's going to be pricy." She counters.
"Okay, then where?"
"Bellevue."
"Alright." I accept this.
All I can think about as we get closer to Memphis is that so many famous people pass through. A lot of huge country stars go there to play or even stay. I have never been but I am excited. To think, I will see Nashville as well! I am shaking with excitement.
"Never left home, huh?" Asphodel asks.
"It's that obvious, huh?" I answer her question with a question.
"A little. I guess you never know when you'll get the chance to have the adventure of a lifetime." She laughs lightly.
"Alright, fair enough. I want to see Nashville too! It's kind of on the way, if that's cool?" I try to poke for permission.
"Yeah, we can. I just don't know how well my money magic is." She sighs.
"When we pull over, teach me. We can both try. It's a better chance, isn't it?" I ask.
"That's awesome. Yes, we will do that." Asphodel says excitedly. In this moment, this no longer feels like a mission, but a genuine experience.
"Sweet." I smile.
I see the turnoff for Memphis. The city is brightly lit. It feels warm and welcoming to me. I feel so happy to get to see the same city as so many stars. I feel in bliss.
"Annie!" Asphodel shouts, and I slam on the brakes.
"Moron!" a guy yells at me.
I must really be taken by the sights. I almost hit a guy trying to cross the street. Asphodel is shaking her head at me. I think she knows I was caught up in the view.
"Thanks sis." I say.
"No sweat." She replies.
"Saved his and my ass there." I lightly laugh.
"Yeah, well, if that's the case, you owe me one." She elbows me, playing around.
"C'mon Asphodel what could I ever do to help you?" I ask.
"Lift our bloodline curse."
"Huh?"
"You've no idea. Our curse is not a light one." She sighs.