"Then they would just create more... vessels. Destroying the relic is like destroying the root of the problem. Without the relics, there would be no more vessels."
"I see..." Ava nodded. She knew a few covens who have relics. "How many relics are there? Do you happen to know?"
"No. Unfortunately, I don’t know this information."
"So... I had to find everything?" Isn’t that—
"I can give you a way to find one. And also a reward for each relic."
"A reward?"
Lucas nodded. "What is it that you need the most?" he asked.
"I— " That is such a difficult question to answer. What does he mean by what is it that she wanted the most? She blinked and sighed. "Power. I want to learn how to control it."
"Then I will give you grimoires from magicians and magus in different realms."
"I don’t even know if I can use these grimoires," she uttered. "But I am taking that. However, you must agree to one of my requests."
"A request?"
"Yes. Once I ask you to do something, you must do it."
"Once?"
"Yes."
"As long as it doesn’t break the laws of the cosmos."
Ava nodded in satisfaction.
"Then we shall make an oath."
......
Ava felt like she was drowning. It felt like something squeezed her lungs as she struggled to breathe. Lucas had warned her that she couldn’t lose her consciousness or she would forget everything. But he didn’t say anything about the pain!
Fuck! She cursed inwardly.
What the hell is going on?
What is this torture?
"Ava, you should be more careful." A man’s voice echoed inside her head.
The voice sounded familiar.
No. She was certain she had heard it before.
She heard a low giggle.
"Alright, try again. Are you ready?" the man said.
"Yes."
"Alright. You have to calm down and just focus. You can do this!"
"I know dad, will you let go now?" it was the voice of a young child. A young Ava.
"Alright."
Ava could hear the nervousness in the man’s voice.
"I will let go now, alright? Ready?"
"I’m ready daddy! Come on!" Ava whined.
"Alright, you can do this. One.... Two... Three... and... there you go! Go on! Pedal... go! Oh my god, you are doing it! You are finally— "
"Dad?"
Slowly a blurry image appeared on Ava’s head. It was an image of a small child, four or five. She couldn’t remember it. Brown-haired, green sparkling eyes. The child was riding a pink bike in the middle of a park.
What is going on?
Ava lowered her gaze and saw her adult body standing not far away from the child.
Was this some sort of a nightmare? Something about her past?
The thing is, she couldn’t remember anything about it.
"Alright, hold on sweety. I need to take this call," the man whom she called dad walk a few feet away from where she was and started talking on his phone. It didn’t take too long before the man’s face turned ugly and he started screaming.
Sadly, Ava couldn’t seem to understand anything.
Another language?
Ava bit her lip.
The things that happened before she turned seven...
This must be one of those things that she had long forgotten.
That’s right. When Ava saw her dad die, she had forgotten most of her childhood. The therapist said it was because of some trauma. Though Gabriella said that it must be because of magick. It must be because Ava tried to use her own magick to suppress all the memory. It was some sort of defense mechanism as her father’s death traumatized her.
"Alright, we need to leave now."
To Ava’s surprise, the man just yanked the child out of the bike.
"What about my bike?"
"We can’t bring that. We should leave now."
"But— I like my bike."
The man stopped walking and looked at Ava. "I will buy you a new one."
Ava blinked innocently. "Really?"
"Yes." This time, the man carried Ava into his arms. "Alright. We need to leave now. You can eat in the car."
"Aren’t we going home?"
"No sweety. We have to... leave our home and find a new one."
"But what about Alicia and— "
"You will find new friends."
The small Ava lowered her head, her eyes had obviously turned glassy. Was she about to cry?
"Alright," the small Ava said. "Are you going to buy new clothes too?"
"Yes," the man uttered as he put Ava into a car seat. After a while, the man drove away leaving.
What the hell was that?
Ava tried to remember this scene from her childhood but she couldn’t. She started to wonder if this really happened. What if—
No.
She gulped as she thought about the conversation.
Her father.
That man was definitely her father.
He looked younger without his beard.
But it sounded like he was running from something.
What could it be?
Ava bit her lower lip as she thought about the phone call.
If only she could remember what it was.
She closed her eyes, exhausted.
But it didn’t take too long before she heard more sounds. This time, the car was parked away from a house that was on fire. Her father was sitting in the driver’s seat while the little Ava was sleeping soundly at the back.
This...
Ava stared at the house and then at her father.
Did he intentionally burn the house?
Not long after, he opened his phone and suddenly broke it in half.
Then he started the car and started driving away from the burning house.
Again, her vision started to blur.
Then her environment changed.
This time, Ava was on a carousel. She immediately recognized her younger self not far away from her. She looked even younger, smaller. And she was waving at her father who was waving back at her.
Not long after, the little Ava was back in her father’s arms. The two of them were looking at the stars. Then her father snapped his fingers, and a small firework suddenly appeared in his hand. The trick immediately made the little Ava giggle.
But it only made the older Ava frown.
That—
That wasn’t a trick! It was magick!
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