"There are at least three very popular kinds of witches. First are the elemental witches. They are considered the most popular kind of witch." Baba elegantly opened a book. She gave Ava a melancholic smile. "I am an elemental witch. A weak one."
Ava nodded. Some witches were born with a really good affinity for magick, just like her. Some were weaker. But they could grow stronger.
Knowledge was the answer to a witch’s ability.
The more they knew, the more they studied and understood their magick, and the easier it would be for them to improve.
Meaning, the smarter you were the easier it would be for you to become a powerful witch.
Well... let’s just say Ava wasn’t exactly the smartest kid out there. She loved reading but she read romance instead of physics. She would prefer to read erotica than history on any given day.
"Elemental witches are gifted by nature. It may not be a strong gift but it’s still a gift. The ability to create and control fire without casting is one of them. There are also other kinds such as wind, water, earth, ice and lighting."
Ava nodded at that.
"Second is green witches. Gabriella, your mother was one of them. They become herbalists and create healing potions. They are healers and nurturers. The third kind is called Cosmic witches. Astrology and astronomy suit them. Some of them... can see the future. Glimpses of both the past and the future."
Marylis. She’s a cosmic witch.
But what about Ava?
"Aside from these three, we also have the white witch, blood witch, and dark witch. As the name suggests, anyone who uses magick for a selfless purpose is known as a white witch. A dark witch uses curses and hexes and then there’s the blood witch, a cursed existence of witches who succumb to hatred. They need blood to perform any sort of magick."
Ava nodded. She just had a conversation about blood witches with Matthew the other day.
"A witch who receives a gift of healing is considered a green witch. A witch who receives a gift of the elements is an elemental witch and a witch who can see the future just from the movement of the stars is called a cosmic witch." Baba lifted her head and stared at Ava. "The witch who didn’t receive any gifts but uses magick selflessly is called a white witch. A dark witch uses magick for selfish reasons and of course, blood witches mostly create chaos and devastation."
Again, Ava nodded. Why was she repeating her words?
"But a witch who has more than two gifts... has never been recorded in all the history of witches."
Ava blinked. Matthew already told her that this was coming. The fact that she has more than one gift was something that Matthew knew in the past. And he actually got the information from Baba.
"So, what am I?" Ava asked. She had wanted to ask this question since she was seven. Just, what was she?
"You are a witch." Baba pursed her lips. She slowly closed the book before turning towards the terrace where the view of endless snow can be seen. "No matter what happens, always remember that you are a witch."
But what kind of witch? Ava wanted to ask.
How could someone who had so many gifts become a witch?
Was she an abomination?
A cursed existence?
Of course, she didn’t ask Baba about this. Not when Matthew was just sitting a few feet away from them. She side-eyed the man who refused to leave them alone during her training. Just like Baba, he was reading a book— or at least he was pretending to be reading one. He was wearing casual clothing and by casual, Ava meant something that made him look like a Prince from the UK. Beige sweaters and gray trousers.
Who wears trousers when they are at home? On a Saturday morning?
Apparently, Matthew does.
"Now let me tell you about the least known types of witches. Not many people knew about them and some of them don’t even exist anymore. Because of the rarity of their gifts, they were considered very powerful, and... let’s just say a lot of people don’t like this fact very much."
"Rare gifts?"
"Yes. Empaths are one of them. Once an empath becomes stronger, they could eventually hear the thoughts of other people and sometimes even talk to other people inside their head. They could share and affect the emotions of other people. The strongest empath recorded in the history of witches died... a hundred years ago."
Baba continued. "We were not able to prove it because of the lack of empaths but some say, empathy could evolve into clairvoyance. They could establish links with other people and feel as if the other people are endangered. Some say it could evolve into cosmic empathy. It could sense emotions at a cosmic level. Imagine... sensing the emotion of someone from Europe while you are in Asia."
Ava gasped.
That powerful?
As if reading her thoughts Baba nodded. "They are amazing. It made me wonder why Trillium didn’t use your empathy. But the fact that they just wanted to keep you in check but not really let you work closely with them because of what they did was enough to explain that. Still, I think keeping a ticking bomb like you was a very stupid thing to do."
"Baba..." Matthew suddenly growled.
"She is a ticking bomb, Matthew." Baba reason. "And trillium knew this. So, they kept her away. They gave her dangerous tasks that could put her in potential danger. For crying out loud Matthew, she finished her training in two months while other members of Trillium had been training for years!"
Matthew only glared at her. Then he met Ava’s eyes.
If only she could tell him ’shut up’ in front of the woman who treated him as his son, Ava thought inwardly while glaring at Matthew.
"Another rare type of witch is... a hedge witch," Baba said. "They are witches who can easily sense our world, the physical reality, and the spiritual reality. I have never met a hedge witch— or at least a powerful one."
"I’ve heard about hedge witches before. They could cast protection spells from spirits, right?"
"Yes. But the really powerful ones can walk into other realms. Like the spirit realm, the chaos realm, and maybe even the nightmare realm."
"Nightmare realm?" Ava shuddered inwardly. "Can you tell me more about realms?"
Baba smiled as she gave her a meaningful look. Then she looked at Matthew before looking back at Ava.
"Nightmare realms... I don’t know much about those places. I have never tried going into other realms before. I am not a hedge witch but some ceremonial witches dabble into that stuff. I find them dangerous. After all, once a witch dies in other realms, their real physical body would die too."
"But a nightmare realm... is that something that you can do while sleeping?"
"Yes." Baba nodded. "The other day, when I was here. I rushed into your room when I sensed something malevolent inside the house. I thought it was from the nightmare realm."
"What do you mean?"
"Simple. It’s either you did something to accidentally walk into that realm or... they send something to hurt you."
Ava didn’t say another word. She thought about Romeo and what she had been doing to that man.
"So... basically it’s a dream walking?"
"Yes. Dream walking is the lesser version. Some hedge witches can dream walk. Though it doesn’t come naturally. I have never met anyone who received such gifts."
"So, how does a hedge witch dream walk?"
"Ceremony. One hedge witch wouldn’t be able to do it on her own. She needed at least two more hedge witches that would act as guardians while she dream walk. Those two would also pull her spirit back in case... something happens inside the dream"
Ava nodded.
Baba knew that she had more than one gift. But she didn’t know its specifics.
"Usually, these gifts were inherited." Baba continued. "A powerful gift such as empathy and dream walking is usually inherited from their father or mother or both. Usually, that is only the case if one of the parents came from the Royal Witches’ bloodline."
"Royal witch?"
"Yes. They are the ones who inherited the abilities of the first witch. They are a family of witches in Europe. Very exclusive. I have only met one of them since I became a witch. We call them Royals though they don’t really rule the witches."
"Why call them Royals if they don’t rule the witches?"
"Their families were the ones who served the first witch. Some say that the first witch gifted each of their families one of these gifts. One family got the empathy, one family got dream walking, one family got Necromancy, and many others like the power of time and the power of shadows."
"What about... being able to do magick without casting?"
"Eventually, all powerful witches can do magick without casting. Aside from me, one other witch in the US can do that. However, it was because we spend a lot of time and energy learning the craft. I have been alive for almost two hundred years now. But I only managed to perfect that craft fifteen years ago." Baba said. She narrowed her eyes at Ava. "I have never met anyone... who can perform it the minute they discover they are a witch."
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