by K. K. Allen
Poor Charlotte. “I’m glad you found Rose then.”
She smiles. “Me too.”
“Do you know anything about my parents, Charlotte?” My curiosity has returned now and I’m dying to know.
Charlotte cringes. “I only know what Rose has told me about them, which isn’t much. But I do know that she doesn’t want to discuss that with you yet.” She gives me a kind smile.
I sigh. “She did say she’d tell me in time. But I don’t want to wait.”
“One thing I believe now after spending some time here, is that if you are destined to be a Solstice, then nothing can stop it from happening. It doesn’t matter why you became a Solstice because it was your destiny. The powers of the Solstice would have found you one way or another. It’s just the way this thing works.”
“You honestly believe that?”
Charlotte nods emphatically. “I do, absolutely. Your powers – they will be out of this world. And with you being born on the day of the Solstice it will be so exciting to see what you can do. We don’t know exactly what’s to become of your powers but we’re all eager to find out.
“Why?”
Charlotte’s energy springs off the walls as she speaks. She’s so passionate. “Kat. It is extremely rare to be born from Solstice blood under the sun of the Solstice goddess on the day of her birth.” Her eyes are wide. “There are already rumors out there that Astina Somer’s reincarnate has arrived. That could be you. But either way your connections to the Solstice and all that enchants us is by far the strongest possible connection we’ve ever witnessed.”
She sits back in her chair now, energy calmed. “Just as our followers and other Enchanters seek Rose out, they will begin to seek you out.”
“For what?” The thought of strangers knocking on my door so that I can help them find themselves does not sound appealing.
“They will look to you for leadership, healing, and – well – answers.”
Preparation for this magic stuff sure takes a long time. Here I am, on the seventh day following my birthday, desperately wanting to practice my powers and see what I’m capable of, but Rose insists that I learn all of the basics before I move on.
Charlotte has become my mentor, working with me, guiding me through each chapter, and answering questions as I have them – and I have a lot. But she gets her orders from Rose who has me reading the Solstice Law Book from cover-to-cover – a 3,456 handwritten textbook of rules. The ink is well preserved but the ancient script is not so easy to read.
I’m completely engaged with the entire chapter on Powers. It’s over 250 pages and describes every power I am capable of and what my restrictions are. To my disbelief, Restrictions, is a chapter well over 300 pages.
Myths is another chapter that I find myself devouring. It describes the Solstice compared to other types of magical beings. Such as witches, wizards, and super heroes. I learn here that the Solstice believe in honoring his and her gods and goddesses, but does not believe in satanic worship. Sacrifice is not a proven devotion to the Solstice nature. To prove ones self to higher Solstice gods, one must be purely devout to the promise of a good life.
I push the book away, exhausted from reading. Whoever wrote this book did not have a manageable training timeline in mind.
Some ideologies bother me about what the Solstice and I never hesitate to ask Rose. Every now and then, I notice that Rose is annoyed by my constant curiosity.
“I have a problem with being a vegetarian.”
Rose points out that in the Law Book there is no demand to become a vegetarian.
“There is a law to respect all living things amongst us. Killing an animal for selfish need is forbidden.” I tell her this as if she doesn’t know it.
Rose rolls her eyes. “You’re not killing anything by eating it. Eating meat is left for personal choice.”
“So I can eat steak tonight?”
Rose glares over the rims of her reading glasses. “Yes”
On other occasions, I ask her more traditional questions that lead to longer discussions than I would wish. I try to avoid these.
“Are we supposed to chant? And what about spells? Do I have to start learning any new languages?” I make a face. “Latin seems as if it would be difficult to master.”
After the initial annoyance of my last comment, Rose educates me. “There are no magic potions or cauldrons. We do not cast spells or speak Latin. We simply speak to our gods and call upon our nature with our minds. You asked me about Wicca before, and now I can fully answer you on that subject. Wiccans believe in many of the same things that we do. We both celebrate the gods. The one main difference between Wiccans and Enchanters, are that Wiccans practice magic while we simply are magic. You see – Wiccan’s call upon the gods to do as they request. Our ancestors have given us the power to use as our free will. We still celebrate where we came from, but our powers are ours alone.”
“So, why aren’t we considered witches again?” The terms are all so confusing. It seems to me that with the powers we hold, we are exactly witches.
“In a way, we are. We are magical beings who possess power and speak to the supernatural world. But over time, the term “witch” has come to mean something much more negative than how it originated. However, there is a reason for that. In our history, there are various forms of witches. I guess you could say that we are a version of a witch. We are called Enchanters. You’ll learn that the law book isn’t followed the way it should be. There are few that choose to abuse the powers we’ve been given and ignore the handbook. I guess you could call these types of Enchanters, witches.
“So Wiccans gave us a bad rap.”
Rose thinks about this and nods. “Yes, exactly that.”
I skim over the last 200 pages or so before dinner, not wanting to spend another second reading. My new eyes are blurring from the constant overuse of them. Yawning, I close the book, effortlessly.
It still amazes me to have this new strength. One week ago I would have grunted and sweat it out in order to close this cement block of a book. Today it’s effortless.
As I move up the old staircase to the main floor of the house, I check out my arm muscles, flexing as I walk. They don’t look any bigger to me. More defined, maybe. That was the other thing that I’d noticed. There’s definitely been a change in my appearance since my birthday. Just like in my visions and dreams, my muscles are perfectly toned, my body fat gone, eyes a brighter shade of silver, and my hair now thick, shiny and long, reaching down just past my shoulder blades.
“Katrina can you please set the table for Charlotte? She ran out to get the pizza so she should be back any minute.”
Now that I am aware of what I am and why Charlotte has really come to stay, Rose has treated us both very differently. Charlotte is no longer the caretaker in the house. She is more like a roommate who does most of the chores. But now that I see how she does the chores, I am not sorry for her workload.
During one of our lessons on gravity manipulation, Charlotte told me she was going to let me in on a secret of hers. Why she wanted to begin doing chores in that moment was perplexing – until I watched her use her powers. First she called for the mop; it flew to her hand instantly. Then she called for water and soap in a bucket; the water bucket that was sitting in the corner of the room slid across the floor. She commanded the mop and cleaning water to mop every inch of the floor. But the little feather stick dancing around the house was what had my stomach heaving over with unstoppable laughter. Charlotte mopped, vacuumed, and dusted the entire great room without lifting a finger. She gave me a wink and said, “Imagine my torture when you couldn’t know what I was. I actually had to do this stuff around you.”
Life became fun again. For the first time since my mom passed away I felt as if life could be normal – scratch that, normal may not be the best word to use. But the magic lessons distract me from the pain when I need it to.
Rose and Charlotte understand the times when I need to be alone. I pay my
respects to my mom every night before bed. Outside my balcony window I make it a nightly routine to pick a different star – because I image her hopping from star-to-star like a dancing fairy – and pray to her. I tell her that I miss her and love her.
As much as I would have loved to make the dishes bounce around the table like Beauty and the Beast, I wouldn’t dare. Rose has strict rules as to when I’m allowed to use my powers. I haven’t yet used them outside of supervised practice – which she knows of anyway. I take a peek over my shoulder and when I see that the coast is clear, I float the last dish over to the table and set it down gently. I’m getting good at this, I think calmly but I can feel the bubbles of excitement simmering within me.
When I practice on my own, it’s usually after everyone has gone to bed and I’m alone in my room. If Rose ever found out I was practicing on my own, she would be furious. Never did I try something so extreme, but agility and endurance were two powers I couldn’t wait to attempt. And they were fun. At first, I’d practice jumping down from short distances. But gradually I became braver and eventually I was jumping off my balcony and running long distance along the beachfront late into the night.
“Practicing patience is important,” Rose tells me. But sometimes the energy inside me is as if it’s building up and just wants to explode, which is exactly why the runs at night are great for me.
I’d wait until Alec’s run was over. I’m forbidden to see him again until I’m in full control of my powers. I understand, although, I miss him. He’s called a few times but I’m starting to run out of excuses as to why I can’t see him.
“Pizza delivery!” Charlotte’s musical voice enters through the front doors. I can smell the greasy goodness immediately. My mouth waters.
“Thank you, dear,” Rose smiles gratefully as she enters the dining room behind Charlotte. “I had a craving, what can I say?”
I chuckle at this. It’s a great experience to watch my grandmother letting her hair down. She used to be so uptight – I realize now that she just didn’t know how to act around me, since I wasn’t part of the secret yet. But for the community Rose had to uphold a certain appearance to be what the people of Apollo Beach need her to be. Every now and then, when she brings it home with her, she goes back to being her ridged old self.
Tonight is a good night.
“Yes, thank you Charlotte. I can’t remember the last time I had pizza.”
We are all sitting down for dinner now. I reach for the first box, excited to start shoveling pizza into my mouth. “Wait.” Charlotte stops me. She looks to Rose. “Should we show Katrina how we eat pizza?”
Rose smirks. “No need to get our hands dirty.” She nods. “I think she’s ready for a small lesson.”
My eyes grow wide and my heart races fast at the thought of getting to practice my magic.
“Now Kat, pay close attention. This is how Enchanters eat a pizza.” Charlotte, clearly showing off, places her hands behind her back, grinning with each move. “First, we open the box.” The lid of the first pizza box flips open, revealing a meat lovers pizza.
“Goodness dear, did you have to buy all of the dead animals?” Rose looks disgusted at the box Charlotte has purchased. Rose is a vegetarian.
Charlotte shrugs, winking at me. “Kat likes meat. And quite honestly, so do I.” She looks at me, gaining my attention again. “You try. Open the second box.”
I concentrate. Luckily, levitation is something I’ve practiced at night in my room. But as I concentrate on lifting the lid off of the box, the entire box jumps up, lid in tact. I frown. “What did I do wrong?”
“It’s a balance thing. You have to concentrate on it as if you were actually using your hands.” The hint Rose gives me helps tremendously. My second attempt at opening the pizza is successful.
“Try this, Kat.” Charlotte lifts up a pizza now and opens her mouth just as it’s about to hit her in the lips. She takes a big bite of it and the pizza drops onto the plate in front of her.
I lift my pizza successfully but it hits my chin before I can get it aimed into my mouth. Aiming is hard. I do as Rose said earlier and focus more on how I’d use my hands to eat the pizza and once again I am successful.
“Well. That was lesson one. And I’d say it was a success.” Rose stands up and grins at Charlotte. “Now onto lesson two.”
For lesson two, Rose drags Charlotte and me to the pool deck. The night sky is shielded with slow-moving clouds, threatening the release of rain for the first time since my move to Apollo Beach. We make our way around the giraffe-tiled deck, to the balcony that faces our private beachfront. I look from left to right to the proud faces of Rose and Charlotte as they smile out into the Bay breeze. It’s contagious. I’m smiling now too.
Rose places her hand in mine and I’m shocked by the touch. Rose and I don’t touch like this. Her hand feels long and smooth, but her grip is tight. I can sense our powers connect, from the palms of my hands to my inner core. Solstice-to-Solstice. Energy surges through me and I grow stronger and stronger as the milliseconds pass. The tingling sensation at the tips of my fingers and toes go away but the energy in me continues to run the course of my veins like an electric current. My mind and body are ignited.
As our energy unites, I’m aware of the drastic change in the sky. The dark looming clouds pick up pace and part as thunder strikes, and rain showers down upon us. My first instinct is to run. But Rose’s grip on my hand is devouring it like a hungry lion. Her smile grows into jubilant laughter as the rain soaks us through our clothes. Is she doing this? My hair thrashes around me in response to the wind but I don’t care. Our energy is impenetrable. I can’t help but wonder if I’m able to release such a power at my young Solstice age.
“Take Charlotte’s hand.” Rose is shouting over the wind.
I look to Charlotte who has her hand extended to me but her eyes are shut and she looks as if she’s experienced something profound. Her chin is raised to the sky as she soaks in the night’s energy. I take her hand and face forward, anxious to know what Rose is going to do next. I’ve never seen her so carefree and spontaneous.
“Our earth’s elements are what energizes us and stimulates our power. We have power without it. But with it, we are that much stronger, and that much more in control.” Rose is shouting this to me, her voice fighting with the wind.
“Are you doing this?” I shout back. Part of me is nervous. The wind is strong enough to carry us away at this point. But we are rooted in our spots.
Rose chuckles. “We are doing this, Katrina. Together, our power is stronger. It’s time that you saw what we can really do.” She pauses for a second. “Shhhhhhhh.” Her loud hush is heard by the wind.
In that moment, all grows quiet. I look to the sky. The clouds have vanished. I look out at the calm Bay waters. Then the moon begins to glow, as if someone is playing with the brightness control.
Amazing.
“What was that?” I ask, still searching for a hint of the magic I just experienced.
“Environmental manipulation.” These words come from Charlotte. They are the first words she’s spoken since we’ve been out here. I’d almost forgotten she was here. I take in the fancy words. Environmental manipulation. “As Solstice, we have the power to control all elements in the environment.”
The thought is confusing. “But what’s the point of that? What good are we doing?” I think back to all of the lectures that Charlotte and Rose have given me, about the use of our powers and how careful we need to be when using them. “Couldn’t that kind of power hurt someone?”
Rose has a somber look on her face as she answers this. “Yes. But that is the exact reason we need to learn to control it.”
I don’t completely understand this and I know better than to ask Rose more. If she wanted to tell me more, she would. This again, is something I know I’m to figure out on my own.
“I want to show you one more thing.” Rose let’s go of my hand and steps sideways just slightly. “Energy sourci
ng is how we reenergize. Just us being out here, and taking in all that the earth has to offer, is filling our needs as Enchanters. But it’s more than that.” She looks to Charlotte now. “Show her, dear.”
Charlotte nods and faces front. She closes her eyes, fists bolted tight and she takes a slow, deep breath. When she exhales, a fog is released from her mouth. It circles around in front of her, but never vanishes. Charlotte opens her eyes and holds her palm up, careful not to touch the eerie vapor-substance. She blows on it softly and I watch, as it becomes sprinkles of glitter-like particles that release into the air. And then it’s gone.
“That’s our power made up of the earth’s elements. And what we take from the earth, we give back. It’s a cycle of life that keeps us powerful and healthy. When you get to my old age, it’s difficult to keep up, but it’s really up to you how long you choose to recycle.”
Again, Rose is vague. I sigh internally but I am beginning to understand more. And then I think about her last sentence. “So, what happens when you stop energy sourcing?”
Rose gives me a heartening smile as she says her next ominous words. “I die.”
Chapter Eight
Early July brings a new world to Apollo Beach. Now that it’s officially summer the sun is at its best, kids are out of school, and adults are still tucked away at their 9-5 jobs. Everything around me is fresh with excitement.
Charlotte has spent most of her time dedicated to my powers, teaching me everything she knows. Every power has a backstory and consequence if misused. The laws of the Solstice are serious and the punishment of mishandling them is unfathomable. The Law Book states that what makes us most powerful can also kill us. The thought makes me shudder.
There are an infinite number of powers to learn, but Rose is adamant that Charlotte teach me protective powers first. She says that the most powerful magic is the magic that can save us from darkness. Charlotte obeys her wishes, of course, and shows me everything there is to know about cross-dimensional awareness, a heightened sense of awareness that alerts a Solstice if there is danger. She also shows me all forms of manipulation of the physical and non-physical. I’m not sure how this lesson could ever help me but I’m fascinated still.