Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (19 page)

“Once we all reach eighteen, all the lower ranks get to keep two powers, the ones we’re strongest at.
The Imperials, however, get to keep all their powers until they die.
Even so, i
n the case of me and my siblings, we get to keep four of our powers because our father killed your grandfather,” he said in a depressed voice. “You have to understand that Dad only killed the
k
ing because it was his Highness’ wish,” he explained.

“Why would my grandfather
wish to be killed?
”
I couldn’t imagine anyone asking someone else to
kill them
. It was just horrible.

“
H
e didn’t want to be killed by Alastor’s father who was
,
at that time
,
powerful enough
to do so
because he already killed your grandmother. Right after the king was able to weaken Alastor’s father
, he asked my
Dad
to kill him so he could finish the job by gaining all your grandfather’s
powers. You see, the king was already old at that time, and by the time he was able to weaken that devil, he was already on the verge of dying, himself,
”
Elise answered, her voice tainted with anguish as she related the story.

“That’s why
all
three of us have four powers instead of
the usual
two, because once you kill an Imperial, you get all of their powers and pass some of them to your children. And that’s also the
same reason why Alastor and Rhi
annon have more powers than
most
Scheols,” Adrien
explaine
d
.

“What are your powers?” I asked out of sheer curiosity.

“All three of us have the gift of speed and teleportation, but other than that,
we
also
have our own unique powers.
I have the power to control earth and water,” Cole
replied.

“
Shield and wind,
”
Elise
answered
.

“Fire and lightning,” Adrien
responded
.

“And I get to have powers like yours soon?” I
frowned,
still
not believing
what they were saying about
my
magical powers.

“Yes. Imperials may acquire their powers
later than the rest of us
, but the rate
at which
their powers develop
is
extremely fast,” Elise explained, holding my hand again, acting all excited. I sighed, not at all
understand
ing what she was getting hyped about.
“You’ll get them soon, and you probably won’t need us anymore. You should
ha
ve seen Adrien’s face when he found out we only get to keep some of our powers. He was
just
six then
,
and he was complaining on
and on
about how he was supposed to protect you with only limited abilities. Oh he was so ador—” Elise instantly stopped when Adrien loudly cleared his throat
, completely glaring at her
.

I
laugh
ed
, and it
actually helped
ease up the tension I was feeling.
I turned to Adrien and saw that he was slightly blushing, but he was trying to hide it by not looking at me.

“Does that mean we were friends back then?” I asked him. “You
r
wish
to protect me
at the time
…” I continued on when he didn’t
give me an
answer. He just nodded.

“Our families are extremely close. Princess Celine and Nicholas were close friends with our parents,” Elise chirped happily.

“My dad went to Propheria?” I asked, my eyes widening in disbelief.

Elise nodded in reply. “They initially lived in Propheria because your grandparents were afraid for the Princess’ safety since she has already set ties with your dad.” She continued on divulging several facts about my parents that I didn’t know.

“So that means I’ve been in Propheria before?” I inquired, eager to learn more. Elise nodded again. “And I already met all of you
when we were kids
?” I turned my gaze to each of them. They all nodded at the same time. “Then why did my parents leave Propheria? And
why don’t I remember everything
… or any of you?” I turned my attention to Adrien, wanting him to answer the questions this time.

“Scheols started
their
attack
on
the Imperials then, and your parents were afraid for your safety. So they left an
d
came to Rattford Cliffs. They requested one of the Spiritualists to erase your memory of Propheria and everyone related to it to keep you safe,” he replied. “I was there during that short ceremony,” he added shortly.

“Why were you there?” I asked,
feeling my insides
burn with interest.

“Because you refused to go without me,” he
repli
ed. “And because you’re supposed
ly
my future wife.” His expression hardened when the words left his mouth.

I felt a glow of warmth
instantly
surround me at what I just heard him say. My mouth dropped open and I immediately fell into a dazed state.
His
wife?
I shook my head violently, forcing myself awake.

“Where did
that
come from?” I asked
him
in a slow, controlled voice. Despite how hard I tried, I still couldn’t get myself to stop blushing.

Elise cleared her throat and I instantly turned my attention back to her.
“Like I
sai
d earlier, Spiritualists
reveal
and interpret
all
of our prophe
c
ies.
Every witch has
a number of
their own prophe
c
ies, and one of those prophe
c
ies is the
knowledge of
their
future partners,
”
Elise explained with an amused expression, deepening the crimson color I was already wearing on my face.
“Adrien’s
personal
prophec
y states that he is to marry someone from the Imperial
family
.

When we were young,
both
our parents immediately saw the connection between the two of you, how you could easily find each other without
even
trying amazed everyone so much.
Since that day you met, you’ve hardly ever been apart.
It’s like a force of nature, one that you cannot
ignore no matter how hard you try. It’s the same as the inability to disregard the other’s existence,
”
she described in detail
before pausing
, seemingly waiting for me to give her the permission to go on. I
turned away from her for a moment, deciding whether I should have this discussion alone with her
. I gazed at Adrien at my side and noticed that he was having trouble listening to this as well. I sighed. At least he feels as uncomfortable with this as I am.
I turned back to Elise then and nodded, pro
mpting her to continue.

“
Witches are higher beings because nature made
it
so. Because of this, all their emotions, feelings, and thoughts are heightened
.
When they experience fear, grief, anger
and other painful emotions,
the
se feelings are intensely magnified
that
some resolve to tak
e
their own lives
in order to stop the agony.
Some, like the Scheols, resolve to brutal killing in order to satisfy the anger and
loathe
they are engulfed in
.
” She looked at me then,
studying
my
expression.
I nodded, still wanting to learn every detail.

“
Our h
ealing process takes a much longer time
than other humans
.
However, the feeling of happiness and delight
are also greatly intensified that they serve as
our
only
strength to continue with life
, despite the sorrow we have to carry with us
.
When
we
love,
we
love more purely, more strongly than ordinary humans.
And it’s because of these
enhanced emotions of love that nature has gifted us with only one partner in our entire existence
,
so we won’t have to feel the misery of heartbreaks like humans do
.
Our future mates can either be a witch or another being. Naturally, the connection between t
wo
higher beings is much stronger than any other kind of connection.
”
She finally stopped narrating and
smiled broadly
at
me.

“
To make things simple
, you now know the reason why you’re actually able to feel his presence, why he always shows up to save you, and why you’re so drawn to him despite any other reason you might have already come up with in your head,
”
Cole suddenly said, clearly amused at how uncomfortable Adrien and I looked.
At that exact moment, several pillows were thrown at him
at an unbelievable speed
. This time, he didn’t get to avoid any of them and ended up buried in a pile of soft cushions.
He groaned and stood up, stretching as he did so. “Since we finally tackled the part I’m most interested in, I’ll go ahead and sleep now. Good night, Princess,” he smiled and winked at me as he
took his time in leaving
the room. “By the way, everything I said works both ways
. Just so you know,
” he cried out before
concealing the room with his amused laughter
.

Adrien and I both groaned at the same time, making Elise laugh. When she already gai
ned back her composure, she grinn
ed at me. “You must be tired. I’ll go get our room ready upstairs. You’ll be sleeping in my room tonight,” she said with an excited squeal as she held my hand. I just smil
ed at her. “Oh and I need to send
the others
a message
. They must be worried sick,” she hurriedly let go of my hand and left the room so fast
that I wasn’t even able
to see her move.
I was so surprised that I forgot to breathe.

“Breathe, Sky. That’s just one of our abilities. Speed, remember?” Adrien said softly and I jumped, completely forgetting that he was still
in the room
with me.
I sighed, allowing myself to relax before
the realization of us being alone in this room hit me.
I instantly remembered what Cole just blurted out a few moments ago, and
I felt myself blow up in flames
with
my heart beating so fast in my chest.

“So this was w
h
at you meant when you said
normal
life.” I
suddenly said
, trying to come up
with a
comfortable topic.

He nodded. “I warned you before that you wouldn’t like it,” he replied, looking at me. “I didn’t want you in this mess. You would be better off living a normal life.
Then again, leaving you was
a dilemma. ‘Coz
if we did just that,
by now you’d be dealing with your powers by yourself, with no one to turn to
… among other stuff
,” he continued on,
not even mentioning about Alastor and Rhiannon
so it won’t scare me
.
He
rest
ed
his head back on the couch’s arm chair
while
staring
at the ceiling.