"What are we going to do?" Charlotte asked. Her husband, Henry, was unsure of their next action. "We are under surveillance because of Uncle Louis! I can not allow our daughter to be harmed in all of this!"
"Calm down, dear Charlotte. We will find a way, we always do," Elizabeth said. Charlotte sat down. She was worried about her daughter, Genevieve, being accused of witchcraft.
"I brought some tea!" Susan entered the room and poured for her sister-in-law, Charlotte. "This is unbelievable. Why can we not live a normal life?" Susan was insulted by this and looked at her dead in the eyes. "Do not say those things under our roof. This is 1745, the years of the witch trials. You know you married a caster, and these are the consequences."
Casters. That's what they are. Not witches. Charlotte thought.
"Yes, we are casters. We were only called witches by the townsfolk who do not believe in magic and sees them as the evil lurking in the cities of France." Elizabeth said as she sipped her tea.
"I am truly sorry, Ma. I keep on forgetting you could read minds." Charlotte whispered. Elizabeth, Henry's mother, was a mind reader. She also has the power to choose which memory could a person forget and remember.
Susan looked at her and her daughter in disbelief. She was worried that Genevieve would not be able to see life herself if she was accused of being a daughter of a caster. A daughter of a caster and human. This would bring chaos to the lands of France.
"What did Uncle Louis do to be accused of witchcraft, mother?" Susan asked, shifting away from her thoughts.
Elizabeth sighed while looking at Henry. "You knew Uncle Louis has always disguised himself as a priest, right? Well, some guy named Bertrand confessed to participating in a pact with the Devil and a few men. Uncle Louis was one of them." Henry explained. Susan shook her head, "and this is why people of Europe believed we are witches bringing evil in this world."
Henry sighed, "unfortunately, the king has already ordered their execution."
Suddenly, there was a knock.
They all looked at one another, worrying if the townsfolk have finally realized that they were a family of casters. Susan, the water caster, waved her hands along the water to form a knife made of ice. Just in case, she thought while looking at Elizabeth. There was another knock so she hid her ice knife under the sleeves. She slowly opened the door and looked disappointed.
"Lorelei! How many times have I told you to announce your presence before stopping by!" Lorelei was a caster of light and an empath. If she were to arrive, fireflies would be seen flying around the house.
"Hello to you, too, my dear liquid-brained sister." She jokingly said to Susan. "You may melt that knife, now." Susan shot her a quick angry look before giving her a hug. "I am glad to see you are safe. Mother, Henry, and Charlotte and I were talking about Uncle Louis." Lorelei sighed. "I know. However, now is not the time. I need to discuss more important matters with you."
She turned to Charlotte and asked, "would it be okay if my family could talk for a moment?" Charlotte nodded and carried the sleeping Genevieve in the room.
"I assume this is something new?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, mother. In fact, I found something." Lorelei opened her basket to grab some candles, crystals, and her tarot cards. She set up her table while Susan heated soup.
"Sorry dear Lorelei, our dinner for tonight is soup. We could not go to the market earlier due to the heavy rain. However, while you set up your table, I shall carry some soup to our dear Charlotte. Henry, would you mind coming with me?" Henry nodded, stood up, and left with Susan.
"Henry has been awfully quiet since their marriage. Did something happen?" Lorelei asked. "I do not wish to pry into my son's mind but I know he has been thinking of things for his own family's good." Elizabeth sipped her tea. Lorelei smiled painfully.
She knew what she was talking about. Henry wanted to run away from this place and escape, to hide Genevieve's casting powers from her, and to live a normal life. Susan and Henry came back into the dining room and sat down.
---
"Henry, I know there are a lot of things in your mind since your marriage." Susan confronted. Henry sighed "I know. I could not bear to see Genevieve suffer, Susan. She deserves a normal life. Maybe if we could send Charlotte and her away from this place, then-" Susan looked back and sternly said, "do not suggest to leave your daughter growing up without a father, not knowing her real identity as a caster!"
"Susan, please, hear me," he whispered,
"I do not wish for Genevieve the cruelest and evil thing she could ever encounter someday. The world is not a friendly place! We do not even know if she is a caster until her 5 years of age!" He slowed down, wanting to have more of this conversation.
"Let us continue this later, brother. Now please calm down, I could barely see the hallway!" Susan exclaimed. Henry was a caster of the dark. They looked at each other for one last time before entering Charlotte's room.
---
Charlotte was sitting by the window, listening to the rain pouring. I love Henry, I really do. This situation is just harder than I anticipated. She sighed as she looked back to her Dear Genevieve. I could not save her if something happens. I would also be punished for my actions when they find out I am a wife of a caster.
Charlotte wanted to shift her thoughts to something else and decided to read a book. She was looking over the books on the shelves when she spotted a book at the back of the shelves. Curious, she took it out and blew the dust on it.
"Oracles?" she read.
She wanted to return the book but she was drawn to it. Suddenly, her family heirloom pendant glowed. She was shocked and quickly returned the book.
"Let us continue this later, brother. Now please calm down, I could barely see the hallway!" When she heard Susan exclaim, she walked back to her seat and smiled as they opened the door.
---
"Lorelei, what are you trying to imply?" Susan asked.
"I am saying that she is possibly the Oracle."
"No, it could not be. Charlotte is a townswoman, a human. I knew her parents before they died in the fire." Henry shook his head.
"then explain the written prophecy, Henry," Lorelei pulled out a piece of paper, "explain this!"
"The youngsters will seek their power in the sole purpose of surviving this world, and one of them shall rise from the dark, embodied by the soul of the darkest caster lived.
Families against families, power against power, the curse will start within the reunion of sun and dark. Future, thus, is saved by the chosen caster.
- Reign"
"This was written by the last oracle to ever live, Master Re-"
"Reign..." Henry whispered, "Charlotte had a great-great-great-grandfather whose name was Reign." Elizabeth looked at Henry by surprise. They were all quiet. "But Lorelei, what is that symbol beside the prophecy?" Susan asked.
"This is the golden sun; it was believed to be a pendant owned by a family of oracles." She answered. Henry's face went pale when he recognized the pendant. "That is..." he was cut off by Charlotte's scream and Genevieve's cries.
They rushed to the room to see Charlotte floating, glowing as the pendant glows with her. Elizabeth tried to communicate with Charlotte's thoughts but it was impossible to enter. "It is as if... she's not human," Elizabeth whispered.
"Funem de Lumine!" Lorelei cast,
"I will hold her down. Susan, take Genevieve and hide." Susan agreed, took Genevieve, and ran to the door. Elizabeth looked down and saw the book Oracles on the floor. "You were right, Lorelei. We have found the oracle- the most powerful among all casters."
"I am Minerva, the Oracle of the Golden Sun. I have lived through the lives of the family who took me in." Charlotte exclaimed. Her glowing eyes finally gazed upon the dark caster himself. "Mundet!" She cast on Henry. He dodged the cast and smirk. "Ah, I see. Young Henry has married the perfect wife."
Lorelei dropped her rope of light and looked at Elizabeth in terror.
"That voice...Gi- Gideon..." Elizabeth whispered.
Gideon was the darkest caster in their history. He was known for exposing other casters to the human world, resulting in the hunt and death of their kind. He was defeated by the first oracle.
"You should have never come back, Gideon," Charlotte, now Minerva, reached out to the young empath and said, "Tell Susan to take Genevieve and go, protect young Charlotte's daughter for us." She teared up as she understood where this was going.
"You are not going anywhere, dear sister," Gideon smirked.
"Lupi accersi!" Gideon exclaimed as he summoned his Lycans. Lorelei took out her kusarigama, a weapon gifted to her by a fellow Japanese caster. "Mother, I love you," Lorelei whispered as she ran to lead the wolves away.
Elizabeth was horrified to see what was happening in her own home. "Do not worry, mother. Young Henry will be back after I finish off dear Minerva... and this beloved home." Gideon smiled as he went for an attack, forming a sword out of his dead casters' ashes. "Rays of sun, shield me!" Minerva exclaimed as Gideon went for a sideward slash. "I love Caster battles" he smirked.
---
Susan was hiding under the dining table with young Genevieve, listening to everything that is happening. She was terrified hearing her brother being possessed by the darkest caster in history. You will be safe, my dear Genevieve she thought. "Praesidio" she whispered, forming a protective shield on her with her element.
Suddenly, she heard her sister's thoughts saying "leave. Take Genevieve with you. Now!" Susan was petrified to see the images of Lorelei fighting off the Lycans. She did not know what to do; she wanted to help, but she could not leave Genevieve behind. "I could feel your energy, dear sister. Leave, now. Take Genevieve with you. This would have been Henry and Charlotte's wish for her."
Susan, teary-eyed, nodded and wrapped little Genevieve in a blanket. She peeked under the table cloth for signs of battle. Noticing the coast was clear, she decided to take the back door and run as fast as she could. "Water, subterlabor!" She cast to allow herself to escape as fast as she could away from the house.
---
Henry, I know you are in there, son. Please, listen to me. Hear me, please. Elizabeth tried to reconnect while Gideon was in battle with Minerva.
"Enough!" Gideon shouted, "This battle bore me."
"Give it up, Gideon. Leave this household alone. They did nothing." Minerva said. "Fine. I shall stop this nonsense." He said as he dissolves his weapon back into ashes. He called his Lycans back to the underworld.
Elizabeth did not trust this sudden surrender. "What do you want?" she asked. He smiled and suddenly, fell to the floor. Minerva got back to the ground and tumbled.
"M- Ma?" she asked. "Charlotte? Oh dear, it is you. I was so terrified." Elizabeth hugged her. Lorelei entered the room and hugged Charlotte in relief. "Ma, I was- Henry!" she exclaimed and went to Henry.
Elizabeth was sure they were Charlotte and Henry. "Charlotte?" he whispered as he cupped her face. "It is you, love. I am truly sorry for the battle. Have I hurt you?" He cried. "No, you did not." She was overjoyed to be reunited with her husband after all that happened.
Charlotte went to face Elizabeth and said "I read about the Oracle. They are the most powerful casters among your kind. I never knew my family was such." Elizabeth wanted to comfort her when suddenly, there was thunder and chanting. Elizabeth was terrified to hear the chant of the townsfolk "witches in the area!" Lorelei knew what will happen next.
"I could feel Gideon's presence near." She claimed.
A setup Elizabeth thought.
The family went outside to see torches and pitchforks from afar. "Ma, above us!" Charlotte exclaimed. Clouds of darkness were swirling above their roof with thunders roaring. "Perhaps, this is it." Lorelei calmly said. "I have not seen Genevieve yet. I..." Henry broke down and cried. Charlotte kneeled with him and held his hand. "I pray Susan will take good care of her."
Gideon's figure formed in front of them for the last time. "So long, Casters."
